Carving Room Kitchen & Bar
300 Massachusetts Avenue NWOur first full day in Washington, D.C. was a pretty long work day. We got done with our tasks a little after 6:30.
We talked about heading back to the hotel and finding some place to walk to for dinner again but I had been searching Google for a place to eat.
I was really craving a pastrami sandwich after eating at Primanti Bros. the day before. I figured DC had to have some good deli’s or something.
I found a couple of options but the one that looked really good was Carving Room Kitchen & Bar on Massachusetts Avenue NW.
Carving Room is part of a large mixed used development across from the US Government Accountability Office. The entrance is actually on 4th Street east of H Avenue. We were lucky enough to find street parking just down the block from where we were going.
There’s a pretty large patio out front but we headed inside and once again, didn’t really know what to do. We kind of hung out near the front until what appeared to be the lone waitress came and grabbed a couple of menus.
The restaurant is kind of long and skinny. The first seating area has a couple of tables and a bar which was packed. There were quite a few people just hanging out at the bar watching the Nationals game.
The waitress took us to a table in the second dining room just past the bar. The space has a great look with subway tiles on the wall, mismatched distressed wood tables, and a dark but comforting color scheme on the remaining walls.
We both started with a beer after a long work day. I picked The Great Return from Hardywood Park Craft Brewery in Richmond, VA. Again, not a DC brewery but something I haven’t had before. The American IPA was a great dinner beer. Not too hoppy but full of flavor.
It took a while for the waitress to come back with our drinks but when she did, we were ready to order.
I picked this place because I wanted a pastrami sandwich and they had one on the menu……but, they were out of pastrami.
I had to go to a back up but the back up was something I had considered ordering anyway.
The Steak & Egg Burger was my second choice. The sandwich is topped with corned beef, cheddar cheese, a fried egg, lettuce, tomato, and mayo on a brioche bun. This sandwich was massive. The super juicy burger would have been an amazing burger on it’s own but the addition of the second cut crispy corned beef was such an amazing substitute to a more traditional bacon. The egg yolk fell apart the minute I picked up the sandwich and just added a cascade of flavor of the whole sandwich.
The sandwich came with fries on the side. The fries were pretty simple and just lightly seasoned with salt. They were a good side but I was kind of hoping for a side on par with the magnificence of the burger.
My bill for dinner was right around $25 before tip.
I didn’t realize it when we walked in but this place was actually on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Ten years ago, I was seeking out places on the show and now I just seem to stumble in to them. It’s really not a diner, a drive-in, or a dive but it is a pretty great restaurant. I was bummed I didn’t get the pastrami sandwich I was really craving, but I’m almost kind of glad they were out. The burger was soooooo good.
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