Sip 'N' Tell

Belga Cafe: Deliciousness at it’s best

514 8th st. SE

Washington, DC 20003

(202) 544-0100

Sip ‘N’ Tell has been away for a while. We’ve been stockpiling our reviews and going out, out, out! So to show you that we’re back, we bring you one of our most favorite brunch spots.

Belga Cafe is situated on 8th St SE in Eastern Market. Just a quick two block jaunt from the metro. There’s usually a good long wait on the weekends, anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes, so we suggest you arrive before you’re ready to eat. It’s well worth the wait. If you’re lucky enough to have good weather in DC, we highly recommend taking a seat at one of their outdoor tables. We’ve gone back to Belga countless numbers of times since we first went to do our review. The atmosphere is nice and cozy. It can be loud at times, but you’re always able to hear your table mates. If you’re lucky enough to get a seat in the back of house, you’ll be able to look into the kitchen and watch the chefs at work. The pace and grace they work with is incredible.

Everything on the menu is amazing, we recommend it all. Note though, everything out of their kitchen is super fresh, so occasionally, like we had once, you may find an unexpected treat in your food. (In my friend’s case, we found a bug in her salad.) No worries though, the deliciousness of everything else makes up for it. The service is super friendly and very knowledgeable as well. Prices are about standard for DC, so don’t expect to get a whole lot of bang for your buck, but you will leave feeling like you ate plenty of food and good food at that.

The STEAK EN EIERS: scrumptious.

The WENTELTEEFJES with scrambled eggs: amazing every time, fresh whipped cream.

A view of the kitchen

A view of the bar

A view of their outdoor seating patio

Rating: Ooh la la, and we’ll be back for more!

Wisdom: A Smart Choice

Wisdom

1432 Pennsylvania Avenue Southeast

Washington DC, DC 20003

(202) 543-2323

We showed up to Wisdom at about 10 pm on a Friday night. We’d been looking for somewhere to go in the neighborhood (Navy Yard/Eastern Market) for about a solid hour and stumbled upon Wisdom’s Web site and decided to go give it a shot. We arrived to discover there was excellent parking and no line pouring out the door. (Note: the Potomac Avenue Metro is only one block away.) The bar is extremely dark, but this lends a serene vibe to the place. The host showed us to our own little booth where we sat down to examine the extensive drink menu.

We discovered in our own personal little booth, that we were able to control the volume of the house music, which was great, because if you’re trying to have a conversation across a table, you don’t want to be shouting. Though, we won’t fool you, the bench seating in these booths, is less than comfortable.

Wisdom’s libation map is tricky. They’ve created a system to explain the dryness or the sweetness, the intensity, etc. of all of their drinks. We had a little bit of trouble following it, so we more or less ordered blindly with a recommendation from our awesome server, Brandon. Below are the three drinks we ordered and our quick reviews:

Captain Jacks Green Sparrow = very licorice-y

Pears of Wisdom = very peary, comes with a large pear slice (though in this case it seemed to be rotten)

Wealthy Missionary = tasty, awesome (this was hands-down our favorite)

We also ordered some munch-ems. LexiLa opted for the Portabella Panini, which she says is to die for if you like mushrooms. We noticed that the majority of the menu is vegetarian friendly.

Wisdom has a coffee shop essence about it. Antique furniture lines the walls. We felt that it would be a good place for a second date. We were also big fans of the music, handpicked by the buff bartender. There is also a house dog, named Abby, who wanders the establishment. She belongs to the owner and very friendly, though she’s a bit shy. It’s the perfect ladies night spot for a chill evening with no greasy guys hit to on you. Our biggest qualm? The bathroom was not so clean. Also, if you’re in the mood for a late night snack, and we mean you’re dying for something juicy to put in your stomach, there’s a Chinese carry-out next door.

Thursday night’s at 8 p.m. Wisdom hosts Trivia with giveaways for the winning and the losing teams!

Rating: Oooh-la-la