can't get enough of germantown cafe.. my spouse and i have frequented this establishment on several occasions, each experience has been great. even when there was an issue in the meal, the wait staff has always taken care of the problem.
on this last occasion, my spouse & i arrived @ 5:30 pm, were promptly seated, and had our drinks within a couple of minutes. with regard to this service, as for andrew. he served us professionally and quickly. i don't usually hand out individual comments for wait staff, but he definitely deserves it.
we usually try something new each time we come to this restaurant, and on this occasion it was the black bean quinoa cakes as an appetizer. we also ordered the germantown strudel. the strudel was a mix of southwestern spice, cream cheese, and some chicken. absolutely scrumptious. i would order this as a main course, but there are only 2 strudel per appetizer. still, a wonderful, tasty treat. i can't really say the same for the black bean quinoa. there just was not much taste. sure there was a salsa on top of the cake, but other than that, very bland.
our house salads came with the blue cheese & vinegar dressing and our rolls. this is a good offering (not great, but good) to complement everything else. and the rolls,...heavenly. a really tasty yeast roll that comes with some soft butter. my spouse describes them as "donuts", a very high compliment. love them, and had several.
i am somewhat a creature of habit, and when i find a dish that is outstanding, i tend to stick with that dish. thus, i ordered the pork loin in plum sauce over mashed potatoes with green beans. this pork dish is "to die for". it's meaty, sweet, a little tart, and what can i say,....delicious. period. i still don't like their method of barely cooking a baby green bean. i much rather like a true southern style green bean dish. it tasted as if it came right off the plant and had been barely warmed. maybe next time i'll ask for another vegetable.
my spouse had their curried salmon over rice special with asparagus. she indicated the salmon was very meaty, did not have a fishy taste, and was some of the best salmon she had ever eaten, even though it was farm raised. she much prefers the wild variety. she loved the curry sauce, and gave me a taste of it. the curry sauce was smooth, and just spicy enough to make it interesting. i prefer a much spicier & hotter curry, but this was very good. she was highly complimentary of this dish. the asparagus was crisp and cooked as it should be.
to top off our meal, we had their apple crunch dish with vanilla ice cream and coffee. sweet, a little tart, full of apple flavor, and what can i say,... it was a great way to top off our meal.
on a scale of 1 - 10, i would rate this experience as a 9. i'll go back to the fried green tomato appetizer next time instead of the black bean quinoa cake, and order another vegetable. other than that, i'd do it again tonight. the total cost of the meal, ice tea, coffee, tax and tip was approximately $75.00.
-----06 jan, 2012-----
overall, a disappointing evening. my spouse & i have eaten @ the germantown cafe several times, and on each occasion the quality & overall experience has been good for the most part. last night was definitely different.
this was our date night @ tpac, and we had dinner reservations for 6:00 pm and were seated promptly. we ordered our drinks (water & iced tea) and the fried green tomatoes appetizer. the appetizer was hot and tasty. my only other comment would be to say that maybe their fryer or skillet was not set to the proper temperature, since the breading was dripping (literally) with grease, enough that they needed to be wiped down with a paper napkin. that shouldn't happen.
while we were waiting for our appetizer, the fire alarm went off. the staff came by quickly to assure everyone that apparently the alarm was set off by someone in an upstairs apartment who had been cooking steaks and set off the alarm. however, this piercing scream went on for 20 minutes. not exactly a pleasurable experience, though i know therestaurantdid not cause the issue. finally the fire department came & reset the system.
we were brought our dinner salads, and they were delicious. their house dressing is a vinagrette with large chunks of bleu cheese added. very tasty.
our meals were finally brought to us almost 1 hour after we had been seated. i don't know if the alarm caused a back-up in the kitchen, or if they were just behind. but an hour wait is not acceptable.
my spouse order the stuffed chicken breast with vegetables. the chicken was stuffed with "chicken sausage". the vegetables, consisting of carrots & broccoli were definitely not cooked, still almost raw. it was if they were barely blanched for freezing and cooking at a later date. my spouse at the broccoli, but still provided feedback to the server about her vegetables. when she had finished the breast & had started eating the wing attachment, my spouse found that this piece had not been fully cooked. it was still red & bloody when she cut into the meat. definitely a turn-off, and should not have happened.
i had ordered the plum pork over mashed potatoes with green beans. the pork & plum sauce were to die for. absolutely delicious. i've had this choice previously, and decided to have it again. a really great choice. unfortunately, the mashed potatoes were on the cold side. in addition, the green beans that came with the meal were baby green beans with stems on. again, this vegetable was raw, just as if i had taken them off the plant & eaten them in the garden. i also informed the server about this, and she asked if i would like some other vegetable. i asked for some asparagus. she brought ought 6 large stalks, and they were cooked perfectly.
their rolls, as always, were absolutely divine. lightly sweet, hot, and yeasty. add the butter, and they worth having a bucket full of them.
the service was excellent, other than the kitchen not being able to keep up. this lack of timing had us scrambling to arrive at the theatre before curtain call. we just made it, but were walking quickly from our car to get there.
i'll go back again and give them another chance. this may have been a completely atypical evening @ the germantown cafe (not to mention the alarm), but the chef should pay more attention to the food that goes out of the kitchen.
-----29 oct, 2010-----
second time, a little let down. i like this restaurant, and don't deny it. however, last night's fare was somewhat deflated. we arrived at about 5:30 pm prior to tpac, and were 2 of maybe 7 people in the restaurant. it quickly became packed within 30 - 45 minutes. we started off with a southwestern crawfish strudel with some salsa. this was amazing, and worth the price. probably a blend of some cream cheese, mexican / southwest spices, crawfish, and cooked in a small pastry. absolutely delicious. try it. it was new to the menu, and hopefully will stay on it. our meal came with salad, and we chose the bleu cheese crumbles dressing. i've had this salad before, and decline to order anything else as a prep for dinner. if you like bleu cheese, this is the real deal and there is plenty of it to cover the salad.
my spouse had the lemon basil chicken over orzo & rice pilaf with broccoli. she stated that the chicken was ok, nothing special, and the broccoli was not cooked. she believed that if it had passed through the water for more than a minute, it was long. the broccoli came on a large stalk, and it was definitely not cooked.
i chose the braized lamb shank over mashed potatoes with a red wine demi-glaze. it also came with "5" asparagus stalks. the demi-glaze & pototoes were very good. however, the asparagus was also not cooked. i don't like over cooked asparagus, and i also don't care for uncooked asparagus (except maybe on a salad). it was very crunchy, and really not appealing with this type of meal. the lamb shank was cooked properly, and was tender. however, unless you really like lamb, don't get this dish. i could still taste the barnyard (or whatever this animal was raised in), and it certainly detracted from the overall quality of the experience. i don't mind a piece of meat being a little gamey, but this shank left me with that little bit of a "gag" feeling in the back of my throat as an aftermath to the bite. just wasn't enjoyable. maybe i was expecting too much from this bistro to get that taste out, but it was certainly there.
the rolls that came with the meal were heavenly, and to say the least delicious.
we really wanted dessert after our meal, but did not want an entire dessert. thus, we split a really large chocolate torte with vanilla ice cream which was drizzled with chocolate sauce. the dessert was enough for 2 people. i don't believe i could have eaten the entire dessert by myself....ok maybe i could have, but it was really chocolately, rich, and just very heavy. none of this detracted from the taste or quality of dessert. it was great, but just alot to eat on top of everything else. we had decaf coffee with our dessert, and it was a little strong. maybe it had been sitting there a while.
the total price was $74.00 including tip. the meal would have been alot more enjoyable if i had not had the lamb shank and if the green vegetables had been cooked. otherwise, it was good.
-----24 sep, 2010-----
absolutely the best in germantown. my spouse & i have tried several germantown restaurants, and the germantown cafe was, without question, the best of the list. the staff was pleasant, we were seated without a wait (but did have a reservation), and the food was delicious. we don't usually make a habit of ordering appetizers, but in this case therestauranthad 2 of our favorites,...fried green tomatoes and crab cakes. the green tomatoes were fried just right, and had a bell pepper sauce that complemented the tomatoes to a "t". since we lived in the mid-atlantic area for about 14 years, we are somewhat skeptical about ordering crab cakes outside of the region, since it seems most restaurants try to make crab cakes with about 80% filler and 20% crab. this was not the case with these 2 appetizers. they were medium size and filled with crab. i would not say these were as good as those made in maryland (i am prejudiced in this area), but compared to most other restaurants outside of the region, these were well above average. the sauce was some sort of mustard & tartar mixture. it was ok, but i really like my crab cakes plain. it's just really difficult to successfully add to the taste of a crab cake and not destroy the delicate crab flavor. the house salad with a balsamic vinegar dressing with blue cheese crumbles was "to die for". love that extra flavor imparted by blue cheese, and the salad had lots of greens. i enjoyed the pork loin with plum sauce. these 2 foods just melded together like ice cream with chocolate sauce. just delicious. my spouse had the flat iron steak and said it was full of flavor. i had a bite, and it was tasty. i must add that i'm not really a flat iron steak fan. it's not that i don't like it, but rather i much prefer other cuts of steak. these 2 entrees were accompanied with mashed potatoes (about 1/2 cup) and either sauteed green beans or asparagus. i had the green beans, which were typicalrestaurantfare. finally, we split 2 desserts accompanied with decafe coffee. we chose the key lime pie and the creme brulee. again, we relied upon our experience of having lived in florida to compare the key lime pie with that from south florida. this was the real deal,...not someone's imagination of what key lime pie might be. and thankfully, the chef didn't color the pie with some type of green food color. i've seen that happen, and had to gag at the sight. key limes are not green. this pie was authentic. the creme brulee was a litle disappointing, but still flavorful. the custard was not allowed to set up as it should have been, and was a little runny. just cooked to quick. plus, the portion in the cup was less than a 1/4 inch high.
having said all of the above, on a scale of 10, i would rate the food an 8 and the overall experience a high 9. the overall price including tax & tip was $81.00 for 2 people. since this was our "date night" of going to the performing arts center to see a show, the price was appropriate to the occasion. it just added to the magic of the evening. try this little bistro. you will enjoy the experience.