cafe green

DC Recap- Day 1

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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

Dining in DC: Cafe Green

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We started our DC trip off with a visit to Cafe Green, a vegan restaurant near Dupont Circle. I lucked out and got a a great deal on Groupon. The lunch menu has a great selection of salads, sandwiches and raw entrees. We had a really hard time deciding on what we wanted but eventually decided to go with Cheeseburger and Raw California Pizza Platter. The Cheeseburger was really delicious however the slaw was really the star of the plate. The Raw California Pizza Platter was so delicious however unfortunately they were all out of kale chips so I had the kimchi instead and it was amazing.  The Hubz and I were overall very impressed with our meal, the location, the service and it also had a great drink list.

Cheeseburger Soy patty on a wheat bun, topped w/ cheese, lettuce & tomato, sautéed pepper, and onion

Raw California Pizza Platter (GF) Our raw pizza with guacamole and raw cheese topped with tomato, cucumber, carrot onion and peppers. Served with Kale Chips and a petite spinach salad

Ratings:
Value: 3/5
Food: 4/5
Vegan Friendly: 5/5
Atmosphere: 4/5