Dr. Granville Moore's

i’ve been gone for a minute, now i’m back with the MOULES.

best mussels in DC, why yes.

i am no stranger to dr. granville moore’s. i love this place. i love that i moved to the h street corridor/atlas district/edge of capitol hill because I don’t think that I would’ve made it to this place if I hadn’t. thank god for that.

i have mentioned many times before that H street is the top upcoming neighborhood in DC, so do not be dismayed by the bumpy ride that you will endure getting to GM’s.

without knowing vaguely where dr. granville moore’s is located on H street, you would never find it. It literally is one of many “hole(s) in the wall, and one might think they are “run down” brick townhouses lining H street. nevertheless, when you find this gem, you walk in and you are welcomed by the scents of moules, frites and most wonderous of all, belgian beer.

the interior is a little dark with just enough light so that you can see your food, the menu, your company and your beer. it is definitely has a bar feel with wooden tables and chairs and barely enough seating to sit my entire family. there is an upstairs which also seats a plenty, and they have an outdoor patio but that can really only be enjoyed in the early spring/late fall because i was told by the hostess that heat/humidity+moules= gross. that made complete sense to me.

onto the meal. originally, this trip was intended to be a large group outing with numerous co-worker buddies, but people’s weekends were packed, so it just ended up being me and great buddy of BOOF, Sho. Sho had never been to GM’s before so she was pumped for the moules, frites and beer that we were getting ready to enjoy. We went on a late sunday afternoon, not soon after they opened, but it was already getting packed. a favorite feature of GM’s is how EVERYONE is welcome. kids, big kids (us), parents, grandparents…everyone. it does make for a lovely scene.

for drinks, we both opted for beers on tap (the names now escape me—i will update with them later) and they were both tasty. as i mentioned a while back, in comparison to BB, their on tap beers are not nearly as exhaustive which is a minor drawback. For dinner, Sho opted for the Moules Champignon, which are made with truffle oil, mushrooms, cream and hoegaarden. I opted for the Moules Navigateur, which are made with coconut milk, serrano peppers, onion and garlic. Needless to say, they were both delicious. the seasoning was spot on for both and both sets were cooked perfectly. the taste and seasoning was well permeated throughout the mussels and you clearly wanted to sop up all the left over juice with bread when you were done. both had their own distinct flavor and successfully gave you the taste of mussels with something a little more and special. so good. most definitely the best and freshest moules in the city. HANDS DOWN. Now, we also split a grande order of frites between the two of us. you have a choice of two/eight types of sauce for your frites and we chose the truffle aioli and the chipotle mayo. both were so tasty and the frites were slammin’. yes, i just said slammin’. don’t judge.

we also ordered two bottled beers (the names escape me again..sorryyyyy) and they were both delicious.

overall, GM’s never disappoints. the moules are delicious, the frites are slammin’, the beer is great and the scene is delightful. however, if you go on an evening any night of the week, be prepared to wait a while. they will take your number and you can head to any of the bars nearby (one the pug is right next door) and they will call you your table is ready. also, you could head to one of the local galleries and check out an exhibit in your spare time too (see city gallery exhibit post). i recommend this for groups (not too big because it might be forever before you get a table) or a date. it isn’t too loud so you can carry on a nice conversation without yelling across the table to each other. drawbacks, small draft list and space. the venue is intimate which gives it a lot of its character but i do sometimes feel the place packs a bigger punch then allowed. i am really not sure if that made any sense. whatever. haha.

Grade: A-