Thursday, January 27, 2011

Cuba Libre: Rum Cake

Bill


The “Torta Mentirita” is a riff on Cuba Libre’s namesake rum-and-Coke drink.  The cake is soaked in Cuba Libre 15-year rum, topped with lime sorbet, and Coca-Cola sauce.  The rum cake flavor changes daily.  The one I tried was peanut butter.




The cake was a little course and dry for a rum cake.  Its gooey peanut butter parts were great, and I usually don't even like in desserts.  The Coca-Cola sauce was tasty and unique, and the lime sorbet was pleasantly sharp but hindered by ice chips.  This dish had some great elements, but fell victim to some easily correctable mistakes.  As it was, it deserves a good rating.


801 9th St NW Washington, DC 20001
(202) 408-1600

Google map and reviews (3.32/5)

Washington Post (Critic 1/4; Readers 2/4)

Washingtonian

Washington Life 

Wonkette

Yelp (3/5)

Cuba Libre on Urbanspoon

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Sou’wester: Red Velvet Cake

Bill


Sou’wester’s red velvet cake is served with cream-cheese frosting and vanilla crème anglais.  Incorporating vanilla crème anglais is a unique conceptual element.  However, this dessert falls far short of Sou’wester’s generally high standard.  The cream cheese frosting separates from the cake like a mass-produced plastic-wrapped dessert.  Normally, a red velvet cake’s chocolate flavor is subtle, but this entire dish is beyond subtle; it’s excruciatingly flavorless.  Skip this one. 




Don’t write off Sou’wester’s desserts as a whole.  The pecan pie lived up the standard set by the restaurant’s other offerings.   


1330 Maryland Avenue Southwest
Washington, DC 20024









Sou'Wester on Urbanspoon


Thursday, January 13, 2011

Ping Pong Dim Sum: Chocolate Bun

Bill


Ping Pong Dim Sum serves the chocolate bun in the same steaming bamboo bowl as regular items. It’s a nice concept: Valhrona chocolate sauce and coconut squeezed into a dim sum puff. The bun has a unique texture combination of a chewy, spongey puff with liquid chocolate. I recommend waiting for this dish to cool and eating each piece in one bite.




The chocolate bun is a better dessert than most Asian restaurants offer.  I wouldn't come to Ping Pong for this dessert, but if you're there, it's worth a try. It deserves a good rating.


900 7th Street NW,
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 506-3740

Google map and reviews (3.6/5)

Washington Post (Readers: 1.5/4)


Express (Best New Restaurant of 2010)

The Hill

Washingtonian

Open Table (3.7/5)

Yelp (3/5) 

Ping Pong Dim Sum on Urbanspoon

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Brasserie Beck: Carrot cake muffins with cream cheese filling

Bill


Brasserie Beck turned a muffin into a serious dessert. The muffin is lightly toasted and served warm, so a slightly crunchy layer covers the warm, moist cake. The first time I tried these muffins, a squeeze of sweet cream cheese filling spread out a bit around the muffin top, and poked about an inch into the core. The whole thing was topped off with a splash of powdered sugar. The interplay of the crunchy shell and nearly gooey inner muffin, with the decadent touch of cream cheese is excellent, and carrot cake isn't even one of my favorites.




Muffins usually suffer from a massive decrease in quality between the top and bottom, but this muffin's delightful core will draw you to start at the bottom. The first time I tried these, I would have preferred the cream cheese filling to extend through more of the muffin's depth. However, I went back the next day, in large part for more muffins, and Brasserie Beck corrected that. The restaurant now inserts the cream cheese from the bottom of the muffin. The picture is of the earlier version, where the filling was inserted from above and erupted over the top. That’s the only change. These muffins deserve a divine rating. If you don’t like carrot cake, you should try them anyway. If you like carrot cake, it is your destiny to know these muffins.


1101 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20005
(202) 408-1717

Google map and reviews (4/5)

Washingtonian (2/4; 2010 Best Restaurants Rank: 80, unranked in 2011)

Washington Post (Critic: 2.5/4; Readers: 1.5/4)

Washington Times

Yelp (4/5)

Brasserie Beck on Urbanspoon

Monday, January 3, 2011

Bread & Chocolate: Bread Pudding

Bill


Bread & Chocolate’s bread pudding is a caramelized crust topping heavy, moist folds of bread, with pockets of cinnamon flavor.  Raisins are limited to the top.  That is a risky and often lazy approach, because bread pudding needs significant flavor and texture bursts to prevent a bland core.  However, this dish maintained decent flavor throughout. 




Bread & Chocolate serves this bread pudding cold, which helps condense the dish and spread the flavor elements.  It really should be served with a dairy-based sauce like crème anglais.  This bread pudding was very good, but an accompanying sauce, relatively thick and cold, might have elevated it to divine.  It deserves a great rating. 

I've only tried one other bread pudding in DC, at Elephant & Castle.  That is good, in part because it is served with a sauce.  However, I rank this one just a bit higher.


2301 M St, Washington, DC 20037
(202) 833-8360

Google map & reviews (2.5/5)

Washington Examiner

Yelp (2.5/5)

Tripadvisor (3.5/5)

Bread & Chocolate on Urbanspoon