Tom Sietsema Awards 2.5 Stars To America Eats Tavern

Historical pop-up America Eats Tavern opened with a lot of fanfare back on July 4, but was panned within weeks by critics from the City Paper and the Washingtonian. This week, however, the Washington Post's Tom Sietsema finally weighs in and awards the restaurant 2.5 stars. Sietsema appreciates the American history lessons sprinkled throughout the menu here, which explains the museum references:

"One of the Mona Lisas of the collection is Andres's masterful take on oysters Rockefeller. It's a concert of broiled bivalves on a neat hedge of oniony sauteed spinach, garnished with both bacon strips and bacon crumbs and panko, then finished with anise butter."

Sietsema also likes the mock turtle soup, cocktails and many other items on the menu (as well as the menu itself), but he does take a dig here and there: "Did our forefathers consume foam and deconstructed food? Here and there, Andres leaves behind some of his modern signatures." [WaPo]

Todd Kliman adds Ripple to the list of places where he's eating now, thanks to chef Logan Cox: "His rabbit loin transforms a typically dry, stringy meat into a kind of luscious barbecue, the mushroom risotto with poached egg is remarkable for avoiding overrichness, and his vegetable composition plate — that stale relic of the early aughts — is so good, it could stand alone as a (light) entree." [Washingtonian]

The City Paper's Chris Shott assesses DC's British gastropub scene, a cuisine that he says deserves more respects than the jokes it receives. To prove his point, he makes a lot of jokes about pasties, spotted dick, "imperial subjects," and calls things "jolly good." And behold Shott's reaction to the Queen Vic's Full Monty plate: "I'm hoping that no one will see me naked after I've gorged myself on this hearty platter of proteins, which I suspect far exceeds the recommended daily allowance." [WCP]

Timothy Smith checks out Oh Fish!, the new to-go sushi place from Kaz Okochi. His group of diners liked the Niko Niko roll for its "unexpected yet welcome addition of basil in its vegetarian blend of avocado, cucumber, carrot and sweet tofu." He also reports that they will be adding breakfast eventually. [WaPo]

The Post also sends Justin Rude out to Falls Church to take a look at the buffet options at Haandi Fine Indian Cuisine. It is located in a strip mall: "To be honest, I was a little apprehensive. My wife, a Falls Church native, assured me that it was a busy lunch spot before qualifying that with, "but I haven't been there since high school." [WaPo]

THE BLOGS: DC-Wrapped Dates downgrades Bibiana from a previous review; Florida Girl in DC makes up for a bad day with a meal at The Source; DC Vegan checks out the vegan options at Meridian Pint.

[R. Lopez]