Cafe Saint Ex (Washington, D.C.)

It’s currently snowing, and it’s the first day of spring.  Weird, right?  Not as much as putting tostitos chips on top of grits.  Too soon?  I guess I should get right into this restaurant review then.  No, wait!  That’s not how this works.  I have to talk with you before I start talking about the restaurant, right?  Well, how are you doing?  How are the kids?  Still feeding them pastas on Tuesdays so you don’t have to cook for the next two days?  For some strange reason, I never portion the right amount of pasta.  I’m ranting aren’t I?

During this gloomy day I decided to drive into D.C. and try out Cafe Saint-Ex.  It’s a restaurant located off of 14th st, that has an aviation theme with a bistro menu.  I figured I’d try out this place because the prices were reasonable and the menu looked intriguing.  I was able to order a couple of dishes from this restaurant which were pleasing for the most part.

The first dish that was ordered was the Fried Green Tomato Benedict which consisted of Ham, Poached Eggs, and an English Muffin.  The dish also came with Mixed Greens but I think Mixed Greens is the most laziest item a restaurant can offer because it’s nothing but rabbit food thrown on a side of this “well thought out” meal.  I decided to trade in the mixed greens for a side of bacon, which wasn’t a bad decision at all.  The Benedict wasn’t as impressive as I thought it would be.  The Green Tomato was cut too thinly and you couldn’t taste the tomato with the overall dish.  Now that I think about it, did I even see a tomato?  This is bad.  The eggs were cooked perfectly but the main reason anyone would order this dish would be because of the tomato.  This dish could’ve been better if the tomato was cut thicker and was seasoned well.  The only seasoning I got from the overall dish was the side of bacon that didn’t come with it.  Disappointing.

The next dish that was ordered was the Crispy Brisket Barbacoa.  It consisted of slow poached eggs, grits, feta, pica de gallo, and crispy tortilla chips.  Remember how I mentioned tortilla chips in the beginning of this review?  Well, this is the reason why.  Imagine a perfectly constructed dish put together only to be topped by some stale tortilla chips.  How pissed would you be?  Well, I don’t know because some of you eat 7-Eleven hot dogs, but for those other people, I can only imagine how upset you’d be.  This was a dish that could only make yourself say “Why?”.  What was the chef thinking about? More importantly, who thought it was okay to send a dish that has a poached egg, brisket, grits, and tortilla chips on it?  I removed the chips from the picture for your viewing pleasure, but you’d be upset with me if I posted it as it were.  The overall dish was great, good flavors, and the grits were cooked well.  The brisket was flavorful, sweet, and savory.  The tomatoes from the pica de gallo added more flavor to the dish, but wasn’t necessarily needed.  I suppose because of the overall theme of this dish it warranted it, but it wasn’t needed.

Overall, this restaurant is a go at your own risk.  A restaurant that uses colorful plates to  present it’s creativity is not a restaurant that can be taken serious.  I’m still upset that there was no tomato included on my Benedict.

OVERALL RATING : MAY I SPEAK TO THE CAPTAIN