Girl Meets Food

English pub meets West Elm.  CommonWealth is my kind of place—clean, rustic, welcoming and romantic.

Having had many meals here, I think CommonWealth is a classy addition to Columbia Heights.  Portions are satisfying (unless you’re a three-hundred-pound trucker), the food is consistently fresh and beautifully presented, and the staff is at the top of their game.

Start with a rocket salad.  Very simple with lemonette, sliced radishes and shaved sheep’s cheese.  Savory, bitter, tart, and a healthy start to your meal.

My bf, Ken Noli, thought the grass-fed beef burger was exceptional.  Taste it and you will immediately know the difference between cows raised on a natural diet and those fed grains and hormones.  The taste is clean, natural and tender.  The way beef is supposed to taste.

I loved the steamed mussels.  An appetizer that will surely wake up your taste buds with an array of flavors—sweet, tender mussels, with dry-cured sausage, a kick of vermouth, sprinkled with smooth squash.

But the main reason I come here is the Scotch eggs, a very unique food item in my book.  Hard-boiled eggs are wrapped in pork sausage and fried.  A British picnic food, Scotch eggs are traditionally served cold.  At CommonWealth, they are served hot with green chutney, honey mustard, and remoulade (I think).  Staying true to form, I take them to go and eat them cold.

They’re better that way, anyway.  Kudos!

CommonWealth Gastropub
Reserve now
1400 Irving Street
Washington, DC 20010
(202) 265-1400

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Deep-fried Twinkies. Deep-fried Snickers. Deep-fried Mars bars. Deep-fried Oreos. The list goes on.

Since the 1990’s, the deep-fried junk food craze has taken the world by storm.

Initially meant as a joke, deep-fried Mars Bars originated in Scotland around 1995. Since then, the trend has caught on especially at American state fairs. I had the good fortune of finding deep-fried Oreos in Old Orchard Beach, Maine this summer.

The girl at the counter took out a container filled with refrigerated, battered Oreos, stuck a toothpick in each and dropped them in the deep fryer. After a few minutes, she scooped them out, drowned them in powdered sugar, and put it in a red-checkered paper tray for me, the kind crinkle-cut fries come in. How fun!

You may wonder how they took something this unhealthy and made it even worse. Boredom and hunger, I say.

But wait til you taste it.

At high temperatures, it’s like the crispy Oreo cookie releases its molecular bonds and turns into a warm, rich chocolate cake, with its white center turning into an ultra-sweet, whipped cream-like consistency. All surrounded by a fluffy cake-like batter. Topped with powdered sugar.

Now, I’m not suggesting anyone eat like this all the time. All in moderation, I say—although I can certainly see myself eating these to the point of cardiac arrest.

Did you know there’s deep-fried Pepsi? How’d they do that?!

Actually, it’s a Pepsi-flavored ball of dough dipped in Pepsi-flavored funnel cake batter and fried. Creative genius!

If you want to try these good-but-so bad-for-you treats, the ChipShop in New York City has a variety of deep-fried chocolate treats. In fact, they invented the deep-fried Twinkie! Plus, they’ll fry up anything you bring in, even a salad.

Now, that’s healthy.

Dine at J. Paul’s, Georgia Brown’s, Paolo’s, Old Glory, Neyla, and Third Edition during the holidays and enjoy a three-course Holiday Menu, with a glass of wine from December 1 – 24, 2009, between 5:00pm-8:00pm for
$24 per person!