Cashion's Eat Place
1819 Columbia Road, NWWashington, DC 20009
202-797-1819
(Adams Morgan/Columbia Road)
Persistence paid off the Saturday night we decided to go to Cashion’s without a prior reservation. They had a full house, but hoping someone would cancel, we called back a time or two and lucked out. We ended up in the nice cozy corner by the front window looking onto Columbia Road in Adams Morgan. Cashion’s lacks pretension, as its “Eat Place” epithet would suggest. But beyond that there is little resembling a diner here. This is a great looking place with top-notch delicious and thankfully unprecious food. Appetizers are in the $7 to $12 range, and main courses are in the $25 to $35 range.
For starters, the wild mushroom ragú was sublime. It was rich with cream, but a touch of vinegar set it off! The gumbo filé was also delicious. It was evidently made from a dark roux, which provided great depth without the bitterness that could occur when an inexperienced or careless chef tries this (by cooking the roux too quickly thereby scorching it and lending it a burnt taste). The gumbo featured large chunks of mild, white, flaky fish (I forgot to ask what kind of fish – farm-raised catfish?).
I had the Muscovy duck breast with fois gras for the main course, accompanied by a wonderfully rich sweet, rich, cumin-scented wine reduction sauce. It went perfectly with the excellent Tempranillo wine we chose (itself a star of the meal). The Tempranillo also went well with the buffalo steak my dinner companion was having, which was such a generous portion that she could not eat it all, which worked to my significant advantages as I was more than happy to polish it off. The buffalo was as lean as could be, but very tender and flavorful. Given all the concern about how beef is often produced in the U.S., I am considering moving to buffalo (or exclusively grass-fed beef) to the fullest extent possible.
Unfortunately, I cannot speak to the deserts, as I only tried the red-wine pear sorbet, which had a taste that I could not decipher. I will definitely be visiting Cashion’s again—as often as possible.
(Reviewed on 3/3/05)