You can buy crabs at the wharf, but I think there is no longer a place to eat them. You’d have to take them home. There used to be a pavillion with tables on the water, but it’s no longer there as far as I could tell from my recent visit.
Most Colombian places are in the deep burbs (especially Silver Spring), and I haven’t been to them. In DC, The Royal is supposed to be serious and very good.
I was thinking El Cielo. I was going to recommend El Pollo Rico peruvian chicken to the OP, but didn’t know if they wanted to go into Arlington,
We are here now and have had great meals at Immigrant Food, Prost, and Mélange! Trying Oyamel tomorrow.
@DrJimbob we came >this< close to going to DC for Boston April vacation, too. Would’ve split the week between BIL’s home outside Baltimore and DC proper but it’s not happening. Spring onion would love the Smithsonian museums and the Mall/monuments (and so would we, haven’t visited DC proper in a long time). I’m following this thread closely. Hope you have a great time!
Here are my Must Orders for Oyamel, plus one caveat:
Camarones al mojo de ajo negro
Albondigas
ceviche con citricos
My warning: Don’t waste your money on the tacos. They will not hold up to a really good taqueria.
Also, I see they have a special soup for the Cherry Blossom Festival. In a Jose Andres restaurant, specials like this are often great.
EL Cielo is a $228 set menu. I’m sure it’s nice.
We ate at Oyamel recently and liked the ceviche con citricos, beef entrée (there are only two entrees in the menu and the other is pork), and Guac. I liked the pulpo too. We did not like a chicken tapa we got…unsure of the name offhand. I could probably find a pic.
Thank you for the tips- really appreciate it! Looking forward to our first Jose Andres restaurant!
Not Colombian, but I just thought of Los Hermanos, a very authentic Dominican place in town. That’s where visiting baseball players go to eat. The food is sensational. 1426 Park Road NW
We just had lunch in Baltimore on the way home to NY at Nick’s. It’s on the river. 2 minutes off 95 and a great lunch and nice view of boats docked and a bridge.
Loved your recs of the albondigas and ceviche! We also liked the queso fundido and black beans and rice. My husband chose the smoked tuna tacos, which I wouldn’t have chosen but we liked them! Of the two desserts we tried, we liked the tres leches better - the chocolate dessert was paired with a guava (?) gelee that I didn’t love with the chocolate. Cute place and great meal, kid friendly too!
Glad you liked it!
I am rarely interested in the desserts at a Jose Andres restaurant unless it’s a special creation.
What did you have at Nick’s?
My husband and I shared creamy crab chowder, which was ok, but we loved the crab cakes! Very little filler. Sides were great too- old Bay fries and perfectly steamed asparagus. My daughter enjoyed her chicken fingers and the brownie sundae too. It was a beautiful day to sit outside!
I just watched a video of Anthony Bourdain’s episode of No Reservations about DC, and saw the thing about El Pollo Rico. Not sure if we’ll make it to Arlington this time 'round (though we might for crab); bookmarking in any event, as we’ll wind up there sooner or later!
Also not sure if we’ll wind up at Union Market, on the opposite end of town, but El Cielo looks very interesting. At some point, we’ll probably want a guide to Union Market, too.
El Pollo Rico is not what it used to be. They were the kings of Peruvian chicken, and they had a strong following. People would line up especially at 12pm and 6pm when they would start taking the chickens off the spits en masse.
Now there are so many places I can go to, and EPR is fairly deserted at times when they used to draw a crowd.
Also, Union Market is no big deal in terms of overall quality or anything super exciting. It is enormously popular, though, and it has become difficult to park.
Union Market has an outpost of 2fifty Texas bbq. Great brisket. Good sausage. Another hit us Rappahannock Oysters. Not sure what else is there.
Lots of Peruvian chicken in the area now. Huacatay in NE DC is highly regarded
I don’t know if my experience was atypical, but the 2Fifty Texas brisket I had at Union Market was stale and a pale imitation of the great barbecue they serve at the Riverdale restaurant.
I’ve had several excellent meals at Rappahannock Oyster bar at Union Market, but to be honest I’m not sure I’ve gotten anything there other than raw oysters and the ambrosial clams and lamb dish, which is one of the greatest dishes in DC. My wife and son say the rest of the menu is good too.
Taqueria Las Gemelas, which is adjacent to Union Market, is one of the top taco places in DC. Tyler Cowen, the quirky economist who is obsessive about global cuisine, calls it “the best Mexican food this region has ever seen” (Cowen is deeply familiar with Mexican cuisine, having traveled there more than 50 times, he says.)
The DC Fish Wife seafood counter is also excellent for fried fish (I’ve never had it, but really want to try the “Invasive Fish Sandwich”), and there is a place whose name I can’t remember that has outstanding smoked fish too.
There are some places that are just okay, but all in all I’m a pretty big fan of Union Market and think it would be a fine place for an out-of-town visitor to forage for lunch.
Update: I looked it up and the smoked fish place is Neopol Savory Smokery.
I will check out that clam and lamb dish for certain!
Any particulars recs at Las Gemelas? I’m not sure from your post if you’ve been or you are just quoting Tyler Cowen, who has a very interesting blog but seems to announce every time that he has now found the best place for…
You’ve nailed Tyler Cowen. He is a fascinating, but very annoying person
, mostly because of the tendency you’ve identified – he continuously identifies some place as “the best” in someplace (say Timbuktu), based on very little evidence. But he is interesting and a great source of information. My favorite podcast of 2021 was his interview of feminist philosopher Anna Srinivasan. They genuinely disagreed on important issues and genuinely did not like one another and did not bother to hide it. Good stuff.
Sorry for not being clear, but yes I have eaten at Las Gemelas, but only once. It’s been a few months, so some of the details are fuzzy, but we ordered a bunch of stuff including several salsas (the charred tomato roja was particularly good). For the tacos, I basically had a bite or two of most of them and remember the suadero and al pastor as being outstanding.
This is not a hole in the wall place and does not appear particularly “authentic,” but it is very good. It’s also very crowded (which is why we’ve only eaten there once).
Sadly, President Biden did not provide a post-meal report.
