CEIBA!

Tonight Diana and I did our annual restaurant week bet situation. I lost this time. The Nats failed me. 

We went to Ceiba which was unbelievably amazing. Probably one of my new favorite restaurants in DC. We started at the bar (as usual) and got a drink while we waited for our reservation. The bartenders here were some of the nicest i've ever encountered. They greeted you and immediately got you all the menus and a glass of water. It wasn't even that dead there, so it was amazing that they still paid attention to you. 

We got a carafe of the sangria rojo. I like to try sangria everywhere. It was really tasty... very smooth! They also were running deals on bottles of wine during RW. I always like restaurants that do that. 

CEIBA offered their entire entree menu for RW. This set them apart from other restaurants with the pre-fixe menu right off the bat! Not only was this one of the best selection of items, but it might be one of the tastiest restaurant week experiences I've had so far! 

So that's saying that CEIBA tops:

Bibiana
Tosca Ristorante
Dino
District Chophouse
Georgia Browns
Bistro Lepic & Wine Bar
El Centro
Taberna Del Alabardero 
Tony and Joe's Seafood Place 

There was lots of sharing happening so i was able to try a couple other things that Diana ordered. 

Appetizers:

I got the Spicy Lamb Flautas with fresh masa, jack cheese, jalapeno dill creama and Diana got the Yucatan Shrimp Ceviche "Cocktail" with pico de gallo, avocado and crisp corn tortilla! They were both delicious items. The lamb was so so perfectly juicy and tender. The jalapeno dill creama sauce was also fantastic. Feel like i want to make that as a sauce combo one night with chicken or something!

Entree:

I had the seared duck breast with wild mushroom "tacu tac" risotto cake , plantain, and aji panca honey glaze. Diana got the Slow braised pork shank "feijoada" with black beans, collard greens, rice and traditional accompaniments, since the bartender talked it up. It definitely looked really appetizing. 

duck breast

pork shank

Dessert:

I got the warm sugar canella dusted churros with dark rich hot fudge and cinnamon marshmallow and diana got the traditional flan with honey-tequilla oranges and brazil nut biscotti. 

yes, the oranges were SO GOOD. lol

As you can see the portions were quite large and i did not manage to get pictures of the apps or desserts because they looked so good, i ate them immediately! lol

CEIBA has restored my faith in the purpose of restaurant week. To go out and try the more expensive restaurants to see if they're even worth going back to regularly. I had not necessarily thought some of the other RW experiences were fantastic and worth going back to regularly. Ceiba is DEF a place i would go back to regularly for deliciousness. They also have a really awesome happy hour which is not only the hours right after work but they also have a late night happy hour situation around 10! 

CEIBA gets all 5 stars and 10 thumbs from me! =)