Matchbox: Ice Cream Sandwich

Josh


A divine dessert can be found right in the heart of Rockville, MD on the pike at Matchbox.  A very trendy and popular pick at the moment, Matchbox is huge with a large outdoor seating area for the summer months. While perhaps a good dessert choice for that time, I chose to jump the gun a little a sample the ice cream sandwich mid-winter, and I was not disappointed.

First and foremost, the cookies were tremendous.  Whether they were freshly baked in house or not, they certainly tasted it.  Large, with ample chocolate chip rations, they maintained their warm softness despite the coffee ice cream's valiant effort to expose that wondrous element.  Chocolate sauce lined the plate in a very ornate and fancy way, but didn't really affect the taste too drastically. Fairly substantial in size, one could certainly share this delight with a significant other, however, I will warn you, it is good enough to incite hoarding. 

In addition to the cookie sandwich, we also got lucky in that on Tuesdays at Matchbox, they offer you a taste of their donut dessert as a thank you for your patronage. I found them to be quite tasty, but certainly no comparison to the cookie sandwich to my palate.  The donuts are part of the regular menu, so don't fret if you can't stop in on a Tuesday. All in all, Matchbox is a great place to grab a quality dessert.

1699 Rockville Pike at Congressional Plaza
Rockville, MD 20852
(301) 816-0369

Also:

Chinatown                             

713 H St. NW
Washington, DC  20001

(202) 289-4441 

521 8th St. SE

Washington, DC 20003

(202) 548-0369

Yelp (3.5/5)

Open Table (4/5)

metromix (4/5)

Washington Post

Gazette

Washington Business Journal

Dolcezza Bethesda

Josh


The smooth and succulent taste of gelato has long been a savory treat for Washingtonians on hot summer days.  It just seems more apropos and dare I say classier than a giant waffle cone filled with cookie dough.  Not to be missed is Dolcezza, located in Georgetown, Dupont Circle, and Bethesda. 

Emitting all the pomp and circumstance of a true Argentinian creamery, Dolcezza possesses the flair and talent needed to produce a fine dulche de leche.  The soft and cool caramel-infused treat must be savored while dreaming of long-lost days along the cobble stone streets of Buenos Aires.  A small cup is plenty to satiate a hearty sugar craving without the lingering effects like those of a bigger sundae or milkshake.  For this particular shop, on this particular day, DCDesserts awards its divine rating, and urges you to stop by and try it soon.


7111 Bethesda Avenue
Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 215-9226 ‎

Google map & reviews

Yelp (4.5/5)

Washington Post (Reader 4/4)

Washingtonian

Washington Life

Crumbs Bake Shop Union Station: Heart-shaped marble brownie

Bill


Crumbs Bake Shop is a NYC-based chain that mainly competes in the DC cupcake war, with multiple local stores.  We'll cover its ranking in the cupcake craze in a later post.  For now, with Valentine's Day almost here, you should know about he heart-shaped marble brownie, which is one of Crumbs Bake Shop's many Valentine's gifts to the DC dessert scene. 

It's a brownie tooped with a layer of cheesecake with marbled ribbons of fudge.  The mix of cheesecake and brownie is often attempted, but rarely perfected.  The two elements are
difficult to combine without accidentally creating a disruptive citrus flavor.  Avoiding that is extremely rare, and the mark of a masterful pastry chef.  This dish complicated the task even more by marbling the cheescake with ribbons of fudge. The chef executed this plan with perfection.

The brownie is not too crunchy on edges.  The cheescake is soft and its texture closely matches that of the brownie.  The just slightly crispy edges of the brownie provide the only texture contrast.  The brownie's taste did not pop much because the flavor of the fudge marbling was so strong.   That's not a bad thing, because the fudge marbling communicated that old-fashioned mix of cocoa and better well.  As a Valentine's treat, this will not disappoint.  It deserves our great rating.


Union Station Train Concourse
(202) 408-1001      

Also: 
2839 Clarendon Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 524-4001

604 11th St. NW
Washington D.C. 20004
(202) 737-4001      

Yelp (2.5/5)

City's Best

Washington Examiner

Washington Business Journal

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)

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

Google map and reviews (3.55/5)

Open Table (3.9/5)

Washingtonian: 100 Best Restaurants 2011 (2.5/4)

Washingtonian (2.5/4)

Washingtonian: Great New Restaurants 2010 (2.5/4)

Washington Post (Critic 1.5/4; Reader 3/4)

Examiner

Washington Times

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) 

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)