Nibble Notes: L'Enfant Cafe

One part Belgian, one part French. Crepes dominate the menu, Belgian tasties...the bar list. The best French Dip I've ever had, Belgian endive salad.

So which is it?

Who frickin' cares?

L'Enfant Cafe provides a bounty-o-happy for anyone wanting French or Belgian. And we were that anyone. Well, four anyones, to be precise.

Our friends, das Webbers, joined us downtown DC for a night of drinky-drinky and eating. After perusing a list of possibilities, we ultimately chose L'Enfant Cafe for its broad selection of Belgian beers. (Factually, I erroneously thought it a Belgian cafe. Oops.)

Located at 2000 18th Street NW in DC, it is a mere four blocks from our apartment. Easily walkable, and so we did. Herr Webber and I speculated over what beers we would find. The girls? Don't have a clue; brau chat can do that to a fella. Especially a fella who love beer as much as we do.

The cafe boasts the largest patio in Adams Morgan (that is not saying much, but it is a goodly-sized patio. Twelve tables provide seating for 72 or so.) The building is on a corner and provides more than a few window seats. The interior is dark wood, and wooden tables and chairs. It is very cozy, and without any pretense whatsoever. Coming from Boston, I found it just like a number of pubs back home, and that comforts. The tables are close enough to feel intimate, but the din is sufficient to provide privacy during conversation. The walls are adorned with posters of yesteryear, French of course, and are interspersed with photos and sundry decorations. It is by no means overwhelming or too much. In fact, after a few seconds of checking it out, I forgot all about the walls.

Sitting near the window, we checked out the menu. Simple, the menu is. The entire right page of the menu is dedicated to crepes of all sorts; sweet, savory, and so on. Clearly, this is a crepe joint. Otherwise, the menu offers sandwiches, salads and appetizers, and bowls of stew.

As we were in no rush, we decided to start with apps and drinks, and then order dinner when the mood struck us. We also decided to each try a beer we had never had before. Herr Webber got Hoegaarden (good for him!), Frau Webber got Stella Artois, Carmencita got a Delirium Tremens, and I got a Chimay Red. None were disappointed. For me, the Chimay Red was a great new flavor, mixing charcoal, molasses, and a slight fruit overtone, resulting in a hearty glass on a chilly night. (Ok, truth be told, I only had one; then I promptly switched to Hoegaarden for the rest of the evening.)

For starters, we ordered a cheese platter, featuring Brie, Camembert, and a mild cheddar served with crackers and fresh red grapes. Additionally, we got an unfortunately-named Pu-Pu L'Enfant; Prosciutto, marinated olives, pearl onions, gherkin pickles, roasted red peppers, and shaved Parmesean cheese. There was more than enough for the four of us to start, and we savored every minute of it, taking over an hour to polish it off; it's just that kind of place. Eventually we ordered dinner. For Carmencita, a turkey club sangwich. For Frau Webber, a crepe. For the guys, the French Dip.

Ok. Let me take a moment to tell you how ridiculous the French Dip was.

Pretty ridiculous, let me tell you.

My number one complaint with French Dips I've had is the au jus. It's always the damn au jus. Noone had ever gotten it right. The juice is meant to be a robust, flavorful, and textured dipping sauce...NOT a weak beef-flavored broth. Give me depth, damn you! We got our French Dips (served with a mesclun salad in a vinaigrette), and I knew L'Enfant meant business. The baguette was wide, browned perfectly, and with just the right amount of crunch; it would prove a worthy tool to sop juice with. The meat was flavorful and slightly stringy. I suspect it was a flank cut; a vast improvement from the chuck cuts I'm used to getting. Ick. Swiss cheese melted all over this sucker and provided a tangy cut to the richness of the salty jus.

The dip: soaking up juice with crusty bread, watching it stain a deep, deep brown is one of life's true pleasures.

The approach: droplets of beef juice fall to the cup below in slow motion, like beads of brown gold going back to the juice lair to await my command to enter my face. I can't believe this is happening to me.

The entry: My jaw drops in anticipation of the sangwich, much like the blast shield dropped for Han Solo and Luke pretending to be an Empire transport ship in The Return of the Jedi. I am still in disbelief. Sweet, sweet disbelief. Satisfaction...imminent.

The bite: Oh. My. God. My eyes tear up. Up until that moment, I could only imagine the joy a mother feels when holding her newly-born child for the first time in the hospital. Now...I weep with understanding. I have to will my face to chew. Otherwise, if left to its own devices, my body would crawl underneath the table and wait to perish, assuming it had seen the best this world had to offer a soul. And so I chew.

The swallow: It pains me to swallow, even though the rest of my system is patiently waiting for the bolus to come. I can't bear to let it go. Just...one...more...chew. Finally, after climax, I am ready for the next bite. I flag the waitress for many more napkins.

Yeah. You think I'm kidding.

For dessert, we ordered a variety of sweet crepes; Amaretto, Nutella, Chocolate, Lemon and Sugar. We shared crepes, the four of us. Crepes...and a moment. We were all changed by my ordering a French Dip sangwich, and somehow, we all knew it. We left better somehow. Better, and happier for me having ordered the sangwich.

The bill was a bit steep for our liking, but when you order $7 beers, that will happen to you. The service was okay (the waitress kept chatting with the bartender, resulting in our having to approach her a couple of times), and moved at a comfortable pace; we spent the better part of three hours eating sangwiches, cheese, and booze.

Interior: 8.50/10.00 (Cozy, dark, and all about the conversation, baby.)
Menu: 7.00/10.00 (Higher if you dig crepes enough to have it dominate a menu.)
Wine list: N/A. (Sorry. I didn't look at all. I'll go back and investigate.)
Service/Waitstaff: 5.00/10.00 (Nice when she was with us. Had to chase, though.)
Food: 9.00/10.00 (Do I really have to recap here?)
Value: 6.00/10.00 (If you order beer. If not, 8.25/10.00. The sangwiches were $9.)

Overall: 8.75/10.00