Deviled Eggs
We are flipping out, and these must be the best in town Vadouvin Deviled Eggs from Dino’s Grotto, an excellent Italian restaurant with Jewish spices on U Street/Shaw in Washington DC. Pure mastery and uniqueness make this one of the most amazing dishes we’ve ever had. It was a dish so good that it almost broke our NOM score completely. We were excited to finally make our way to Dino’s new location in DC. It’s Friday night, so we started with strong drinks and couldn’t pass up a few appetizers, especially after reading this description. It’s the crispy prosciutto with anchovies!!! First, bite in, and it’s just like someone just smacked you around with some bold flavors, and you liked it! I liked it so much that you asked for more. Plus, all that creamy egg goodness is combined with Sriracha aioli and salsa verde. Ah, just thinking about this dish again makes my mouth water. Price-wise, it was not too expensive, just $8, but you know it was so good that we would pay double that. While anchovies might not be for everyone, we love this addition and think it is worth a try, and you might fall in love with it. We are already salivating when we can return for more of this and other good dishes. What are some of your favorite Deviled Eggs?
Grilled Brussels Sprouts
Prepare for a gateway drug of fantastic food with an appetizer like Grilled Brussels Sprouts from Dino’s Grotto, an Italian restaurant on U Street/Shaw in Washington, DC. This is a must-try dish while waiting for the rest of your food. It looks relatively simple on the menu, but there is nothing simple about this dish regarding flavor. Brussels sprouts with perfectly caramelized big onions, crispy walnuts, and Italian saba sauce are grilled to perfection. Eating this was pure joy, especially those walnuts that you don’t usually expect. They added a great flavor and crust to the dish. With so few ingredients, they can achieve such an impressive combination of flavors—a pretty big appetizer for $12 with enough to share with a few friends. You know you are about to enjoy some of the best food in town when the appetizer is this good.
Duck Bolongnese Lasagne
Satisfy your cheesy desires with irresistible Duck Bolognese Lasagne from one of our favorite Italian restaurants, Dino’s Grotto, on U Street/Shaw in Washington, DC. We finally reached the main course after so many good appetizers and drinks. Oh, and does it hit the spot? There is hot, cheesy goodness in every bite. It is so soft and light to the taste, and you don’t feel like you are overeating. The flatly shaped pasta was smooth and melted in the mouth with a lovely duck addition. It tastes so good that we couldn’t stop and tell ourselves just another bite. There were so many bites that we ate it all up. It’s not the cheapest dish with a $22 price tag, but it’s all worth it for high quality and a large portion. You can easily make two dinners out of it. We didn’t since we are greedy nomsters and wanted the whole thing. Even after eating such a heavy, cheesy dish, we didn’t feel heavy or fall into a food coma. This only means one thing: dessert time!
Buddha’s Backhand Cocktail
It’s a glass of sunny happiness with Buddha’s Backhand cocktail from Dino’s Grotto, an Italian restaurant on U Street/Shaw in Washington, DC. Whether it’s a happy hour or a regular dinner, you can never go wrong with their selection of mixed drinks. A lot is going on in this drink, with Buddha’s hand-infused gin, fresh lemon juice, Cocchi Americano, and Domaine de Canton ginger. Even with all that lemon thing, it wasn’t overly sour and was very sweet, which is great for us as we like drinks like us, sweet and happy. It tasted so good that we ordered a few more of these. Don’t let all that sweetness fill you. This is a solid drink and might leave you a bit tipsy. However, no one said it’s a bad thing. Great value for such a great flavor with $8 (happy hour from 5 – 7 pm, all day Sunday and Monday night) or $12 regular times. So go and drink; it’s happy hour!
Meyer Lemon Rickey Cocktail
Alcohol makes the best appetizer, like Meyer Lemon Rickey Cocktail from Dino’s Grotto, an Italian restaurant on U Street/Shaw in Washington, DC. The exploring drink menu is the best way to spend time waiting for food. Plus, with some great appetizers, there is no excuse not to try a drink or five. Many interesting flavors are combined in this drink with Meyer lemon-infused vodka, fresh line juice, ginger syrup, and soda. With so many different savory flavors, this drink is not as sweet as we prefer our cocktails. It’s also not overly sour, which means sweet tooths like us can easily enjoy it for $12. After this, I can’t wait to explore more of their alcohol menu.
Balsamic Vanilla Sorbet
Get ready to be hugged and kicked in the flavor with Balsamic Vanilla Sorbet dessert from one of our favorite Italian restaurants, Dino’s Grotto on U Street/Shaw in Washington, DC. What a crazy thing to add Balsamic into ice cream, the two things we wouldn’t even consider combining. After all, sweet with more sweet is our norm, but it’s always good to break out and rebel. When it arrived, it looked pretty standard, and we almost forgot that it was not chocolate on top. We got a big spoonful and quickly realized it tasted too balsamic thick. The key here is to figure out the perfect quantity and flavor proportion for you by going slow, unlike us, who are dessert greedy. The vanilla sorbet is very light, so we had to go for less balsamic and balance out the two flavors. Once we achieved the nomster perfect ratio, it became a delicious dessert. After all, combining the sweetness and syrupiness created a unique nom nom. It had both the vanilla sweetness and a strong balsamic kick, which was quite refreshing—the perfect way to end your Italian food adventure.
