black market bistro

i often lament the lack ofgoodbrunch options in dc. and while, with a few exceptions , my opinion that dc does not have a decent variety ofgoodbrunch spots remains unchanged. but if you are willing to venture a little outside the beltway, brunch nirvana in a tranquil setting awaits at black market bistro . located in garrett park in an old victorian post office building, black market bistro's brunch starts sundays at 10am, at which time there's a line of people waiting to get in. we discovered it thank

solid and comfortable but nothing spectacular. like other "black's" restaurants the focus here seems to be on the seafood. i started the cornmeal crusted oysters which had a nice crunch from the cornmeal but were pretty average. my entrée was a tuna steak on a pancetta and garbanzo bean cassoulet. while the tuna was cooked pretty nicely i enjoyed the cassoulet more. (is it cheating to use pancetta? doesn't it make everything better?)
the ambiance of the bistro is very charming. i lieu of the large open space you'd find in most restaurants there are several small rooms with just a few tables in each room, which you'd expect being that its hidden in the back of a neighborhood. i believe it was a post office at one time. service wasgoodand we didn't feel rushed at any point even though there were a few people waiting for tables. if urbanspoon had a 5 points scale i'd give it about a 3.5