Tasting Journal

Kim’s WILD Birthday Extravaganza

Dinner at Ceiba…
Drinks at Andalu…

Ceiba
701 14^th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: 202.393.3983
http://ceibarestaurant.com/

Open lunch Monday through Friday, 11:30 am to 2:30 pm;
Dinner Monday through Thursday, 5:30 pm to 10:30 pm; and
Dinner Friday and Saturday, 5:30 pm to 11:00 pm

Saturday night was Kim’s birthday…

Katherine, Roman, Saba, Greg and I took Kim out to Ceiba, in downtown DC, for dinner. I’ve heard great things about Ceiba, and have been meaning to give this place a try for some time now. Ceiba, owned by the same owners of Ten Pehn and DC Coast, boasts a modern Latin American menu with an emphasis on Yucatan, Brazilian, Peruvian, and Cuban cuisines.

We arrived to a serene and elegant atmosphere, and were seated at a nice cozy little table by the window. Greg and I decided to start us all off with bottle red wine: Casa Lapostelle merlot. Service seemed to be a little slow that evening… While we were ready to order, our server unfortunately was not… Our drinks didn’t arrive for a while, and when our server appeared he didn’t take our order right away.

When we finally did get around to ordering, we began with the Shredded Duck Confit Empanadas with some raisins and olives; the Clay Crock Steamed Blue Hill Bay Mussels with chorizo, Dos Equis Beer, and a chipotle chili sofrito; and the Pan Seared Foie Gras with Pasteles De Guayaba, Café Con Leche Sabayon and Guava Gastrique.

I was a bit disappointed with the foie gras which came out slightly dry. We all enjoyed the shredded duck empanadas, but because they were fried, the duck meat was difficult to taste.

I was really tempted to order the Ceviche Sampler with four different types of ceviches: Yucatan Shrimp “Cocktail” Ceviche, Yellowfin Tuna Ceviche, Grouper Ceviche, and the Wild Striped Bass Ceviche. However, we already had a lot to work with so I had to pass on the sampler this time around.

Of the main courses, the winners of the evening were the Grilled Atlantic Salmon with Blue Crab-Avocado Fingerling Potato Tacos, Hericot Verts, and roasted Poblano in a corn sauce; the Jerk Barbeque Young Chicken with rice and beans, sautéed spinach, and a watermelon fruit salad; the Brazilian Braised Pork Shank served with rice and beans; and the Blacken Yellowfin Tuna with a parsnip puree, rainbow chard, and spicy apple pico, in a pomegranate-key lime reduction. My favorite of was definitely the salmon, which came out moist and full of flavor. A couple others that we tried that evening night were the Almond Crusted Pacific Halibut served with smoked bacon FuFu mash, asparagus, and Royal Trumpet mushrooms, in an Aji-Amarillo Chayote sauce; and the Grilled "Cowboy Cut" Ribeye Churrasco with Cebollas Fritas and rosemary grilled mushrooms, in a Chimichurri sauce.

For dessert, we ordered the Dulce de Leche Cheesecake with pepper roasted pineapple pound cake and macadamia nut brittle; and the Key Lime Tart served with toasted coconut meringue, orange caramel and a Blood Orange Colada sorbet.

All in all the food was good… or maybe the long wait in between courses made the tastes more appealing. Yes, service could have been a little more attentive, but the birthday girl enjoyed herself none the less.

On with the evening…

Andalu
1214 18^th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: 202.785.9525
http://www.sesto.com/andalu/

So after dinner we headed over to Andalu in Dupont Circle for a night of dancing and more rounds of cocktails. Andalu is a private club owned by Sesto Senso restaurant, and is located right beneath their dining room. Unfortunately I have yet to experience their menu which appears to offers a nice variety of elegant Italian dishes as well as a handful of not so pretentious items also.

Our evening stretched long into the night… Andalu was a great choice for us. It offered danceable music with an upbeat, social atmopshere, but was still small and intimate enough for us all to hang out and relax.

I hope you had fun Kim, I know I did! : )

restaurants, Washington, DC, Tasting Journal