Maple Restaurant & Bar (Washington, D.C.)

One thing that I’m starting to notice when dining at restaurants in Washington, D.C. is that the next restaurant that you’re going to dine at is literally walking distance from a restaurant you previously dined at.  Remember the restaurant I just went to called Bad Saint?  Those restaurants are literally within 75 steps of each other and I would’ve never known.  I’m starting to realize that the next restaurant that I go to will probably be next door to a restaurant that I went to before.  I’m okay with that, I just wish I knew this information earlier so that I could go to these restaurants during the same day instead of wasting gas money.

Maple Restaurant is located off of 11th Street, NW that offers its taking on a light Italian fare with craft beers.  Being as though I don’t drink beer, that part didn’t interest me, but they have a grilled Cesar salad that was on the menu that my mouth salivated for.  The interior of this restaurant is more of a modern look, but with an old-fashioned bar setting.  The restaurant does offer an extensive wine and drink list, but I decided to pass on it.

During my visit to this restaurant I decided to order two appetizers and two pastas.  (Obviously I’m not watching my “figure”).  Grilled Octopus, Romaine Caesar, Lamb Tagliatelle, and Wild Mushroom Tagliatelle were my options for the night.  I’ll start off with the Octopus.  It consisted of cannellini beans, red onion, and pimenton de la vera.  I’m a huge fan of Octopus so this dish was definitely getting ordered whether it had been great or not.  One thing I wasn’t prepared for was this dish being cold.  I failed to realize that the cannellini beans would be cold rather than warm, while the Octopus was warm.  I’m not a huge fan of beans, but I thought that I could get away with ordering the dish because it was something I mostly enjoyed.  There were nothing wrong with the beans as far as flavor wise, but I just rather have a warm appetizer than a cold one if it doesn’t specifically mention it being chilled.

The second dish that was ordered was the Grilled Romain Caesar. This was one of the best Caesar salads I’ve had in my life.  It included white marinated anchovies, crouton, and parmigiano reggiano.  I love anchovies with my Caesar salad so I made sure to order extra, but the overall taste of this dish was perfect.  It was salty, savory, and satisfying because the lettuce, which was grilled, didn’t have a burned flavor to it.  The lettuce had more of a smokey flavor to it, which definitely increased my overall thoughts about this particular dish.

The third dish that was ordered was the Lamb Ragu with Tagliatelle. It consisted of port-braised lamb, arbequina olives, tomatoes, and parigiano reggiano.  If you’re ever looking for a dish that’ll fill you up quickly, then this is the dish for you.  There were huge chunks of lamb meat surrounding the pasta, and the sauce that it was topped with was unbelievable.  This dish wasn’t anything spectacular but the overall flavors were spectacular.  I thought the olives would over power the dish, but the saltiness worked well with the gamey texture of the lamb.  This maybe my first time ordering a Lamb pasta, but I’m starting to think, maybe I should decide to order it more often if I see it.

The last dish that was ordered was the Wild Mushroom Tagliatelle.  It consisted of marsala, light cream sauce, truffle oil, and parmigiano regianno.  Damn.  Does every dish have parmigiano in it?  I’m starting to sense a trend.  Well, you know why I ordered this dish right? DUH!  It consisted of mushrooms.  Wild ones at that.  I’m a mushroom fiend, so I definitely didn’t second guess ordering this dish, and I’m happy I didn’t because it was fantastic.  Although I wish there were more mushrooms in this dish besides your regular oyster and portebello mushrooms, the overall dish was good.  It was light on flavor, and great with consistency.

Overall, this restaurant is a go-to.  I enjoyed my dishes and even though there was one dish that I wasn’t too fond of because it was cold, I would go there again if I repeated restaurants.  When you decide to go, let me know what you think.

OVERALL RATING : BUSINESS CLASS