Yesterday before the theater, we headed over to the Penn Quarter here in DC to meet up with some friends for dinner. A huge accident on Key Bridge blocked everything around for miles, so we called them up to say we were running about 20 mins late.
We were supposed to meet at Matchbox which has recently doubled in size and takes no reservations. Our friends said the table wait was over 20 minutes and they would not even take the party's name until we were all there. While I understand this procedure, it sure can dampen one's planes to make the performance!
We were supposed to meet at Matchbox at 615pm, and we were four blocks away at about 635pm and when we called them up again, the wait was way over 20 minutes, so we all met at LA TASCA (www.lastascausa.com) which was full (as almost everything in the neighborhood was), but had no wait at all.
It was half price Sangria pitcher night (they run some kind of special each night) so we ordered up pitcher number one of the sparkly CAVA SANGRIA made with Cava, grape juice and blueberries (on top of the traditional ingredients).
Our tapas were the CALAMARES ANDALUZA which were okay with a standard garlic mayo, LANGOSTINOS a la PLANCHA which were medium size head-on shrimp (hardly the jumbo described on the menu for over $11 for four!)which were also just okay. We fared much better with the SALMON a la PLANCHA sobre PISTO MANCHEGO which was a nice large piece of salmon in a tasty tomato-vegetable ragout and the ATUN a la PLANCHA con PIQUILLOS y SALSA VERDE, a similar preparation for tuna with sweet peppers and garlic, which was just a bit overcooked for my palate.
BROCHETA de POLLO couldn't be simpler with chicken, red peppers and spices cooked to a juicy perfection. The always yummy ESPINACAS SALTEADAS is sauteed spinach with garlic, pine nuts and raisins seemed to have less garlic than usual, but was still my fave. The big surprise hit was the BERENJENAS GRATINADAS, fresh eggplant baked with cheese, tomato and herbs...a superb concoction with firm tasty eggplant and no sloppy slime that I often associate with this veggie.
Our second pitcher of the SANGRIA BLANCO (white wine with peaches) disappeared and we tried the third, a CADILLAC RED SANGRIA (they use Cadillac to indicate premium level of wine) made with Sangre di Toro Red Wine which was my least favorite of the three, but still refreshing.
We ordered the PAELLA de CARNE made with moist chicken, tasty sausage, asparagus, peas, green beans and superbly moist orange-tinged rice from the tomato stock. This is one of La Tasca's fortes and totally over-filled us all as we rolled down the street to the theater!
