Sunday afternoon took us to H St, NE & the Atlas District where Maketto has been a dining centerpiece for three years now, and this was my virgin visit. We had a dim sum brunch with paired drinks from a charity auction and Chef James, who runs the kitchen under owner Chef Erik Bruner-Yang and mixologist Jeremy made us all very very happy.
Our server Sammy brought out Chef James to start who toted a plate he called "pickles with a shot" featuring fermented baby corn, pickled ramps, green beans, beach mushrooms, Thumbelina carrots, okra(with Cambodian Curry), bread and butter Hungarian wax peppers and a bowl of fermented watermelon rind/kimchi at the center, which some declared too funky and the rest of us kept going back to with curiosity. A shot of bourbon for each of was the most amazing foil to all the pickled veggies which each had its own character and taste making for lots of fun.
Vegetable Gyoza were a big hit, especially with Sam, but I adored the Crystal Shrimp Dumplings even more with tuk trey, a delicious Cambodian fish sauce. These were paired with a Gin & Cherry based drink with vermouth & bitters, while Sam adored his Hey Song Sarsaparilla so much he downed 3 huge cans!
Spicy Lamb Shumai was indeed spicy and also had the tuk trey sauce which is a major component of many dishes, Pork Steamed Bao with braised pork and hoisin sauce(not sweet though) were super.
Wok Fried Noodles were thick slathered noodles with a slightly spicy sauce and some red jalapenos on top for spice and the one dish that impressed least was the vegetarian Leek Steamed Bao with glass noodles and hoisin sauce as for me it was a bit too much dough and not enough leeks, although the frizzled leeks on top were nice.
An OJ Mai Tai was tons of fun with rum, lime, aperol and simple syrup. By now we were nearing full levels, but Wok Fried Snow Peas arrived with chilies and topped with fried elephant garlic (although Chef left off the oyster sauce so Samuel could enjoy). I loved this greens dish indeed but had no clue that much more was coming, so I heaped more onto my plate.
Then Strange Flavor Eggplant with tofu puree and housemade bread arrived. we let Sam have as much of this as we wanted and I can only describe it as an eggplant hummus, but not babaganush. The grilled bread was irresistible for Sam.
Shrimp Noodle Rolls with sweet soy & herbs were "rolled" out and I can only describe these as spring noodle rolls filled with a firm shrimp filling(thick but not with pieces of shrimp) that burst with flavor.
Grilled bread also came with our last dish the signature Maketto Fried Chicken with 5-spice caramel which was also irresistible with its crunchy flaky crust and moist meat.
At this point we were telling Sammy which dishes she was to pack up for whom as we could not fathom another bite.
Maketto is amazing and the dim sum are delightful if you can stay away from too many bready bao....and you can even shop while you eat as they sell so many clothing products, shoes, etc! What a treat.
There was Cynar, an herbal liquor with lemon & bitters as well served afterwards as a digestif which really helped soothe the full stomachs!!
