Belga Cafe

- 514 8th Street, SE (Eastern Market)
- Belgian & Flemish
- mussels, pommes frites (fries) supposed to be good
- recommended by people
- around $20 per entree

This summary had been on my "places to try" post for a while. I went during what was deemed "mussels" week, during which Belga was claimed to have wider variety of mussels dishes available.

There was some kind of gathering or event going on in the front, which probably made it louder than usual, but I liked the decor and atmosphere nonetheless.

I ordered a Green Curry mussels dish, I think. My mussels were solid, but I certainly wouldn't include them in the top tier of mussels I have had in D.C. Certainly, the ones at Brasserie Beck, some bar on Wisconsin, or some other place that I ate outside of also on 8th street were better. Perhaps I went for an experimental dish that is not a good example of Belga's best, but I found the flavoring to be weak, pleasant, but weak, and certainly not delicious. My (white) wine was average and unmemorable. So, in my initial foray, Belga's disappointed. While I won't make an attempt to return there, not with so many other proven options, I wouldn't oppose going again if someone else really wanted to.

Note: Belga's is supposed to have a good Belgian beer selection, but I did not try any.

Vinoteca Update

Not much, but see original post here: NEW

Rustico Update

I will add this to the Rustico post HERE.

Full Kee (Chinese) & Trattoria

Full Kee - 509 H Street, N. W.

I went to a Chinese place next to New Century Bus. I had beef fried rice.  Ample dish for under $10 and pretty good (for fried rice).  My friend had some kind of fried pork - had a reddish appearance - and the bite I had of his was quite good. He says that they don't use a lot of oil which he likes.

http://www.fullkeedc.com/

Also, I went to a Trattoria (I believe) of some sort in Clarendon.  The wine was solid, but the one appetizer I tried was great.  Avocado something.  It was just a few blocks from the Clarendon metro and I think it was right by / across from La Tasca.  Anyway, find out what this was.

Harry's Tap Room

Located: 2800 Clarendon Blvd, just a few blocks from the Clarendon metro stop.  They also have locations in the Pentagon City Mall and in the Dulles Airport.

The decor & atmosphere of Harry's was quite nice.  A medium, open room in front with upscale settings and a small bar area in back.  Harry's appeared to have a larger upstairs area, but I did not expore.

I had only a wine and appetizers at Harry's.  The wine was reasonably good and priced in the $7-$13 range.  The complimentary bread was quite good, especially the little jalapeño muffiny things.  The two appetizers we tried were the Baked Bree Cheese and the Jumbo Lump Chesapeake Blue Crab Cake.  Appetizers were generally pricey at $9-$14.  The bree was pretty good.  It was melted with a touch of some kind of wine reduction and a few very thin pear slices.  It wasn't the best Bree or cheese appetizer that I've had, but it's hard to go wrong with bree, and it was pretty good sized.  I don't really remember the Crab Cake at this point (5 days later), so I suspect that it was fine, but unremarkable.  Based on the appetizers, it appears that you're paying for fancy, but only solid food, but mainly atmosphere and location.

The (dinner) menu lists the Entrees at $17-$30 with the sandwiches (burgers) being all over $10.  They also have mussels for $16.