Acadiana - Mt Vernon Sq, DC

I would never describe myself as a morning person, but every once and a while it's nice to get out of my PJ's and grab some brunch in DC. It was my aunt's birthday, and my cousin and I wanted to take her somewhere different (we took her to Perry's Drag Queen brunch once), so this time Bitches Who Brunch recommended Acadiana for their Cajun brunch with live jazz band. There is limited street parking and valet for $7 on K St . The closest metro station is Mt Vernon Sq 7th St - Convention Center on the green line.

The interior feels very spacious with their high ceilings and classy decor. Aside from the main dining room, there's another large room in the back.

For brunch, only the 3-course pre-fixed menu is offered for $29. If you add an extra $9, you can have unlimited access to their raw bar of shrimp and oysters. Instead of bread, we were served biscuits with cream cheese and mild pepper jelly. OMG it was so good, and the name describes itself. It tastes great paired with cream cheese or cheddar cheese too.

For those who like to start off the day with a little alcohol, they offer Cajun Marys and Blood Orange Mimosas for $1. I ordered a 'Blood Orange Mimosa', which was very yummy. It didn't taste like there was much champagne in it, but you get what you pay for.

We had a group of 8, so I'm going to post some of the items we ordered as references.
For our appetizer course, I ordered the 'Fried Green Tomatoes (Zatarain’s spice boiled gulf shrimp rémoulade) (left)', which I thought was delicious.
Other items ordered were the 'Roasted Sweet Corn and Blue Crab Soup (top)' and 'Smoked Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo (bottom)'.

5 of us ordered the 'Eggs Acadiana (two poached eggs, Louisiana crawfish crabcakes, tasso ham hollandaise) (left)', which were really good and light considering I'm not a huge fan of hollandaise sauce. Originally 2 of the 5 ordered the '“Grillades and Grits” (smothered medallions of veal, creamy jalapeno cheese grits) (not pictured)', and sent them back for being too salty.
The bf ordered the 'Blackened Tilapia (sweet corn pudding, collard greens with bacon, crawfish lemon tabasco butter) (right)', and found he cared for the fish more than the sides.

After wanting to burst from our meal, it was time for dessert. I found the best one to be the 'Pecan Tart (praline caramel, milk chocolate ice cream) (left)' because it was the sweetest one and the crust was amazing.
I ordered the 'Warm Vanilla Bread Pudding (bourbon cream, praline crunch ice cream) (top)', which didn't compare to my favorite at Gordon Biersch.
In the spirit of New Orleans, others ordered the 'French Market Beignets (chicory coffee creme anglaise)(bottom)', which were ok.

The birthday girl and her birthday candle! The menus even said "Happy Birthday" on them, which was a nice touch.

Little chocolate treats were given to us with our bill.

I enjoyed the service and thought the whole staff was nice and friendly. Our server did a mini tutorial on napkin folding, they were accommodating when we sent food back and the manager even checked in on our table. Granted some dishes were better than others, overall it was a nice time with the live jazz band and the amount of food for the price.

901 New York Ave NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 408-8848
www.acadianarestaurant.com

Louisiana Kitchen and Bayou Bar- Bethesda, MD

Hey Everyone! For one of my lunch dates with my Dad I wanted to take him to Olazzo's, however they aren't opened for lunch on the weekends (duh) so we saw Louisiana Kitchen and decided to give it a shot. Located in Bethesda, there is metered street parking as well as a meter parking garage on the same street. Closest metro stop would be Bethesda on the Red Line.

FYI, I forgot my camera at home! However I had just bought an Apple IPhone 3G, so I documented the experience anyway with its 2 mega pixel camera. It doesn't do the food justice, but it'll give you an idea.

Like many Bethesda restaurants, its not very big on the inside, however I've been in much smaller restaurants. This picture is from the back of the restaurant with the white blur being the front window. There's jazz music playing while you eat, and a full bar to the left (not shown). The place doesn't have fancy decor, but I liked the checkered table cloths to make you feel like chowing down on some seafood.

For our appetizer we ordered the 'Alligator Beignets (4)- served with Remoulade sauce' for $5.25. It was really good, freshly fried. The consistency reminded me of chewy chicken, but in a good way. The remoulade sauce is a mayonnaise-based sauce that was served with everything.

I went kind of traditional and got the 'Oyster Loaf "Peacemaker" Po'Boy' with Fried Oyster, lettuce, tomato, remoulade sauce for $9.75. It was a big sandwich but packed full of flavor. I loved it with the sauce and the nice consistency of the fried oysters.

The bf came along and ordered the 'Chick-steak and Cheese Po'Boy- Chicken, Cajun-spice, onions, peppers, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and mayonnaise' for $8.75. He said he really liked it, and our server also recommended it.

My dad was in the mood for a burger and ordered the 'Louisiana Hamburger (1/2lb) and Spicy Fries- Onions, peppers, lettuce, tomato, remoulade sauce, creole mustard' for $8.75. It was huge! The bun looked a little strange, but my dad said it tasted like a normal bun but toasted. My dad ate the entire thing! He doesn't usually eat a lot at lunch but he said he enjoyed it.

My dad's burger came with a side of spicy fries. They have a kick to them! Think of Hot Fries snacks, and that's pretty much what you have but with a bit more spice. They're really good though, and quite addictive. You have the option of having them plain too.

Our server was really nice and helped us with our lunch choices. Water was refilled all the time, and it's really affordable food. All the dishes are under $10 unless you get the large option and then it'll be about double the price for more food. Its a relaxed atmosphere, with very flavorful food. They offer traditional Cajun food such as Po'Boys, Gumbo, Jambalaya, Creole, Etouffee and Dirty Rice. They are open 7 days a week and offer brunch (optional) on Saturday and Sunday.

Weekdays - 7:30 am to 10:00 pm
Friday and Saturday - 7:30am to 11:00 p.m.
Sundays- 9:00 am to 10:00 pm
Saturday Brunch from 7:30 am to 2:30 pm
Sunday Brunch from 9:00 am to 2:30 pm

4907 Cordell Avenue
Bethesda, Maryland, 20814
(301) 652-6945 or (301) 986-8833
Website