by Do you ever watch the Food Network? If so you have probably seen the Chef/Owner of Granville Moore’s, Teddy Folkman. He beat Bobby Flay in a mussels throwdown. He also was on season 5 of the Next Food Network star. Granted he was best known for being the guy that lied, but heck that has nothing to do with his food. Besides Teddy, Granfille Moore’s is known for Moules Frites. What is Moules Frites, why it is Mussels and Fries. I love mussels so I had to give this place a try.
Walking to the place we almost missed it and walked right by the door. The only sign is quite small and above the front door. If it wasn’t for the line outside, we would totally have missed it. Once inside we waited for a seat at the bar. Oh, if you don’t have a reservation, you will be waiting a long while for a table. Luckily we found a spot at the bar. I like the bar, you can really see how a restaurant works by watching the waitstaff. It doesn’t matter what restaurant you are in, the waitstaff always migrates to the bar. If the waitstaff is having fun, you will have fun. Plus, the bartenders will not steer you wrong when it comes to the menu. This might be a bit biased, as I bartended for 8 years, but it has not failed me.
Granville Moore’s goes through 1200 pounds of mussels and 1400 pounds of potatoes every single week. They must be doing something right. The menu is focused on a Gastropub theme that is heavily focused on the mussels, fries and dipping sauces. Don’t forget the massive selection of Belgian Beers. Chimay anyone?
To start the meal Dana and I ordered the Jumbo Bacon Wrapped Scallops. They were awesome. Scallops can be tricky to cook, and these were done to perfection. It didn’t hurt that they were wrapped in the worlds best food, Bacon! The bacon was cooked perfectly along with the scallops. This feat is not an easy one to master. Usually by the time that the bacon is cooked, the scallops are over done. Not here, both parts of the dish were cooked to perfection.
For the main course we both wanted mussels. They offer mussels for every flavor palette. From blue cheese mussels to Moroccan mussels with a curry sauce. Dana and I both love blue cheese and could not decide who would get the Moules Fromage Bleu, so we both ordered them. The Fromage Bleu mussels sounded amazing. Here is a little breakdown. Mussels, Bacon, Hook’s Blue Cheese, Shallots, Spinach, White Wine and Lemon Juice. Bacon and Bleu Cheese, hell yeah. Along with the Mussels we shared a Grande order of frites with two dipping sauces, Truffle Aioli and Chipolte Mayo.
The mussels came out steaming in a great big bowl. My first bite was amazing. It had a giant chunk of bacon, a tad bit of blue cheese, a spinach leaf and also some mussel. The flavor of the broth along with the mussels was to die for. Yeah, I said it. These mussels were amazing. The frites were a bit dissapointing. They were tasty but I think we got the bottom of the barrel. The longest fry was about a half of an inch. This made the dipping sauces a bit tricky. The dipping sauces were quite tasty. The aioli had a strong truffle flavor that was not too overpowering. The chipolte mayo was delish and had a little kick.
Overall this place is delicious. If it wasn’t for the fact that it is way out in North East DC, I would be back for more next week. The food was great, the service was excellent and the Belgian beers were plentiful. I would recommend this place to anyone who loves mussels. It sounds scary I know, but head out to NE and check out Granville Moore’s. Call ahead for a reservation.
Granville Moore’s
1238 H. St. NE
Washington, DC 20002
202-399-2546
http://www.granvillemoores.com/
