Next up on my Washington DC eating adventures took us to Fancy Radish. An excellent name, and even better food! Fancy Radish is an entirely vegetarian menu and it’s designed for sharing which I’m a big fan of. In fact, we ordered one of everything! Nothing better than getting to try the whole menu!
The menu changes seasonally, and when we were there was set up in sections called Urban Picnic, Farm Board and Wood & Fire. First up was the Rutabaga Fondue ($15) which came with a soft pretzel and house pickles. We actually got a second pretzel as well which allowed us to scoop up every last bit of the deliciously creamy fondue. The pickles on the side was excellent as they provided not only some good crunch but some acidity to balance out the cheesy fondue. We were off to a good start!
Next up was the Radish & Avocado Toast ($14) which was topped with kimchi, nori and ‘fried rice’. This wasn’t the easiest dish to share, but it was well worth the effort. The combination of flavours and textures was seriously good – creamy, crunchy, salty, spicy you name it, they were all there! I absolutely could have happily had more of this, and I have to remember to combine radishes and kimchi with my avo toast more often!
The last of the Urban Picnic dishes was another Toast – this time a Chioggia Beet Toast ($15) with smoked tofu, cucumber dill cream and capers. The pickled beets worked like I imagine smoked salmon does and were delicious with the cucumber dill cream. This was another one that was a tad messy to eat, but thankfully that doesn’t matter when eating with my family!
Then we were on to the two Farm Board dishes! First up were the Peruvian Potatoes ($13) served with aji Amarillo, cilantro, peanut and cured olives. Potato dishes are always going to be popular with my family and these did not disappoint. They were perfectly cooked and the sauce was seriously delicious – spicy and creamy with the salty olives on top to round things out. This was absolutely one of the standout dishes in a very high quality field!
The second Farm Board dish was the Charred Broccoli ($14) with a white bean sauerkraut salad and horseradish. The sauerkraut and horseradish brought some serious flavour to what could have been a simple dish and it was a real winner. This dish provided some good freshness to balance the creamier dishes we had earlier. Plus, how can you go wrong with a smoky charred broccoli!
We were then in to the final section of the menu – Wood & Fire. First up was the Spicy Dan Dan Noodles ($18) served with red chile sesame sauce, Sichuan peppercorn and five spice glazed mushrooms. This may have been my dish of the night – rich and spicy sauce, perfectly cooked mushrooms and seriously excellent noodles. I loved that the noodles were tender but still chewy, and that the sauce while spicy, still had some real depth of flavour. An absolutely excellent dish!
Next up was the Chermoula Grilled Tofu ($19) with warmed black lentils, Calabrian chilli and a tomato olive salad. The tofu was really well cooked and the chermoula marinade worked so well with the warm lentils. At first glance this looked like a dish you might often get served as a vegetarian, but Fancy Radish somehow made it just that little bit more interesting flavour-wise. The fresh tomatoes and herbs on top certainly didn’t hurt either!
Last but not least (of the savoury dishes at least!) was the Old School Portobello Steak ($20) with black garlic steak sauce, kabocha squash puree and pickled cabbage. The mushroom was tender and charred, and I really loved the squash puree underneath. It was smooth, creamy and when combined with the pickled cabbage was even more delicious. It was an excellent way to round out a seriously excellent meal.
Well, actually we weren’t quite done! Despite having no real room for dessert, we decided to get a serve of the Sticky Toffee Pudding ($12) with pumpkin ice cream and smoked pepita streusel. We were very glad we ordered this as it was absolutely delicious. I’m not sure I had tried pumpkin ice cream before but thoroughly enjoyed it, and the crunchy pepitas were an excellent addition as well. I don’t think it was really designed for four people, but we all got to enjoy a little taste which was probably all we had room for anyway!
Safe to say we were very happy with our meal at Fancy Radish. The food and drinks were all outstanding and the staff were super friendly and helpful as well. I’d highly recommend a visit if you’re in, or visiting, Washington DC!
What dish from Fancy Radish most interests you?
Share the Love
I Spy Plum Pie is Liz, an early 30s kiwi-born, Melbourne raised girl who is passionate about the environment and sustainability, food, exploring and learning new things. Join me on my journey to a happy, sustainable life!