DC's ELMINA elevates African cuisine on a journey to Ghana (10-15-2026)

 As fans of Top Chef we were so thrilled when Chef Eric Adjepong opened Elmina last year in DC, and sadly it took us way too long to get there. Last Thursday we joined friends at the unassuming restaurant on 14th St, NW only to enter into a magnificent space with three levels from the entry level with bar and open kitchen to the quieter upper levels which have a cozier and quieter feel as well as private spaces and more bars! It's quite an operation and the night we were there it was quite busy but never felt crowded or noisy. The decor should win a prize as well and all the seating options are very comfortable, too!

The menu has a tasting option or a la carte and as our friends were not feeling too hungry, we went for a la carte. The choices were many, but our super server Nyambura was very helpful in suggestions.  Some of us had cocktails, but the hit was the white wine,  a South African blend from Kumusha "Flame Lilly" Slanghoek in the Western Cape of 62% Rousanne/30% Chenin Blanc/5% Semillon, 3% Colombard that was creamy and tasty and went so well with the spice in the various dishes. Before the wine arrived 4 glasses of Prosecco arrived to celebrate Will's birthday (when we arrived, they asked if it was a special occasion and he said his birthday had just passed--well, a week before!). It was a nice gesture and then we settled in to order. Before we knew it Chef Eric came up from the kitchen to chat and it was as if we had known him for ages. He is a real host and gentleman and said he would return later to chat some more!

We started with Smashed Avocado with serrano and herbs and fried plantain chips to scoop it all up. This was guac on crack and we loved it all as I always make mine so spicy. A second "dip" was Zaalouk made from roasted eggplant, coriander oil, roasted vine tomatoes, crumbled goat cheese and crisp red onion with a yummy spiced buttered flatbread on the side to scoop it all up. We tore at the tasty pita-like bread and loved the flavors. Prawn Chichinga, a Ghanian street food, was strongly suggested by Nyambura and she was spot on with these large, skewered prawns with a spicy peanut sauce, chermoula and a small side bowl of caramelized onions. These were good enough to suck on the heads for sure!

Akara is described as a black-eye pea fritter with pulled suya short rib and while this resembles a slider, that's as far as it goes as the fried bread fritter that makes up the "sandwich" is more akin to fried corn bread made from black-eyed peas! We loved it. Warning, this starter is a single slider, so cannot be shared by more than two folks! (You may not even want to share!). Kelewele had been written up in numerous reviews and was a spicy, fried sweet plantain that gave new meaning to the often-unappreciated plantain. The spices in all the dishes are strong, and unique, but never overpowering.

We ordered a bottle of the Sutherland Pinot Noir from the Elgin Valley of Western Cape, South Africa (I figured African wines made sense!) which it turns out is bottled by the famous Thelema winery in Stellenbosch where we had visited and recently also bought wine from here in the US! It was a nice fruity, but more than medium bodied wine to stand up to the spices.

We chose one main to split as we were all filling up and also wanted to try dessert. The Crab Fried Rice is made with Benin Seed miso, scrambled egg, ginger scallion oil and dehydrated scallop, but at $50 I was wondering about the price. It was delicious full of crab, but still a tad high to justify the price. FYI the tasting menu is $145 and consists of 4 courses; Thurs-Sun there is an 11-course option for $285! We shall return to try these for sure!

Dessert here is a treat and Will's Malva Pudding Cake with sweet, pickled apricot and vanilla gelato came with a candle. We have loved Malva Pudding cake when in South Africa, but this preparation was indeed a novel treat. The Bofrot is really a small donut with nutmeg Chantilly, sticky toffee sauce, Heath bar crunch and Milo gelato and all which reminded me of a malted milk ball treat. There were so many things in this tasty dessert, I just wanted more of the yummy donuts to scoop up all the sauces!

Chef Eric did return and sat down for a while to chat, and we just could not stop oohing about how yummy everything was. There are pics of us all on FB as well!

Elmina is not to be eliminated from your DC dining list ever!!

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Padaek is almost perfect -Arlington Asian & awesome (10-12-26)

We have dined at Chef Seng Luangrath's now very famous Laotian dining spots in the DC area and last year did take-out from the smaller Padeak location in Arlington, but this time we headed to the larger and a tad classier restaurant in Arlington Ridge which is a very nice spot with a great menu and our server Joy was MORE than a joy to be around. She helped us choose dishes and when I asked to taste one of the wines, she brought two wines to try and then poured a glass and said, "oh I'll just leave the rest of the bottle for you!" That made me very happy. The wine was a dry Villa Wolf Riesling!

Will & Michael loved the BeerLao from Laos and the dishes really do reflect the varied cuisines of SE Asia. I had not had a really good Burmese Tea Leaf Salad since we visited there almost a decade ago. The tea leaves were fermented and while vegetarian it had that funky fish sauce flavor as well as the garlic and crunch from nuts! YUM! The other starters we shared were also novel and excellent. Guay Chai are Chive Cakes which came with pickled cucumbers and a great dipping sauce. The Nam Khao Todd, suggested by Joy, was a treat and quite a large portion with lettuce leaves to fill with the fried coconut rice salad, peanuts, herbs and fermented pork sausage(also a  tofu version) all garnished with dried chili!

We chose three mains to share, and they were quite varied and all superb:

Piing Gau Khao Laam is a beautifully grilled whole poussin chicken marinated with lemongrass & turmeric with grilled coconut sticky rice in a ginger sauce. The meat was moist and tasty and for this dish the spice was way down. Crab Noodles declaim "Stir fried longevity yellow noodles" (will I live longer?), with crab, garlic butter, Chinese celery and shiitake mushroom., while the Nam Tok Ribs were crispy pork ribs with dry rub seasonings, a tamarind fish sauce, toasted rice powder, mint, cilantro, Vietnamese coriander and sticky rice, which was all nice, but lots of greens that did not get eaten.

I was full, but the others chose two desserts: Mango Sticky Rice and a Semolina Cake which looked great with Burmese roasted banana cake, brown sugar ghee, sesame seeds (which i can't eat) and coconut cream.

What a treat!!

DC's KARIZMA is crazy-good Indian! (10-8-26)

 We visited KARIZMA for the first time earlier this summer and loved it, so we returned as a family for Will's birthday dinner the other day and it was even better!

We loved the Stadt Krems Gruner Veltliner this summer so ordered another bottle or two while Sam enjoyed a Gaffel Koslch German beer or two. There was a cute HAPPY BIRTHDAY sign on the table as well for fun.

We had to order the Quinoa Tikki starter made with potato, quinoa, ginger and a white pea mash that once again we all loved. Spinach & Paneer Croquettes was a main, but we had it as a starter and they were yummy all bathed in a rich mace-scented tomato sauce. Since it was a main, a bowl of the superb rice came with it to mop up the sauce! Our third starter was the Chicken Jodhpur Skewers which were three juicy skewers with thighs cooked perfectly in a malt vinegar sauce.

I was not a fan of the too thin garlic na'an last time, but Sam loves it and this time it came out perfectly cooked, a tad thicker and puffy and not dry! The Tandoori roti was also delicious and oh so buttery! They were ideal with our main sauces!

Dal Makhani was a huge lentil platter (and again each main comes with that yummy rice) with Fenugreek which Sam loved. Will had the Lamb Gushtaba or a trio of huge lamb meatballs in a spicy gravy, again great for the rice or breads! My Lobster Masala was a revelation, loaded with chunks of lobster with Beetroot Poriyal, Bell peppers & Fenugreek in a sauce that was superbly spicy but not overpowering the delicious lobster meat. The presentation (all photos on FB), with a shell laid on top was gorgeous.

We shared the Palak paneer with burnt garlic as this is one of the best Palak Paneer's around indeed.

Will ordered Coconut Payasam for his dessert and a bowl of refreshing Cardamom Ice Cream also arrived for the birthday boy!

We love this place and the service from Shivani and the entire team is really fab! We must go back next door for the enticing tasting menu the next time at KARMA which is only separated by the very nice bathrooms!