Lately, I’ve been eating out a lot, and I’m starting to get a little bit bored of the dichotomy I’m seeing: Either I end up eating simple food in a dirty, cheap setting, or I get an overly complex, at times confused meal in an expensive setting. What happened to the good old days, when quality didn’t have to be expensive, and when nice restaurants appreciated simple cuisine?

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That is why I finally turned to Palena Café, not only one of DC’s most famous eateries, but one of the best bangs for the buck. While Palena has an expensive prix fixe, multi-course menu, it realizes the need to cater to the more casual consumer, and so it sets off a portion of its restaurant as a simple café that serves up American classics, like a burger, fries, and roast chicken.

Now, that may not seem like much to excite you, but just consider these credentials. The burger is, far and away, considered the best restaurant-quality burger in the whole city, the soups are often ranked as some of the best dishes in the whole city (according to the Washingtonian), and the roast chicken is the stuff of legends, typically running out within the first couple or so hours of service on any given night. In fact, while I’m not one to eat chicken when I go out, I had come to Palena specifically for the roast chicken, a dish so famous that even other restaurateurs have ranked it among their favorites in the city. Whether you enjoy simple cuisine or not, it’s hard to argue with credentials like these, and I had to get my 2 cents in on the action.

So I suited up and prepared for my upcoming feast. I arrived early—i.e. right as the café opened—just to get a good seat, since the café takes no reservation, unlike Palena’s main dining room. Trust me, too, you’re going to need to be early to grab a seat, since there are only a few tables, even though this is one of the most popular restaurants in the city. I wanted to avoid a repeat of the first time I’d come to Palena, when I had arrived at 7:00 p.m. with my 2 good friends only to wait about 45 minutes for one of the 3 or so tables that could accommodate us. This time, however, I was lucky enough to not only get a seat, but also a small view of the street, though the neighborhood, Cleveland Park, isn’t all that much to watch.

As expected from such a respected restaurant, the décor also thrills with its sheer elegant simplicity, especially for a place that serves a burger. I do admit that the tables in the café are small and a bit dull, since they’re wooden and scuffed, but the overall impression is nice. Moreover, I like the great booths, as the couches are ornamented all over with paintings of flowers and plants. The bar is a standout, too. It takes up nearly half the front. Loungy, odd couch stools also give the restaurant a very classy, café vibe. The lighting just puts a final touch of refinement. All throughout there are quaint, old-fashioned chandeliers and mini-candelabras. At nights, a little light runs across the top of the wall, highlighting the outline of the restaurant. Still, the décor is admittedly too simple for some, with the only decoration being the very large mirrors and the lamps.

The service, too, is excellent. The waiters have been very professionally trained. While the café is very affordable, I guess the higher prices at the adjacent restaurant do bring with them good service to the whole venue in general. Waiters bring out courses in proper succession, always ask before they take dishes away, and are constantly attentive with the minor details, like water. I also found them rather unobtrusive. As a side note, though, I did think the waiters were just a bit bland—not that that actually affects the service, but it just struck me that the people were a bit overly formal for the place. Still, I’d be willing to bet you can’t find better service at this price in DC (except just maybe at Central Michel Richard).

Nothing, though, quite compares to the food, which carries the restaurant’s same air of simple refinement but does so with so much polish that it literally crushes all its competition. First and foremost, I need to compliment the sheer consistency. I stuck to the specialties, of course, but I tasted 3 of the menu’s 9 or 10 dishes, plus a dessert and an appetizer off the restaurant’s menu (which you can order from at the café). Not only did none disappoint, but 2 of 5 dishes were simply unforgettable (i.e. nearly flawless), and a third was very close. Whether it be soup, a burger, a piece of chicken, or a cheesecake, Palena does it all incredibly well, to the point that I was a little taken back by the sheer variety, regardless of how small the menu might be.

Moreover, the technique and preparation of the dishes are incredible. Let me put it into perspective: When I ordered the roast chicken, they asked me if I had 45 minutes to wait. I’m not exaggerating, either. The chicken takes 45 minutes from the time of order to prepare! Not surprisingly, it is so mouth-wateringly succulent, with such a crispy skin and so much zesty seasoning, that I almost didn’t notice that it was just a plain piece of chicken, served with nothing other than some spinach.

Finally, the flavor combinations are superb. Whether the dish be simple or complex, everything is nuanced and balanced. The chicken comes with an intensely zesty seasoning to balance out its juiciness, the fry platter features a rather zippy, spicy-tangy mayo, and the artichoke soup has just the right amount of cream so that it’s never too heavy but rather always fresh. Add in a few unique touches, like fried lemons on the fry platter, sheep’s milk ricotta and rhubard compote in the cheesecake, and fried onion and shrimp in the artichoke soup, and you have the beginnings of greatness.

For all that, I’d expect to pay a premium, but even with the value Palena once again delivers. You’ll be lucky to find roast chicken for $25 at other places, let alone the $15 that you pay for the 45 minute-cooked version at Palena, and $12 for a true restaurant burger is something I don’t frequently see. Add in the ambience and service, and you’ll see why Palena is so popular.

My biggest problem? I simply didn’t have enough room to eat even more.

Really, if you want a fantastic meal in DC, there’s few that can do it better—or cheaper—than Palena. It’s a must try.

What I Tasted

1. Artichoke Soup (off restaurant menu): This is a very light soup, but boy is it packed with flavor. And you can just tell from the presentation that it’s going to be good, too. It’s served in a huge bowl with protruding sides and a very deep hole, full of tons of color from the beautiful artichoke and cream mixture and the white foam topping it off. I love the ingredients, too. Never would I have thought that whole pieces of shrimp, fried onion skins, and artichoke would have gone so well together, but they do. The shrimp is large, juicy, succulent, and very savory, while the onion crisps add just a bit of refreshing crunch. Really, this is some of the best cooked, most flavorful shrimp I’ve had in a long time—and it’s in a soup no less! There’s also something a bit sour and crunchy in here, which I found oddly enjoyable. The artichoke is near perfect, too. To be fair, the flavors of the soup are very downplayed, but the soup has so much complexity I don’t mind. I do enjoy the numerous overtones, though. I’ve already discussed the small bit of sourness, the savoriness from the shrimp, and the onions, but there’s also some really nice seasoning in the soup itself. It’s mildly spicy, with very good pepper to really balance out the creaminess with a bit of a strong kick. Finally, the soup is extremely smooth and has just the right amount of thickness to give it some body without becoming heavy at all. Overall, this is masterful in almost every way. 4.8/5.0
2. Cheeseburger (Truffled Cheese, Meat, Truffle Oil, Sauce): Excellent, though very simple. The bun is toasted to near perfection. It’s a simple sesame seed bun, but it’s toasted all the way through, and it doesn’t taste burnt at all, so it doesn’t contribute any odd flavors. It’s a bit bland, but it holds up very well. It also has a lot of flaky fluff to it, which is a double-edged sword. Sometimes, it’s too much, but typically I like the very big crunch. Also, the truffle is very nicely balanced. Typically, I hate truffle oil because it’s stacked on too strongly in burgers, but here it’s perfect. It just perfumes your breath with a nice herby quality without overwhelming you at all. The cheese is perfect, too: smoky and flavorful, but not too strong at all. The star, though, is by far the meat, and it’s near perfect: fatty, but not overly so; dripping with oil, but not gushing all the over place; cooked all the way through evenly. It’s not traditional ground beef, either. It has the taste of a nice steak, so it has a very unexpected elegance to it. The sauce just tops it all off. It’s a bit too salty for my taste, but it has a very nice herby richness, with the body and taste of a mayo but with some garlic and other herbs. I would have liked more, just with less salt. Other than that, I just have to fault the burger for being a bit bland. There’s practically nothing on it at all, not even veggies. 4.2/5.0
3. Fry Plate (Fried Lemons, Fries, Onion Rings, Tater Tots, Zippy Mayo): Overall, a mixed bag. Nothing’s bad, but I’d really prefer just a plate of the fries and lemons. The zippy mayo’s a nice touch, too. It’s a mix of an herbed mayo with some spicy pepper. It’s a nice mix, combining two things you normally wouldn’t eat together, but it can get a bit spicy. 3.5/5.0, overall. Points for variety.
   • Onion Rings: The onions in here are delicious—grilled to perfection, with some nice oil to them. The rings themselves, though, are bland. The batter on them is very light and almost flavorless, really not contributing all that much. It just leaves you with a very strong oiliness that is a bit unsatisfying. Still, nicely made, with good onion taste. The rings go down very, very easily because of just how light they are. 2.3/5.0
   • French Fries: These are amazing. They’re extremely thin, in perfect even rectangles that have just enough thickness to allow you to get a taste of the potato. And that taste still manages, somehow, to be very big. They’re incredibly starchy, yet because they’re so thin and so nicely fried, they’re incredibly crunchy. One of the biggest crunches I’ve ever heard, in fact. Even better, the salt is perfect, so that your mouth waters just a bit, but you just want more fries, not water. 4.5/5.0.
   • Fried Lemons: The kicker on the plate! These always give everyone a shock at just how good they are. I have to say, when I tried these lemons the first time, I absolutely loved them, but this time around they tasted just a bit more bland, and it might have been in the very light, tasteless batter. Still, I really like these mini-chips. They’re crispy, but not like potato chips. Instead, you taste a good piece of lemon, giving you a big rush of sourness. The crunch isn’t quite the best, and the sourness can be a bit too much (before, I think the batter was heavier and helped to counterbalance it a bit more). Still, this is one of the most interesting takes on fried food you can have. 4.0/5.0
   • Tater Tots: These are an elegant take on tater tots, crafted in the shape of mini-swirls (like a cinnamon bun), but I found them a bit dull. They really are just mushy potato balls. On the one hand, I like just how strong the potato starch comes through. On the other, the flavor is really muddy. I like the crunch, though. This component is very different than the others, having a very nice softness to it as you bite into the mushy ball. Still, not my favorite. 2.5/5.0
4. Roast Chicken (served with sautéed spinach): If anyone can find a better roast chicken in DC, I will be extremely shocked. In fact, this is nearly flawless in every single way. The chicken is cooked better than I’ve ever seen it. Nothing is burnt or overcooked in any way, and the whole chicken comes out evenly. The flesh itself is moist in every bite, no matter the part of the chicken it comes from. It’s a bit on the salty side, but only very subtly. The seasoning is actually quite nice. Because the chicken is so salty, I think it’s been brined, which would explain how it got so perfectly soft. The skin, however, is just the opposite—crisp and crunchy, with a good bit of seasoning and flavor to it. I like just how much pepper and rosemary (I think) went into it, giving it some kick. And finally, the spinach is a fantastic match. It’s soft and tender, but cooked without any other ingredients, so that it retains its very heavy bitterness. That bitterness really balances out the savoriness and the saltiness of the chicken very well. All in all, this is an extremely simple dish, with no more than two ingredients, but I can’t imagine it done any better anywhere, especially at this price! 4.8/5.0. 5.0/5.0 considering value.
5. Sheep Milk Ricotta Cheesecake (with rhubarb compote): Amazing. This cake is so complex that you’ll just be left wondering how it can possibly be a cheesecake. The rhubard compote is very nice, with a strong sour-sweet fruitiness to it that is a good counterbalance to the very intense, slightly bitter, very rich cheesecake. The cheesecake itself is overloaded with toppings to add some extra flavor, too: coconuts throughout the cake, pistachios crumbled all across the top, powdered sugar, etc. So you get the fruity and the sweet, the crunchy and the rich, all throughout. The abundance of rhubard pieces just tops it all off, with a fruity, chewy burst that combines almost seamlessly with the smooth cake. Perhaps best of all is just the natural richness of the cheesecake. Sheep’s milk isn’t normally used in American ricotta because it’s about 10x as expensive as cow’s milk. Real ricotta, though, is only made with sheep’s milk. And when you taste this cake, you’ll know exactly why. It’s so elegant that it can just slide down your throat without becoming too thick or clumpy, yet it’s so rich that it’s practically like eating a thick cream. There is no hardness to this cake at all, as it just melts in your mouth. And the flavor hits your whole palate—how could it not when it’s just so rich? The goat’s milk can give the cake just a bit of bitterness, but even that I really don’t mind because the ingredients are just so fresh, so abundant, and in such a complex combination that you really will savor every bite. 4.6+/5.0. Named best cheesecake in DC by Washingtonian for a reason.

Overall Scores

I have to grade Palena Café a little bit differently depending on what you’re looking for.

Scores for Palena, the Gourmet Burger Joint

Ambience: 4.0/5.0. A bit too fancy for a burger joint, but it’s that class that makes it so great.
Service: 4.4/5.0. You won’t find better service for a burger, that’s for sure.
Taste (for the Fries and Burger): 4.0/5.0
Value: 4.5/5.0
Verdict: 4.2/5.0. The cheapest you will find any fancy bistro burger, and far better than most of its competition. Plus, great ambience and service to boot.

Scores for Palena, the Café

Ambience: 3.5/5.0
Service: 4.0/5.0
Taste (every non-burger item): 4.8/5.0
Value: 4.5+/5.0. 5.0/5.0 for the chicken.
Overall Score: 4.5/5.0. 4.9/5.0 if you’re just looking for roasted chicken.

French cuisine has always been one of my favorites. Rich, creamy, and incredibly complex, it comes with an elegance and level of nuance that is difficult to find in any other type of cuisine. It is, unfortunately, very difficult to find very good French cuisine in DC, especially at a good price. Bistro Bis, though, is going against the grain, setting a new standard for French dining in the area.

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You notice Bistro Bis’s dedication to excellence as soon as you step into its very welcoming, warm décor. Since this is a hotel restaurant, it has both the grandeur and the space to make you feel like you’re at someplace important. There are huge wine cellars, large bottles of wines and champaigne (think magnum or larger) placed all around the walls, wine glasses and decanters placed on mantles, old and colorful advertisements of liquor, etc. (as you can tell, there’s a heavy liquor theme—great for an alcoholic, I suppose). There isn’t much color, everything being made out of a very clean, polished wood, but I still found the place to be pretty lively, largely because of the bright lighting and the jazzy music going on around the bar.

My one big complaint is the seating. Depending on the number of people, you might get a rather large table, or you might end up sharing a long booth that runs the length of the room, with numerous miniature tables placed around it so close to each other that you can barely get in or out. Why a restaurant so large would cram a couple extra tables in is beyond me, but they did, and it feels forced.

The service is even better than the ambience, though it’s slow. Numerous waiters serve, each with an assigned role, from lifting plates to pouring water to taking the order, etc. Each is very respectful, always asking for permission to take the plate away, always filling up water promptly long before I even got close to finishing my glass, etc. The restaurant can just feel slow because the waiters seem to come by very infrequently, which is partially due to how big the restaurant is.

Moreover, the service is very much on the formal side—perhaps even overly so—to the point that you barely hear a word out of the waiters’ mouths, as they try to be as unobtrusive as possible. It’s very “French,” in a word. I like more sociable types, but I found the service more than excellent.

Not surprisingly, the food also lives up to the standard of the ambience and service. Sometimes, it can be a bit overly fancy, especially for people who like to keep their food simple, but the restaurant does a great job of incorporating numerous ingredients so that each dish feels both balanced and complex. For example, the duck parfait comes with cherries and jam, and the sweetbreads with rice and gumbo. It’s nice to see a restaurant with a lot of range as well as consistency in the quality of each component of its dishes. That’s not to say everything was perfect (just look at my analysis of the Mac and Gruyere), but the food generally lived up to the complexity of French cuisine.

For that quality and complexity, as well as the service and ambience, the price was fully justified. The prices are about mid-range by DC standards, but just about nothing about this restaurant is mid-range, and the fact that Bistro Bis gives such large portions with so many different components only goes to make it that much better than its competition.

Bistro Bis is, in turn, an easy recommendation for me. Everything isn’t perfect, but this is easily one of DC’s best French restaurants.

What I Tasted

1. Complimentary Gruyere Popover: A fantastic way to start the meal, especially given how paltry the bread basket is (just some hardened baguette slices). The popover, in contrast, is deliciously soft, though not too fluffy, since there’s not much dough. Instead, you get a chewy yet satisfying gritty and buttery texture, like a combination between potatoes and cheese. And that would probably best describe the flavor, too—oily from the cheese and butter, but with a deliciously salty kick and a bit of gruyere bitterness that make it instantly addictive. It was served lukewarm, though, so it didn’t taste as fresh as it could have. 4.1/5.0
2. Duck Liver Parfait: Extremely rich and flavorful, but with a fantastic, balancing tartness. On the one hand, you get a rich parfait that is so creamy it’s almost mousse-like. The duck is, of course, very savory and very bitter, leaving a very strong, though smooth, aftertaste that I find delicious. Bistro Bis, though, isn’t satisfied with just presenting some flavorful duck liver. Instead, they make a dish out of it, introducing Morello cherries and an amazing layer of fruit jam on the bottom. The combo is very thick and chunky, adding a nice contrast to the smooth liver. Also, it’s very sour and sweet, helping to balance out the strongly bitter liver with some lighter flavors. The combination can seem forced at times, though, especially as the duck eventually overpowers the jam and turns the whole palate bitter, but I find it enjoyable and incredibly complex nonetheless. Topping off the whole dish are some breadsticks that seem a bit extraneous, since they’re too thin to really layer the parfait onto them and eat everything together, but I did like just how crunchy and even flaky they were, as well as their butteriness. Finally, this dish gets bonus points for presentation—3 large slabs of parfait, topped with a cherry and a breadstick, the breadstick running the length of the parfait diagonally. 4.3/5.0. Beware, only for people who like it bold and decadent.
3. Sweetbreads a la Zingara (Trumpet Mushrooms, Peas, Veal Tongue, Jambon, Herb Pilaf and Madeira Ravigote): I really like just about everything on this plate. The rice with peas and ham is not only cooked properly, but it has a delicious bit of salty, savory fat from the ham, some freshness from the peas, sweetness from the onions, just enough butter so that it’s soft but not too rich, and some very nice zest from the herby seasonings. It’s a great, well-rounded, complex combination. The ravigote is also enjoyable, as it is overloaded with tons of soft, tender ham and a rather light, semi-sweet sauce for some balance. I do find it far too salty, however. Finally, the headline of the show, the sweetbreads, are delicious, if for nothing else than an excellent fry job, which leaves them rather lightly battered. They thus never become too heavy, while they still retain an incredible crispness and crunch. They are just a little bit overdone to my taste, as there is a very slight burnt taste. They are also seasoned with lots of very fresh greens (basil mostly I think), adding an herby balance to the very bold, bitter taste of sweetbreads. Moreover, the texture is right on, as the sweetbreads are soft to the point that they offer almost no resistance at all, yet they never get muddy in any way. 4.4/5.0. Again, another dish that can be a bit too much for some, but if you like sweetbreads, you’ll definitely be impressed.
4. Gratin of Mac and Gruyere: I was hesitant at first about this dish, since I had tried the version at Bistro Bis’s sister restaurant Vidalia and couldn’t even finish it. And my suspicions were correct: this unique take on Mac and Cheese is nevertheless not very good. It doesn’t do anything wrong, and it is far from horrible, but there is nothing that great about any of its components. The noodles are large and well-cooked, but they seem a bit bland and detract from the cheesiness of the dish. That’s not such a bad thing, though, because the cheese doesn’t really do much here. It doesn’t have a strong presence, and the presence it does have is slightly bitter. It’s not that there isn’t enough cheese, but rather that it is just bland. The macaroni also has some semi-burnt cheese on the top, which adds some nice chewiness and crunch, but it isn’t enough to make a large change in the texture of the dish. I do give credit for the slight smokiness of the dish and for cooking such large macaroni properly, so that they are soft without being mushy. Still, it’s a dull dish overall. 2.0/5.0
5. Tarte Normande (Golden caramelized apples over a crisp pastry crust with goat’s milk ice cream and calvados sauce): A fantastic apple tart, by all accounts. The centerpiece here really is the caramelized apples, which form a near tower, dwarfing everything from the ice cream to the thin pastry on the bottom. The caramelized apples are cooked nearly perfectly, so that they’re tough enough to retain just a bit of their natural crunchiness and to avoid even a semblance of sogginess, while they’re soft enough that they can be easily eaten. That’s largely because they’re cut extra thin, so that even though large full slices are included right in the tart, they never get mushy in any way. The flavor is just as balanced. The apples are naturally a sour variety of apple (they must be some type of green variety), yet the light caramelization gives them a fair bit of sweetness to help counterbalance the sourness. Sometimes caramelized foods can get too heavy, but it’s not the case here at all, nor do the apples ever get cloying. The other components on the plate fare a bit worse, though not by much. The ice cream is very rich, as I’d expect of anything that uses goat’s milk. It serves as a fantastic counterpart to the much lighter, tangy apples. Unfortunately, there is barely enough on the plate for half the tart, and because of the way the apples come—in long, thin, semi-tough slices—it’s very hard to actually mix them with the ice cream. There’s also a thin pastry layer on the bottom, which I find flaky and nicely cooked, but with very little flavor. This really is a one-sided dish, with the apples dominating just about everything. Nonetheless, they’re so good, I don’t mind too much. 4.3+/5.0

Scores

Ambience: 4.0/5.0
Service: 4.3/5.0
Taste: 4.0/5.0
Value: 4.0/5.0
Verdict: 4.1/5.0

When I’m in the mood for a true dining experience, there’s nothing that I like more than some French food. Rich, savory, fresh dishes, combined with perfect service and a nice air of intimacy—you just can’t go wrong with a combo like that.

And I was looking for just that kind of a perfect dining experience when I went to Café du Parc, during the middle of what was the worst snowstorm in decades (the legendary Snowmaggedon). Now, a snowstorm may not seem like a big deal, but in DC, when it snows, it’s as if the whole world ends—busses stop running, people get lazy and stay in, and you can barely find anyone in the whole Georgetown area. Needless to say, my plans to go out to dinner with some friends had been canceled, and I was in somewhat of a bad mood. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me from getting in a good meal, and I was intent on escaping from the dreary boredom of my deserted college campus. I put on a few layers of clothing, roughed it through the cold DC weather, running to Dupont to catch my metro (since the busses weren’t running!), and I eventually made it to Café du Parc. In retrospect, that sounds a bit extreme, but boy did it turn out to be a good choice.

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So what is it that distinguishes Café du Parc, especially in DC. After all,  it’s the nations capital, with tons of suits, tons of politicians, etc. One would expect French cuisine all over.

Café du Parc, though, is on another level. Most important is the price: It’s a high-end bistro for cheap. $38 for a prix fixe and about $40-$50 for 3 courses off the menu is about as cheap a price at which you’ll find good French food. Just as importantly, though, it’s got some major culinary cred, as its menu is designed by three-star Michelin chef Antoine Westermann. $40 for the guarantee of a 3-Michelin-star-quality chef–now that’s a deal, if you ask me. Not surprisingly, Café du Parc happens to be the 20^th best restaurant on Washingtonian’s 100 best list for DC, which is quite the feat, considering it’s only one of 2 or 3 restaurants in that whole top 20 that costs less than $50. With that much cred, Café du Parc was really asking for The Food Buster to check it out, and I couldn’t let a snowstorm get in the way.

Café du Parc doesn’t shine in all regards, though. Upon entering the restaurant, I immediately noticed just how normal (read typical or even dull) a bistro it is, at least on the surface. It’s located in a hotel, so not only do you get the typical excellent service, but you get that somewhat annoying, obsequious concierge service that you can expect from American hotels. The dining room itself is nicely, but simply decorated, and it has that touristy “hotel” feel to it: vases of violets (which look fake) lining the sides, pictures of DC monuments all around, really bright lighting everywhere, spacious seating, the boring white-lined walls, etc. That dullness would be my one critique of the place in general, as you really do know that you’re in a typical hotel.

I will say, though, that for what it is, the café is quaint, clean, and charming. You can tell just by looking at it that it’s going to be on the cheaper side of the luxurious, but I prefer that type of simplicity and casualness to what you get at the typical bistro, where everything seems to be overdone for the sake of being mysterious, romantic, and ostentatious (i.e. candlelight everywhere, practically no lighting, etc.) Everything is so nicely and simply organized and decorated that you really can’t find much to fault. For example, the open kitchen counter is stacked with French baguettes, while the pictures of DC introduce hotel guests to the capital.

And even the service didn’t seem to bother me at all. If anything, my waiter really contributed to the meal, approaching me with less than the typical formality of a hotel waiter, conversing with me about my travels, giving me excellent recommendations, explaining the dishes in depth, and just giving off a real warmth and charisma that you don’t get from a “real” French waiter, who has probably been taught to mute his/her emotions completely and fawn on the guests. He was a bit overzealous, but the intention was well-placed.

That all said, I’m sure you don’t want to hear endlessly about ambience or service. No, it’s the food that counts. And trust me, when you try the food here, you’re going to immediately be taken to that quiet, comfort zone in the back of your mind where you can just relax, enjoy, and not even notice that you’ve devoured a whole plate of food in a matter of 10 minutes. It’s really superb on almost all accounts, especially given the price range ($20 for my pork belly with mashes potatoes—even a college student can afford that!). Especially nice is that, for the price you pay, not only do you get some interesting combinations of ingredients that you typically might not find at other restaurants (check out my explanation of the Pâté en Croûte for example), but you also get presentation, as everything is cleanly neatly organized, dishes are balanced with different components, and in general you get a lot of color on each dish. Even more importantly, the food tastes just as good as it looks! It’s somewhat of a shame, really, since all that presentation went to waste as I begin to devour my food.

Overall, then, I’d have to give Café du Parc a big two thumbs up. Not only do you get superb service, presentation, food, and variety (even though the menu is very small), but you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for it. There really is very little to complain about, and if you really love French cuisine—or even if you don’t—you really should try out Café du Parc if you’re in DC.

What I tried:

1. (Complementary) Bread: A hot, soft, fluffy baguette. Nearly perfect when eaten fresh. It has a nice crispiness on the edges, too, and it’s well salted. It does get bland as soon as it cools down, though.
2. Pâté en croûte d’Antoine Westermann (Veal, pork and duck foie gras terrine, cooked with port wine and Armagnac wrapped in home-made pastry with natural gelée): There is a piece of crispy bread with a caramelized onion jelly, served alongside the pate, with a border of crushed pistachios running across the middle—it’s a beautiful dish, as would be expected of a specialty dish created by a three Michelin star chef. The jelly is a bit too sweet on its own, but it has a nice, humid, fresh taste to it—it’s a natural-feeling sweetness, rather than a cloying one. However, the synergy with the pate is astoundingly good, as the sweet gooiness of the onions provides a great contrast to the savoriness of the pate. The pate itself is astounding. Not only is it one of the most unique creations I’ve seen (imagine pate bordered by the thick crust of a large piece of bread), it combines numerous different types of meat to really bring out a satisfying, complex taste that you can’t pin down. It reminds me of fresh mortadella and tender beef, but with a lot of nuance coming from the crunch of big pistachio pieces inside as well as the flakiness of the bread. The meat itself seems crunchy but just falls apart in your mouth.4.8/5.0. One of the most unique, beautiful, and best tasting dishes I’ve had in a long time.
3. Poitrine de cochon croustillante (Slowly braised pork belly, sautéed crisp, with natural thyme and garlic jus, served with salad): Again, a great presentation, with two nicely laid out parts—the fatty, crisped pork on one side, and the lighter, leafy, green salad on the other. I honestly thought the salad would add nothing. After all, extreme fat with a bunch of leafy greens? But I was certainly wrong. It’s delicious, adding some lightness and color to the dish. It’s infused with roasted garlic (left whole in the shell), giving it a nice, slight herbal taste. The salad also mixes wonderfully with the light gravy of the pork, which is the real centerpiece of the dish. The pork is, as expected, fatty, but it’s just so perfectly cooked that even the fat melts in your mouth. And even though it’s just one body part of the pig, there is so much nuance and complexity to the meat, as it’s actually composed of three layers—a crispy top, a fatty middle, and a slightly crisp but still very tender bottom. Each has its own flavor and taste, really showing just how versatile pork can be. The top is like eating a really hard piece of bacon, the middle just melts in your mouth with no problem, and the bottom has a satisfying chewiness to it with a bit more of a savory flavor. Everything is great with the gravy, which adds a good saltiness to the pork, but the pork can be eaten alone with no problem whatsoever, as it’s just that good. Thankfully, the gravy is very light and doesn’t overpower the dish at all. 4.5+ for the pork belly. 4.0 for the salad.
4. Homemade Mashed Potatoes: Phenomenal! I would like you to try to make better potatoes, because it’s almost impossible. They are so creamy, so buttery, and so rich, that you’d think it’s cloying, but they are not at all, as they go down smoothly and have a slight garlicky/herby flavor to it. They also go perfectly with the pork, adding a delightful starchy sweetness that adds even more flavor to the intense fat of the dish. 4.8-4.9
5. Fondant au Chocolat (Warm Chocolate cake with a red wine ganache and vanilla ice cream): This dish, again, is well-presented, and it has undeniable quality, but it’s just a bit uninspired (I’ve seen it done too many times, and better too). The vanilla ice cream is fantastic—smooth, creamy, perfectly sweetened, and a great counterbalance to the intense dark chocolate taste of the cake. The cake itself is like a muffin, as it’s warm and fluffy on top, with a nice bit of thickness to it that gives it the taste of a real chocolate cake, even though it’s surprisingly airy. The gooey chocolaty inside is really where I take the most fault with the cake. The red wine doesn’t come through too well. Instead, it just adds a slight fruity bitterness that clashes with the chocolate flavor. The caky exterior and the vanilla save the whole dessert. 3.5

Ambience: 2.8/5.0
Service: 4.5/5.0
Taste: 4.5/5.0
Value: 4.2/5.0. While it’s not the cheapest food, you’d be very hard pressed to find a bistro that serves French food of this quality at a cheaper price.
Overall: 4.2/5.0