Bottomless Brunch, DC style

One of the institutions I quickly got on board with while living in DC was weekend brunch. Many places offer excellent "bottomless" deals, whereby you pay a fixed price for the joy of being able to linger over brunch for hours, nibbling at little plates of deliciousness and sipping interesting drinks. I quickly got into a routine of working for a few hours in the morning, then taking my laptop out for a brunch date and a couple more hours of writing, followed by a stroll round a gallery or park while digesting -- or sometimes just back home for a nap!

One of the places I enjoyed was Masa 14, not far from me on 14th just south of U St. The combination of outdoor deck on a still-sunny autumn day, tasty small plates featuring fusion flavours, and a great selection of Asian-inspired cocktails, was just what I needed to finish the paper I was working on!

I didn't order this pork belly and spicy slaw pressed sandwich, but it was very delicious nonetheless.

A couple of bites of sushi roll and a florentine-style egg with mushrooms, together with a lemony lager cocktail -- surprisingly good!

 

Smoked salmon salad and a lychee bellini.

Roasted cauliflower is always delicious; the steamed bun was also very good. I didn't order the plantain either; it just arrived. A banana by any other name...

Underground, Overground: a visit to Toki

Toki Underground is high on the DC food scene hotlist, but over on the NE side it's a bit out of my usual territory. Arriving into Union Station after a trip to Baltimore, though, I headed up to Union Market and found it closed, and by then I was far enough over that a trip across to 12th St NE was only a few more blocks.

I arrived about 4:30 (opening time is 5pm) so stopped in the pub, or rather The Pug, next door. Despite the name, Toki Underground is actually upstairs -- I expected it to be in the basement!

While waiting I read a few reviews and realised it was just as well I was early, since this place is insanely popular. Some of the reviews mentioned a line forming outside prior to opening! This being a Monday it must have been a bit quieter; no line but when I headed up at 5:15 the place was already filling up.

The bar top features quirky pachinko decor, while cocktails are mixed right in front of you.

This take on an Old-Fashioned, the Toki Monster, featured a little garnish of candied, char-grilled butabara.

These gyoza in a tangy soy glaze were toothsome and tasty.

I opted for the kimchi ramen, which were surprisingly spicy with a rich, creamy broth. 

I may not be in Japan any more, but I can still eat ramen!

No cow tipping - Thip Khao

I've heard that cow tipping is a bizarre sport which involves going into fields and tipping cows over on their sides; apparently the cow can't get up on its own and just has to lie there in the field. Having learned about this I then wondered about fly tipping, which it turns out isn't pushing flies over onto their sides. And then there was the lobster tip incident in Santa Cruz...

Anyway, there were no lobsters, cows or flies in evidence when I visited Thip Khao, a Cambodian restaurant up in the Columbia / Petworth strip that gets gongs on the DC food Internet scene.

Dining solo can be difficult when you want to try everything! The portion sizes here are sufficiently modest (and the waiter's advice on that and heat level was spot-on) that I had room for a duck larb salad and an eggplant and hot-pepper stew with snakehead. Both dishes were packed with flavour, the larb seasoned just right with great texture from the roasted rice, and the stew almost like a tangy, zesty, soupy, roasted eggplant purée with tender fish pieces and a soft egg nestled in.

I did eat only one of the compact little packs of sticky black rice that came with each dish, though.