Bistro D'Oc (Washington, D.C.)

I only have one post down, but I hope I've given you enough indication of my maturity for you to expect me to do something more productive with my Spring Break than getting drunk in Cancun. My spring break consisted of riding in a bus with 40 fellow students, visiting a new city each day to do a community service project.*

This trip afforded me the chance to visit Washington, D.C. One glimpse of central Washington, D.C. and I was in love. The architecture, the culture, the lovely cherry blossoms on the verge of blooming...

The hotel I stayed at was on 11th St. NW, a fantastic location because when we were given free time to walk around the city and have dinner, the Bistro D'Oc was hardly a 5 minute-walk away. Featuring cuisine from southern France, the Bistro D'Oc is a reasonably-priced restaurant conveniently located across from Ford's Theatre.

The space is small and charming, warmly-hued in reds, oranges, and yellows, and decorated with paintings of scenes reminiscent of the Languedoc region of France. When we arrived at 8:30pm, the room was about seventy-five percent full: Enough people to reassure us of having a delicious meal, yet nowhere near making the room too crowded or noisy.

The service was polite and helpful, but unobtrusive. They easily transitioned from addressing us in French, for those in my group eager to show off their 4 semesters' worth of French studies, to English, for those who didn't even know what French food was like.

However, there were 2 things I disliked:

1. the white sheets of paper laid over the tabletop. Charming to some, but to me it detracted from the atmosphere of the restaurant. While Bistro D'Oc is a "casual French restaurant," the white sheets of paper was a little too casual... More like a fish-and-chips, fast food-type place, than a sit-down restraunt.

2. While we were allowed to split the bill, only 3 people were allowed to pay by credit card. The rest of the party had to pay in cash. I don't really hold anything against the restaurant for this, it's merely a matter of convenience... Also the first time I encountered such a situation, so it was a little alarming for me since I never carry a lot of cash.

Otherwise, the food was delicious. Other than their usual menu, they also have daily dinner specials. And I don't only mean a featured entree... They basically have a new menu offered! The dinner specials consisted of about 5 possible soups/salads/h'oeuvres, 5 entrees, and 3 desserts. It was absolutely difficult to choose...

Here is what we ended up ordering:
Sauteed calf's brain in a lemon-caper sauce
Blood sausage with sauteed apples
Roasted mussels in garlic butter
Duck confit with sauteed mushrooms, potatoes, bacon, shallots
Grilled duck breast with black currant glaze, potatoes gratin
Rosemary-lemon roasted chicken
Grilled lamb top sirloin
Opera cake w/ pistachio ice cream
Fondant au chocolat (Chocolate pudding, sauce, ice cream, armagnac)
Espresso with profiteroles and an assortment of macarons

I'll upload pictures once Flickr approves my account... :)