Mad for Mad Fox

K – I have passed the Mad Fox on numerous occasions, especially when going back and forth to Pilates class, but have never stopped by. Until now. For a weekday afternoon it was quite crowded and I can understand why. It has a nice gastro-pub, brewery atmosphere, good food and of course, beer.  I had a Kirsche Weissen – a cherry, wheat beer – that tasted very good, not too sweet and not too “wheaty.”  For lunch, I had the black bean burger and for a side onion rings. The black bean burger was quite tasty with a Tilamook cheese, pesto, tomato and lettuce. I will say that I had to remove the bun as it was too much for me and I was more interested in the burger than the bun anyway. The onion rings, wow, they were HUGE. They looked like Cruller doughnuts! That being said, they were good, crunchy and not greasy at all – although there was more crunchy outside than onion but nothing to truly complain about. For dessert I had the root beer float. I hadn’t had one of those since I was a kid and when I saw it on the menu, I thought, yeah, I want one of those. And I’m so glad I ordered it because it was the best root beer float! Yes, I know, how can you ruin something that’s just root beer and ice cream but I’m sure there is bad root beer out there and it’s possible. This one though made me think that I miss having a root beer float and should have them more I often – sigh.

C – I have actually been to Mad Fox Brewing Company more times than I care to admit. On our recent trip, it was a dreary, drizzly Friday at 1:30 and it was still packed. Most local restaurants clear out after the lunch rush, but Mad Fox seems to keep going right into happy hour. The food there is great. There’s nothing I’ve had that wasn’t good. The truffle mac and cheese pizza, available only during dinner hours, is as obscenely awesome as it sounds. I’ve had the frickles while enjoying a drink with a friend. They’re good, but you kind of have to be into the taste of fried pickles. They have excellent burgers and the beers are outstanding. During the winter holiday season, they offer a dark, robust ale called Festivus. (For the rest of us).  I tend to routinely go for the Kölsch — a German-style golden ale. If you can’t decide on a beer, you can get the sampler of 4. And if you know what you like, you can walk out of there with a growler filled with your favorite.

On our recent trip, I skipped the beer and went directly for the nearest high-calorie foods: the fig and balsamic blues pizza and the butterscotch pudding. The latter was so divine I’ve been thinking about it all weekend.

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Mad Fox Brewing Company
444 West Broad Street
Falls Church, VA 22046

Out of the Blue – Woodward Table and WTF

C – At the corner of 15th and H there’s a restaurant that, I think, popped up out of nowhere. I’ve been there before (at least, to a restaurant in that space) but this was an altogether different dining experience. My friend and I sat at a high table in the bar overlooking 15th. Really fun to do at lunchtime as you can watch the mix of workers, residents and tourists zipping by — the latter looking like ducks in a line on their Segway tour of the city. In the interest of time we skipped directly to entrees. I had the POTATO CRUSTED SALMON with Chesapeake oysters, swiss chard, leeks, portobellos, lemon, chives. It was shockingly flavorful, each bite punctuated with a very rude “MMMMMM!!!!” from me. My friend had the CHESAPEAKE ROCKFISH with fennel, olives, kale, blood orange-tarragon vinaigrette. He seemed equally happy with his, though perhaps not as emotive. We shared the MAC AND CHEESE cheddar, ritz cracker topping. I scraped that bowl clean. I’d definitely like to go back and try more. I’d also like to stop by WTF (Woodward Takeout Food) — their amusingly named takeout joint attached to the main restaurant.

K- WTF (Woodward Takeout Food)!  I went the takeout route. I dropped by WTF and ordered the wild mushroom flatbread and grabbed a lemon bar.  There was no wait to order, which was great for me (I went around 1:15 p.m.). The order itself didn’t take too long either although on the menu it says to expect a 12 – 14 minute wait, I may have waited about ten minutes. Or maybe it didn’t feel long because I was perusing the custard and baked goods they had on display that looked absolutely yummy! Anyway, as I was walking back to work with my order (I must admit it was very poor planning on my part logistically as carrying a boxed flatbread and lemon bar, my purse and holding an umbrella due to the rain wasn’t the easiest thing) and was getting hungrier by the minute. The smell emanating from my flatbread smelled divine! Once I got back to my office, I quickly took photos for this post and began inhaling my lunch.  I kept pushing it further away hoping that it would slow me down – it did, but not by much. The plan was to eat half for lunch and the other for dinner – yeah, that didn’t happen. The wild mushroom flatbread with garlic confit, creamed spinach, fontina  was a bit oily but it was still crisp with a peppery, garlic flavour. The mushrooms were  meaty and the fontina added a nice taste. The lemon bar – the crust on the bottom was a bit soft so there is no way I could’ve eaten it without a spoon or a fork. It was very lemony maybe a little too much, I’m uncertain if I would get it again. I will definitely  return for lunch again, perhaps try the restaurant too.

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Woodward Table
1426 H St NW