After an early start to the morning we finally made it to Dulles and then eventually caught the Metrobus and then the Metro to our hotel at Dupont Circle. We stayed at the Palomar DC, it is located right off Dupont Circle and is in a great location. The hotel is kind of funky and youthful; a great spot for us.
Our Hotel Room
We checked in and then headed out to lunch at Cafe Green where we cleaned our plates and then headed down to the National Mall to visit the National Air and Space Museum.
After spending a few hours looking at airplanes and spaceships we decided to catch at metro back to the hotel so that we could sit down and relax a minute before we headed to the Adams Morgan area for dinner. On our walk back from the metro stop we checked the time and realized we were just in time for the complimentary wine and appetizer hour that the hotel hosts from 5-6pm. So we decided to enjoy a glass…or 2 of wine as well as some marinated olives and flatbreads.
Poor quality iPhone photo but you get the idea
After drinks and a quick change we made the 20 minute walk up to the Adams Morgan area for dinner at Meskerem an Ethiopian place that I had seen on Groupon and had purchased $15 for $30 worth of food. Our initial thoughts upon arrival that it was very bright, the staff seemed bored and overall not a great atmosphere at all. We were hopeful that the food would at least be good. We decided to start with the Sambusas both the collards and cabbage one. We enjoyed both but the collards was our favorite.
Following the Sambusas we had one of our favorite Ethiopian dishes the tomato salad which is simply onions, tomato, chili and an acid (lemon juice maybe or vinegar?).
For our main event we got the vegetarian platter with more tomato salad instead of the Meskerem salad which has cheese in it. We really enjoyed all of the food however we were slightly put off by them not bringing warm wet towels to wipe our hands of prior to digging in like other Ethiopian restaurants we have visited. Overall we enjoyed the food but we wouldn’t return based on the service and atmosphere – I hear there are a number of other really delicious Ethiopian Restaurants in DC.
Ratings:
Value: 3/5
Food: 4/5
Vegan Friendly: 3/5
Atmosphere: 0/5
The next time you are here, I highly, highly, highly recommend Etete, with Dukem being a close second. What did you have at Cafe Green? I’ve been meaning to get over there and try it!
Haven’t tried Etete, but Dukem is amazing. There’s a lot of great vegan food in DC; looks like you’re making the most of it!