Thursday, March 08, 2007

make it MIMI's at Dupont Circle--Sam sups on calamari!

Last night was the annual DINING OUT FOR LIFE to benefit FOOD & FRIENDS here in DC, and we chose MIMI's AMERICAN BISTRO at 2120 P St, NW just near Dupont Circle since they were donating 50% to the charity! We also decided to take Samuel with us as Mimi's is very casual and also has fun entertainment/cabaret by the waiters and a pianist. The pianist starts at 7PM and the singers about 30 minutes later, so we managed to catch about 30 minutes of both! Sam loved it wiggling to the music in our booth and even being serenaded by one of the performers!

On the way in we were shocked to see that 21P next door had "lost its license" and closed about a month ago! Hopefully, Dupont will have a new addition in this wonderful space.

Anyway, our wonderful friendly and Last night was the annual DINING OUT FOR LIFE to benefit FOOD & FRIENDS here in DC, and we chose MIMI's AMERICAN BISTRO at 2120 P St, NW just near Dupont Circle since they were donating 50% to the charity! We also decided to take Samuel with us as Mimi's is very casual and also has fun entertainment/cabaret by the waiters and a pianist. The pianist starts at 7PM and the singers about 30 minutes later, so we managed to catch about 30 minutes of both! Sam loved it wiggling to the music in our booth and even being serenaded by one of the performers!

On the way in we were shocked to see that 21P next door had "lost its license" and closed about a month ago! Hopefully, Dupont will have a new addition in this wonderful space.

Anyway, our wonderful friendly and knowlegable server, Abbey, got Samuel some pineapple juice and rolls fast and we decided on a bottle of the always decent LABOURE-ROI 2005 Chardonnay than can be found just about anywhere and is a nice oaky inexpensive French chard from the south. I did mention to Abbey that the specialty drink menu was cool, but lacked prices. She agreed and said she old management, but they don't seem to want to list the prices which run from $9 on up! While Mimi's has been around for years and the food has always been quite good, the decor is starting to tire and they need a spruce up, which Abbey said will be coming soon. Sadly, the place is always quite chilly on cold nights, so wear a warm sweater in winter!

We ordered three of the Middle Eastern appetizers (mezze): MERGUEZ which is a Grilled Lamb Sausage served with Harissa Olive Salad & Greens over warm pita, which we each took a piece of and rolled like a wrap to make a superb and quite filling sandwich! Excellent STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES and CALAMARI served battered and fried with a SPICY TOMATO COULIS. When Samuel saw this he immediately wanted some (perhaps due to the fact that it looked like rings of french fries?) and devoured numerous pieces of the tender squid without end (although he chose the ketchup, rather than the excellent coulis). After it was gone we told him it was like octopus and fish, but different which didn't seem to phase him AT ALL. WOW, a major coup considering he had tasted and loved canned beets just one night earlier! He went on to enjoy a huge plate of CHICKEN FINGERS & FRIES which while enjoyable I felt suffered from the fries being a bit wimpy (they needed to be fried just a bit longer) and the fingers were on the dry side(nothing a dunk in ketchup won't cure!), although the slightly spicy breading was superb. We moved on to a bottle of MARTIN REY 2004 Angeline ZINFANDEL from DRY CREEK (Sonoma) which was quite mild, tasty, big bodied and had a super nice finish with almost no spice. It was superb with our entrees. Will had the MIMI's SIGNATURE BURGER with AVOCADO & MOZZARELLA and those same FRIES (a bit better on his plate). This is a HUGE burger and can easily make MORE than a meal. I opted for the yummy MEATLOAF with GARLIC MASHED POTATOES, Spinach and Mushrooms and Mushroom Sauce. It was also huge, and I took home almost half. I do have to admit the portions are amazing consider the prices hover in the teens ($11 for a burger, $13 for the meatloaf!) and you get entertained as well!

Sam enjoyed his creamy MANGO SORBET which was not sweet at all and quite tasty (we were told it comes from Larry's nearby), and the two of us could not resist splitting the superb BANANA WHITE CHOCOLATE BREAD PUDDING which came out warm and fluffy on a bed of white chocolate sauce with an excellent creamy scoop of COCONUT ICE CREAM. This is a great dessert if you are in the mood for only dessert in the area, and again you get the entertainment, too! I do hope with the renovation they can manage a better sound system for the performers. Next comes, CIRCLE BISTRO!