Blue Duck Tavern: Apple Pie

Bill

You'll probably see Blue Duck Tavern's Apple Pie if you visit the restaurant.  It's visually spectacular and prominently displayed in the evening.  Seeing several of these vertical pies in various states of preparation, from cuts of dough to glistening golden brown crust in low light conjured an image of the golden age of pie.  It's a shop in Britain in the 1600s, with a wooden sign painted with "Pye", and it only makes pies.

Alas, Dear Reader, we write to warn you not to be fooled.  This pie was memorably bad.  The crust and apple slices were infuriatingly dry and there was no gooey filling to save those failings.  The apples were nearly flavorless.  Even mixing it with the ice cream at additional cost couldn't create a dish we could call satisfying.  We plan to give it another try because the Blue Duck Tavern's other food is so good and this pie is a signature dish.  We really want to believe.  For now, skip this pie.

Open Table (4.7/5; Customer Award)
Trip Advisor (4.5/5; Certificate of Excellence)
Yelp (4/5)
Washingtonian 100 Very Best Restaurants 2016
Zagat (4.6/5)

Blue Duck Tavern: Chocolate Cake with Maker’s Mark Flambé

Bill


Our review of Blue duck Tavern's Straight-from-the-Oven Chocolate Cake with Maker’s Mark Flambé is in response to a reader's request.

This chocolate cake is made to order, so it's always fresh.  It truly is straight from the oven, and the server flambés it with Maker's Mark at your table.  This means it's served very hot.  I recommend allowing it to cool.  

Adding liquor to a dessert is a sure-fire way to increase its decadence and depth of flavor.  In this dish, the whiskey flambé adds a punch and a twist to the chocolate.  The cake is warm and moist with a gooey center.  For my taste, a small scoop of fine vanilla ice cream might have elevated this dish to divine.  As it is served, it deserves our great rating.  Because of its novelty and freshness, it's also a steal at $9.


24th & M Streets NW, Washington, D.C. 20037
(with the water fountain in the Hyatt)   
(202) 419 6755

Google map & reviews (4/5)

 Washingtonian (100 Best Restaurants 2011; 41-100; 2.5/4)

 Washington Post (2.5/4)

Yelp (4/5)

 Open Table (4.4/5)

 Tripadvisor (4/5; 10th best DC restaurant)

 Washington City Paper

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: White Chocolate Mousse

Bill


This is actually a spongy white cake with a hefty layer of white chocolate mousse on top that flows down into the center. The mousse itself has a classic smooth texture and a fairly subtle flavor. It needs to be subtle because it's paired with white chocolate shavings and the frosting on top of the cake.

The shavings eventually became too much for my taste, but that's probably because white is not my favorite incarnation of chocolate. This deserves a good rating.


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: Chocolate Diamond

Bill

Bread & Chocolate in the West End recreates the atmosphere of a Continental European café.  Its selection and quality of desserts live up to that model.

The chocolate diamond is a box shell hiding five alternating layers of chocolate frosting and moist cake.  The concept alone is enticing.  It pleasantly mixes the textures of a fairly dense cake and chewy icing.  The icing forms a slightly harder shell at the outer layers.  That condenses strong flavors into a small space.  This relatively unique dessert deserves our great rating.

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)