BlackFinn

for good buddy of BOOF's birthday, Coast, a large group of us ventured to new foggy bottom staple, BlackFinn, for dinner. Ever since BlackFinn came onto the scene in DC last fall, I have always enjoyed all my adventures there and I am a true fan of their happy hour. Furthermore, I also came to know that it is a pseudo big city chain, and the Foggy Bottom location is not its first DMV location but they also have another location out in Bethesda (which I have now also been to).

Black Finn takes on the identity of an "American Saloon" but it simply plays to idea of a restaurant/bar vibe. When it initially opened up, it was purely filled with the young and professional crowd which was definitely to my liking, but as GW (yup, i'm going to trash my alma mater for a second) students got wind of this new place, it quickly became a location of numerous frat parties and everyone's friends winning "happy hours". essentially, it became too collegiate. The decor of the restaurant does not have anything too special going on, it has a front bar and a back bar, and it has slightly elevated seating on the left side of the restaurant to accommodate those who would like to sit down for dinner. The right side and the back of the restaurant also has booth tables and seating along with high stools and tables for the more casual drink and happy hour partakers.

the divide that this BlackFinn has between the two (the dining area and the bar area) is very nice, but because the happy hour crowd is quite large and loud, the restaurant area definitely does not take well to a more intimate dining experience with your sig other. nevertheless, the dining area does do well for large groups, such as we were, but it is a shame that if you sit for dinner, you are unable to get the great happy hour deals even during "happy hour".

to start off, i ordered the spinach artichoke dip which is essentially is a staple on any menu and one that i am always inclined to order. i also find that it it something that is hard to mess up. the spinach dip was done well but i was not overwhelmed by some special and amazing flavor.

the birthday girl, CaCoast, ordered the Beef Sliders which are three miniature beef burgers topped with melted American cheese and grilled onions and served on potato rolls with au jus on the side for dipping. she enjoyed these and said the meat was seasoned well. she also ordered a side of fries and we all really enjoyed the seasoning that was on them.

Coast's bf, NY Sports Fan, ordered the Grilled Buffalo Chicken Sandwich prepared in hot, medium or mild Buffalo sauce and served on a warm ciabatta roll with lettuce, tomato, red onion and a side of bleu cheese dressing. Not a fan of condiments, NY Sports Fan was pleased by this sandwich because it was not drowning in buffalo sauce as an afterthought. it was a nice balance of the sauce with the chicken because the grilled flavor still came through.

i ordered one of the summer specials which was a Grilled Portobello Pasta featuring whole wheat spaghetti, grilled portobello
mushroom, baby spinach, oven roasted tomatoes, garlic, parmesan cheese, and olive oil. I really quite enjoyed this dish and was happy to see something besides a salad and a veggie burger on the menu to satisfy this hungry vegetarian's appetite. my only recommendation is that the dish could have used a little more seasoning because I could barely taste the garlic coming through and the pasta was a little drier then i would have liked. a little bit more olive oil probably would have done the trick. however, to be able to see portobello on the menu as a center to a dish was really pleasing.

BOOF Buddy, England, had the Ultimate Bacon Cheddar
Twice the bacon, three times the cheese! A BlackFinn Burger topped with four slices of applewood-smoked bacon, three times the aged cheddar cheese, crispy fried onion strings and sliced dill pickles on a grilled bulky roll. England also enjoyed his burger and mentioned that it was cooked well and was very filling. Nothing too special in the burger but it was done well.

One of BOOF's closest buddies, Twin, ordered the simple Old School Classic which is just a BlackFinn Burger topped with your choice of melted cheese and sliced dill pickles on a grilled bulky roll. For a side, she ordered a side of grilled carrots that were superbly tasty and good. Similarly to everything else that evening, the burger was done well but nothing too special and to call home about.

Our group was larger than this but critiquing the other half of the table was nearly impossible/a bit excessive. however, i think everyone pretty much had the same quality food with simple american flavors done well but nothing too special. my favorite part of BlackFinn is the happy hour not even because of the drink specials but because of the food specials. All of their pizzas are half off and the pizzas are all really really good. They are flatbread pizzas and two of the four are veggie friendly (the roasted vegetable and the marghertia). During happy hour, they end up being $5.00 which is a deal that you just can't beat.

Overall, I think BlackFinn will always remain a happy hour joint for me and not necessarily a sit down meal. Although there was nothing wrong with the food, there was not special about it and if I am going to sit down for a nice dinner, there are plenty of places that I think I would prefer to try.

Grade: B

*I may have gotten a few of these wrong but no biggie.

Elephant Castle and Pub

nothing special.
for good buddy of BOOF, rp’s birthday, a large group of us set out to surprise him at elephant and castle for the occasion. he was suprised but unfortunately, the surprise itself was a little less than stellar. nevertheless, it was a great evening with a bunch of buddies that i see too little of.
elephant and castle is a well known chain restaurant and offers a classic restaurant/pub feel and vibe to it. it is not really a place to go to eat a good meal but rather it’s a place you go to either drink or just enjoy the company of friends over a burger.

needless to say, the only type of burger i eat is veggie or salmon, so i usually get nervous about going to places like e&p because i can make my own salad for dinner. they did offer a veggie burger and i opted for that but there was nothing special about it. It taste like every other frozen/unthawed/grilled veggie burger; however, the fries were good.
i don’t think anyone had a particularly outstanding meal (mostly the opposite) but buddy of BOOF, hh, had the crab cakes and she said that those were quite tasty.her little mountains of mashed potatoes also looked delectable.

nevertheless, e&p is a great place to accommodate a large group of friends (so you can be loud and not worry about it), but you may want to eat dinner before or after going there because it really should exclusively be a pub with just pub food. during the week, i hear that they also have a good happy hour, and that seems like more of the ideal setting to head there.

Overall Rating: C-

Cantina Pub

spinach and artichoke dip

fries with mayonnaise aioli

veg skizzo

For a good co-worker buddy's farewell celebration, we decided to head to Cantina Pub for happy hour. Cantina pub is located in downstairs of the Darlington House, a relatively new restaurant drop dead in the hustle and bustle of Dupont Circle. Cantina blends into the block as a renovated townhouse with a very warming decor inside and out. As you head downstairs into the Pub, you feel as though you have momentarily stepped outside of the typical overly modern and chic dupont area. Cantina has the very warm and welcoming pub feel with its long bar, wooden tables and chairs and also some full flat screen TVs. I won't review Darlington House in this review because similar to Churchkey/Birch & Barley, the two spaces have uniquely different feels.

Although I loved the inside of Cantina Pub and would definitely go back for happy hour, we opted to sit outside as it was the perfect spring evening. They have a really nice covered seating, and because we got there relatively early (around 5:30), we had our choice of seating. We had originally planned to head back inside when our party got larger, but the seating was accomodating enough, and it was too nice outside not take advantage of it.

For their happy hour, they offer a wide variety of drafts for $3, $4, and $5. They also have a house red and white for $5. A few of us started with the house white, which was a Pinot Grigio which was nice. Nothing special but good enough for what it was. I also tried the Leinenkugel’s Sunset, which apparently is the Wisconsin version of a Blue Moon. It tasted pretty much identical to a Blue Moon/Shock Top so that was a nice beer of choice for a 70 degree evening. Unfortunately, despite the venue, I don't believe that Cantina has great happy hour specials because most other bar/pubs in the area have better deals. Furthermore, there were no food specials! SHOCKER! they lost lots of points on that alone. To truly get the Pub feel that Cantina is trying to achieve, it is imperative that they offer half off/or some sort of food deal for happy hour. People will be more tempted to stay longer and enjoy happy hour if this were an option. Nevertheless, we were hungry so we ordered some food anyways, but I think we would have been more liberal with our ordering, if the deals were better.

We started with the Spinach/Artichoke dip which was tasty but nothing special. It came across a little to creamy, so it felt a little too skimpy on the artichokes. I then ordered the house fries which were seasoned well and served with a mayonnaise aioli sauce which appears to be the major sauce of the hour in the foodie world. Overall, I was pleased with my choice. For more substantial food, some friends ordered the wings, the chicken quesadillas and I ordered the vegetable skizzo (the pub's take on a pizza). Everyone was pleased with the food but it was definitely "Pub" food, so it was nothing to call home about. I had changed my mind at the last minute and ordered the veggie skizzo but I had originally wanted to order the Figo Skizzo, and I semi regretted that decision. Although the skizzo was nice, it was nothing special and I think I would've been happier with the fig, pears, arugula, gorgonzola and truffle oil skizzo. Nevertheless, there was a nice assortment of grilled veggies on the skizzo but they definitely need to put cheese on it. Definitely.

Overall, I was overall pleased with my trip to Cantina. I like the atmosphere of the venue, but I definitely think it's more of a place to just drink and not really look to eat. You should probably head upstairs to Darlington House for that. However, I was happy to see a variety of vegetarian items on the pub menu because many times you don't see that. I also appreciated that they offer a variety of different types of food on their menu, so you don't have to go elsewhere looking for food, but they definitely need to cut the prices during happy hour. Cantina is ideal for small and large groups but I would probably opt for Darlington House for a date as its definitely a little more private.

Grade: B