We bought into the hype. We showed up at Bad Saint two and a half
hours before they opened, stood on the sidewalk watching the world
go by, gave silent thanks for the umbrella in the trunk when the
skies opened up (no one else left, even those without coverage) and
learned how many people in D.C. you can pay to stand in line for you
if you have money to burn. We also met a young lady who was on her
third attempt to actually make it inside. Scarcity still creates
desire. |
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![]() ...A Short Time Later, Down The Block |
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Once the door opens they only allow groups of four or smaller who are ready to go right that second into the cramped and brightly colored dining area clustered around the open kitchen. Service is relaxed and friendly with the expectation you may not have much of an idea what you’re doing. Everything is served family style, there are nine options on the menu; three salads, three seafood dishes, and three meat dishes. We ordered three cocktails (the first one was interesting enough to encourage exploration) and four dishes.
The initial beverage was described as the unofficial official
cocktail of the Philipines, the Willy Santos, built from lambanog,
Cocchi Americano, Banae du Bresil, and lime juice. There’s just
enough sweet to tamp down the nearly assaultive tang and other
island flavors in this lightly frothy mixture. Fun, what else you
got? Next was the Diki-Diki - calvados, Kronan Swedish Punsch, lime,
grapefruit, angostura, and seasalt with similar tang but a duskier
more complicated balance of bitterness than the first. The final was
the most serious of all, the Balisong made with rye, Bittermans
Tepache, coconut liqueur, Carpano Antica, Angostura, kinda like an
islandy-old-fashioned. Then there was the food. |
![]() Kitchen Is On Display |
![]() Cocktails Are A Little Sweet And Seriously Sour |
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![]() Or Tart And Bitter |
![]() Or With Sweet And Serious Bitter |
New, stunning, fun, bright, enough twists and turns to be wonderfuly weird without being alien or frightening. The first was called Kilawin Na Tambakol and was much like ceviche, but with a different list of curing ingredients. Thick dice of sweet tuna protein are denatured by ginger, spicy habanero vinegar, and other more equatorial ingredients than traditional leaving a viscous and bright sheen on the exterior of the tender and meaty tuna. Great start.
Pancit Na Hipon arrived next, glass noodles soaked through darkly
rich and spicy broth born of pork belly and laced with huge chunks
of shrimp. Add loads of floral and acidic vegetation and you just
start shoveling through the building heat, so good, thought it might
be the best we would have until the Adobong Dilaw arrived. Thick
ceramic bowl is radiating heat outward still drawing from the
bubbling yellow curryish liquid weighed down with roasted
cauliflower and kobocha squash. The veg was great…the sauce was
divine. I think our server thought I was joking when I said if the
bowl weren’t still screaming hot, I would have licked it clean. Now
I think I should have proven it, the stuff was chameleonesqe,
changing not with every bite but nearly every moment, like really
good Thai food, it seemed to hit every taste bud differently and set
off an alternate cascade of neurons in you brain screaming…eat more,
were not done yet, lick the hot rock, it’s worth it. Regret.
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![]() Bright Tuna Nuggets |
![]() Screaming Hot Bowl Full Of... |
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![]() ...Chewy Noodles And Spicy Broth... |
![]() Flavored With Shrimp & Belly Chunks |
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![]() Even Hotter Bowl... |
![]() ...With Even More Glorious Cauliflower Awesome |
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The last dish we ordered was the Adobong Hipon huge prawns smeared
with black garlic and topped with sprigs of cilantro. This was my
least favorite. The black garlic was delicious with a strong sweet
note against the spice of the clove. The prawns themselves were
nearly dry. Tasty but for me, way overdone. When the check arrived
they also delivered a final taste gratis. Dessert was a piece of
plantain steamed in banana leaf, then roasted till hints of crisp
developed and then doused with brown butter and a caramel sauce.
Bananas Foster ala Filipino. Get the umbrella, I’m ready to check
out the sidewalk for a couple more hours…there were five more things
on the menu just for today. |
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![]() Huge Prawns |
![]() Were Coated In Interesting Black Garlic But Way Overcooked |
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![]() Free Starchy & Sweet Dessert |
YAAAAAY
Philippines! |
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Ratings | |||||||
![]() Food |
![]() Service |
![]() Ambiance |
![]() What's Best |
![]() What's Worst |
![]() Overall |
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B+ | A | A | A | D | A- | ||
Even The Wait | Filipino Fare | Dry Prawns |