| Mimi's American Bistro |
| Mimi's is a new restaurant across the street from the Radisson Barcelo on P Street between 21st and 22nd. Their shtick is that their servers are mostly performing artists who do things like sing and play piano for you while you eat. There was a guy at the piano most of the night, and servers went up to sing show tunes periodically. They weren't bad, but they weren't much of a draw for me either. The place is decorated with Warholesque paintings of pop culture icons. Mona Lisa, Madonna (in her True Blue phase), the Fab Four, and so on are all displayed around the room. The tables are low, with nice couches against the windows, and the place was fairly dark. We were served tiny loaves of hot, yeasty bread with real butter when we were seated, and they were wonderful. Slightly crusty on the outside, warm and chewy-soft on the inside. It was hard to resist the offer of more as we waited for our party to arrive, but we somehow managed to avoid diving into the big breadbasket our server kept carrying around. In short order, everybody arrived and we placed our orders. The menu has several vegetarian options under the appetizer, sandwich and salad menus, but less entrees (only one) than I would have liked to see. I ordered the lone entr�e, polenta in tomato sauce with sauteed spinach, goat cheese and a melange of peppers. Erin ordered a portabello mushroom sandwich on focaccia. We ordered a mezze platter to share. The mezze came fairly quickly, and we all dove in. I tried a warm pita point with hummus; the spread was delightfully oily and salty. I could have done without the decorative extra pool of olive oil poured over the spread, but it was all taste. I also snacked on a couple of high-quality Kalamata olives. After a while, our entrees came. The polenta had been cooked, cooled, sliced, and then griddled until brown and crisp on both sides. The tomato sauce over it was thin and sweet, and tasted a little of coriander. Like a middle eastern interpretation of tomato sauce, almost. I enjoyed the crispness of the polenta, and was surprised to find I only wanted to eat two of the three triangles. Others seemed happy to nibble on the remaining triangle for me. There was a small pile of spinach on the side of the plate, hot and redolent of garlic and olive oil. There was a round of herbed goat cheese resting atop it. I moved the cheese aside and dove into dark greens, savoring the way the leaves melted on my tongue. Excellent. I'm not too fond of peppers, and I am trying to avoid excess calories so I only tasted a little of the goat cheese. Erin's focaccia sandwich was artfully plated, but seemed fairly standard nonetheless: portabellos, fresh mozzarella, and pesto layered on oiled bread. The sandwich came with a small pile of waffle chips (obviously made in-house on a mandoline)�I couldn't wait to try them, but I was disappointed to find them to be cold greaselings. They weren't even crisp. What a letdown. I thought the food at Mimi's was okay, but a little overpriced for the quality we enjoyed. The hummus and spinach were very good, but everything else I'd rank as merely okay. There are so many good restaurants around Dupont Circle, it seems silly to dine at places that aren't as hot and that cost a little more. |