Last night we happened upon ULAH Bistro (http://ulahbistro.com) at 1214 U Street, NW and managed to snag a rear corner (quieter than most) table in the jammed restaurant/bar. It's a noisy happy hour scene at the bar which stretches the length of the cramped room with hard wooden chairs and banquettes, but I have to give credit to the food as it is most tasty.
Our server May had some trouble getting me a taste of one of the wines served by the glass, and then when we opted for the bottle of Cuvee Marine, Haut Marin 2010 from Cotes de Gascogne, she had to place it in a large chiller for 5 minutes before it was cold enough to serve. This was odd, as the wine list is not huge and I could not understand why they don't have space to chill the whites. It was a refreshing crisp white with some floral tones and would go well with anything including some of the spicier dishes (Ulah having some Cajun roots, I assume).
Pizza is a big item here and they are large ones for individual portions. Samuel finished off half of his Margharita with chunks of tomato and fresh basil and loved it along with his Shirley Temple.
I started with a huge (understatement) bowl of the STEAMED MUSSELS in Garlic & White Wine which come covered with four pieces of cooked pizza dough slices turned downward to keep the mussels warm. This works and is great for mopping as the bread is softish and doughy and reminded me of pizza-slice shaped pita. Will's AHI TUNA TARTARE with Asian Seaweed, Orange Sesame Dressing & Wasabi was fairly mild, and while tasty, fairly unexciting.
He went on to a "design your own" pizza which are $10 and the toppings are $1.00 each. At $13.00 he loved his Artichoke, Mushroom & Bacon Pizza. I went for the CAJUN FRIED CHICKEN SANDWICH which was a huge sandwich on Mini-Challa with a tasty Mango Salsa. The meat was juicy and tender and crunchy on the edges of each breast piece and the spipces were nicely blackened and flavorful. This came (as many sandwiches do) with their metal container paper coned FRENCH FRIES, which were good, but no revelation. I had to ask for the AIOLI that is supposed to come with it; it was chunky with garlic and quite intense; not bad, just different.
Oddly, our main courses were served before I had finished my mussels and nobody seemed to think this was odd.
With lines at the door waiting for tables, I guess their theory is to move you in and out as fast as they can.
The noise levels are not awful, but this is not a quiet spot; the outdoor area might be better on a warmer evening.
We were so full we couldn't even fathom the thought of dessert.
It was fun to walk around the newly revived U Street Corridor, as we don't often meander streets when we head out for dinner. It was bustling and parking spaces were indeed at a premium, but on a warm night, it's definitely an "in" spot these days!
