D.C. Eats - Barrel, By: V

My friend, Mirona, and I have this sort of unspoken dinner arrangement.  This is how it goes:  she'll text me saying we should do dinner or drinks, and then I usually follow-up with a list of options. Most of the time these options are places that I've desperately wanted to try out.  So, this week, this process began and we settled on Barrel.  Barrel is a Bourbon Bar in D.C. that is located around Capitol Hill.  "Bourbon Bar" clearly means it also offers southern cuisine.  I mean Kentucky Bourbon, right?  So, I was pretty excited, because I love some good southern food.  

Now, on arrival I realized this isn't the place to go for some down-south soul food, and it did have a mix of cuisine, but everything was fantastic.  We ordered the mac and cheese to share, and each got our own entree.  Mirona ordered the Corzetti, which was served with lobster, roast mushrooms, romesco and spiced walnuts.  Absolutely delicious!  (It's pictured in the back right below.  The restaurant was really dark!)  I ordered the Veal and Pork Meatballs with cabbage all' amatriciana, which pretty much means yummy soft-cooked cabbage on the base smothered in a delicious red sauce. Fabulous flavor!

I have to say this was probably the best restaurant macaroni and cheese I've had.  It was super creamy, had a crunchy breadcrumb topping and definitely had some horseradish grated into the cheese sauce.  The spicy, crunchy and creamy melded into one gratifying bite after another.

Definitely worth a return visit, if even just for the mac and cheese alone!