Man, I haven't frequented the NE part of town for some time. They used to be my old stomping grounds when I lived near Eastern Market, but its been a while. Anyways, over the past year or so they have done some major restructuring...along with that has come a slew of new restaurants. Since this was my first time in NE in a long time I decided to try out a DC classic that I had yet to experience.
Granville Moores is consistently ranked as one of the best places to get mussels in the city. I enjoy mussels, they aren't my favorite, but I enjoy them and I was excited to try the place out. The neighborhood is shady. I know, I know "oh its unique", "no no its culturally diverse", ummm no, its freaking shady. My friend was wearing a semi-short dress, the sun was down, and the creepers were creepin'. The entrance of the restaurant matches the neighborhood, old and unassuming. Once you are inside the place though, its a pretty cool set up. It feels like a neighborhood bar, which it is, and you are treated like you live in the neighborhood, which I do not, but she does.
The beer list is very impressive. I wasn't drinking, but she had a couple different belgian beers that both looked good haha. For an appetizer we had the tuna tartar that came with hoemade chips (odd), preserved lemons, and topped with a caper vinaigrette that was delicious. The serving size was a little small for two people, but this really was a great dish. For our entrees: she had the classic white wine, garlic, butter mussels and I had the "Diablo Del Mar" (littleneck clams, baby shrimp, pappardelle, spicy fennel-saffron broth). I've had different variations on the classic white wine mussels at a few different places around the city and I still think the classic is the way to go. Mine was spicy and pretty good, but the shrimp seamed out of place and there were some tomatoes in there that were not very good. Again, the white wine mussels were spot on. The best part of all this is that you get to use the bread to sop up all of the leftover broth. We also split a large order of frites that were nice n' crunchy and came with a side of truffle mayonnaise. I feel like there is a Tommy Boy "I can actually hear you getting fatter" joke in there somewhere. The frites were perfect and so was the dipping sauce.
I always end up leaving these restaurants and saying that I want to go back and I need to try so and so. I very rarely end up doing so, but I really think I will go back to Granville Moore's to try out the chicken and waffles and get some more of that tuna. Plus, the price for dinner for two, including tip, was well under a 100 bucks. Steal.
Overall: B+
Highlight: Tuna Tartar
Lowlight: Service was a little slow. Other than that, nothing.
