Simply Home

Friday night we entered the Thai New Year. So it was fitting that we ended up having dinner at Simply Home, the “eat drink shop” spot on U Street. The Thai options in the Shaw/U Street/Logan radius of my house include Sala Thai, Thai Tanic, and Rice, all with very different vibes, but after last night Simply Home has rocketed to the top of my craving list.

After a hellishly stressful two-week stretch, I had a strong desire for a tranquil dinner. So I breathed a sigh of relief and instant happiness upon exiting the bustle of U Street madness to a zen cocoon of white walls washed with low light, accented by dark wood and cute little seating cubes. It was the exact mood I needed – very contemporary without that cold feeling modernism can sometimes impart. “Check out the popcorn packing chandeliers,” my friend said admiringly. We settled in, ready to inbibe.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
Food and atmosphere don’t always go hand in hand, but the dishes we had at Simply Home were truly satisfying and rather intricate. I couldn’t pass up the pumpkin empanada or the squid ink spaghetti with seafood and green curry sauce (suicide curry lovers, take note, my eyebrows were seriously sweating), while my friend’s stuffed chicken rolls with cabbage and pistachio tasted as beautiful as they looked on the plate.

There is an interesting cocktail menu – I tried the lychee martini, but it was a tough choice between that and the kaffir lime or cucumber. The wine list was above average – I was saved from spice overload by being able to have a glass of prosecco with my spicy spaghetti, a Thai Venetian combo that worked very well.

We had a late start with dinner so we didn’t get a chance to check out the adjacent Simply Home shop, but I will definitely return to do so, based on the elegantly curved water glasses at our table. Not to mention needing to try more of their cocktails…

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

As one of the founding editors of We Love DC, Jenn’s passions are theater and cocktails. After two decades in the city, she’s loved every quirky, mundane, elegant, rude minute of her DC life. A proud advocate for DC’s talented drinks scene, she’s judged the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s ARTINI contest, the DC Rickey Month contest, the Jefferson Hotel’s Quill Cocktail competition, and is a founding member of LUPEC DC. A graduate of Catholic University’s drama program, she toured the country as a member of National Players, and has been both an actor and a costume designer before jumping the aisle to theater criticism. Writing for We Love DC restored her happiness after a life-threatening illness, and she’s grateful to you, dear readers. Send your suggestions to jenn (at) welovedc (dot) com and follow her on Twitter.

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