A Marvelous Dinner At Bad Saint

3/21/19 Washington DC at 1730H: It was raining hard outside and I was planning to go to Bad Saint for dinner. I heard about this place online and from YouTube as well. It was raved as one of the best restaurant in DC. The reviews from YouTube was very noteworthy and I was intrigued to try it, now that I am here in DC.

Plus it is a Filipino fusion themed restaurant so I was excited how it is because of the good media recommendations it has received which were really extremely commendable. The chef was of a Filipino heritage and was proud of showcasing his mom's cooking when he was little.

I've heard that the queue from the outside spans for 1 to 1.5 hours but since it was raining hard outside I am confident that it will not be apparent. I called for an UBER ride to drop me off there and I was lucky that I was second in line when they started to open at 1730H.

It was a small place composed only of a limited 24 seats which were placed close enough from each other, making the place a little crowded. The kitchen was situated across the entrance door and the bar facing it gives the customer a full view of the chef and his assistants working meticulously in the kitchen. The decorations were Filipino themed and the name speaks for itself in a Filipino way. Bad Saint hails from a familiar Filipino last name "Abad Santos".

The interior decorations includes the use of Capiz shells chandelier, a bamboo slats ceiling, mahjong tiles on the walls, vintage statues of Catholic saints, a picture of a male Igorot welcoming the customers upon entering the entrance door, etc.

The hostess was very accommodating and very charming and she took time to explain everything to me and when the order was made food just came on time for me to enjoy. I ordered the 5-course Chef's choice meal and they comprised of the following:

I started ordering the cocktail first. The name was "Diki-diki", a very Filipino drink comprised of a mixture of grapefruit juice with a pinch of lambanog... a Filipino liquor from a coconut palm common in the Tagalog Region especially Quezon Province.

Then the starter followed which comprised of the "Kinilaw" or commonly called here in the US as "ceviche". It has olives, octopus, radish, cucumber, "siling labuyo", pickled purple yam or "ube', etc. It was slightly sour in a good way and was very tasty. I enjoyed the octopus for it was very soft and it just tastefully melts in the mouth. It lingers in my tongue for a long time and it was very delicious.

The first course was the fried "tikoy" or fried Chinese doughnut with the curried crab sauce topped with orange caviar. It was very tasty as well and very delicious. The combination with the doughnut and crab sauce were excellent for the doughnut absorbed the flavor well in my mouth and had left a crunchy and chewy feeling when you eat it. Soooo good!

The second course was the sizzling "sisig" of sautéed shitaki mushroom topped with raw egg and scallions. The mushroom was very meaty and tasteful. It was sizzling hot and when mixed with the raw egg it will cook the egg and tastes very delicious. It was just seasoned right and it leaves an array of gustatory confusion in my taste buds.

After finishing up the first cocktail, I opted to order the second drink which is the "amplaya" margarita. It tastes exactly like margarita with a bitter twist. So refreshing!

The third course includes of the crispy "chicharong calamari" or squid with the tasty thickened "adobo" sauce which was very very palatable and delicious. It leaves me in a dreamy state of limbo and brought me back home.... which made me really really homesick. "Adobo" was my favorite Philippine dish and this reminds me of my dad's cooking.

The fourth course is the "ginisang ampalaya" with scrambled eggs and bean sprouts topped with crispy fried onions. "Ampalaya" is a very common vegetable meal for breakfast. It was also very delicious and fresh. Was made not really bitter but very tasty good. Hmmmm..... hmmm....

The fifth course was the "piniritong manok" on a bed of onion fried rice (mixed with sauteed yellow onion and scallion leaves) and topped with fried onions and garlic. The fried chicken was coupled with the molasses sauce which complimented the dish well and the onion fried rice was very authentic and delicious. It was unforgettable!

The dessert comprised of a sliced banana covered with melted dark chocolate and topped with crispy puffed rice. The chocolate was pure black and it blended well with the bitter and sweet taste in my mouth. It leaves you asking for more but it's only the last one to bite and nothing else. It left you hanging at the edge and craving for more and not finishing the dinner.

Other decorations found are the Philippines band era newspaper wall paper posted at the bathroom which brings me back to the era of Pinoy rock heydays. And the colorful graffiti at the outside wall was also artsy and eye catching. Despite of the crowded interior the ambiance was still true Pinoy and it is just comforting to be there despite of the pouring rain outside. I did not regret coming there alone and indulge myself with the delicious foods they prepared for me.

All in all, the experience at Bad Saint Restaurant was an entitled opportunity for me to go back to my Filipino roots, appreciating the "what haves and what nots" of my childhood and the food and the place never failed me. No wonder the raves was very unassuming and overrated, but it was good to hear that it creates a buzz in the mainstream. As a Filipino I am proud of our cuisine being patronized by the locals at DC and it had received very good reviews and accolades online. It was an honor to be here indeed.

I was just glad I decided to come here and enjoyed the food by myself. I did not regret coming here and was really proud that the food was been recognized by other cultures as well. It was a very satisfying experience indeed having dined in this famous DC restaurant.

1st Day: Heading To Washington DC And Natural History Museum

3/21/19 Thursday at 0000H: Had to fly out from Los Angeles at around midnight via United Airlines and will have a 1-hour layover at Charlotte, NC the following day. It was a safe flight and was uneventful. The flight was long and I was very very tired of sitting for long hours. Was really really exhausted because I have not slept yet that day plus I came from work the previous day.

I arrived at Washington DC Dulles International Airport the following day at around 1000H and it was storming hard and extremely cold in the city. Winter was still obviously apparent and the rain was really pouring hard. I called for an UBER to pick me up because I don’t know yet if there is a Metro from the airport going to the city. The ride was over $30 and I have to succumb to it for the taxi even cost double.

The UBER driver drove me from the airport to my AirBnB apartment near the Noma District. I didn’t know that Dulles International Airport was very far from the city. It took me like almost an hour to be dropped off at the apartment from the airport. No wonder why the UBER charge was exorbitantly expensive. And I heard from my host that there is no Metro in going to the airport. He said I can get the Gray Line but I have to get off until the last station then take a ten minute bus ride going to Dulles International Airport. It’s kinda complicated for me considering it was my first day in the city. I need to study and memorize the directions. Good thing there was an UBER ride to the rescue.

Like I said it was raining hard in the city but I had plans to do and I have to stick to it, rain or shine. When I arrived at the apartment it was already 1300H so I just dropped off my luggage and then left to browse the city. Since it was raining outside I decided to take some activities indoors so I headed to the notable Smithsonian Natural History Museum. I called for an UBER to drop me off there.

When I arrived there the queue was not that long so I went in cautiously. There was no entrance fee either because it was free to the public. The building was a 3-storey building, so basically the ground, 1st and 2nd floor were open to exhibits. The 3rd floor was closed and cordoned and was only intended for the employees, maybe it is where the offices were located.

The ground floor was the entrance and where the information, the cafeteria, and locker rooms were located. And there is a stair going to the first floor where I was lead to a room for the exhibits of animals that lives in the water. The ceiling was adorned with a hanging replica of a blue whale and there where rooms that presents exhibits about the creatures that can be found in tge ocean.

I roamed around the left wing and enjoyed the exhibits about the sea creatures and also some exhibits about how to protect the ocean beds and some pictures of the famous ocean explorers.

I also went to the right wing which showcased the origin of mankind and I enjoyed browsing at the exhibits from the ancient times to modern times. As if I was back in the old times. There were also a lot of children who toured around for an educational tour and the whole room was really packed with tourists and children. Maybe because of the bad weather and all the tourists and students stayed indoors instead.

The edifice was a circular building and I have to circle the whole floor to see some of the featured exhibit rooms. In the center of the building was the reception area where a big mammoth elephant was standing on a stage looking like a real one. The animal was massive and gigantic and had gained a lot of fans as well. In all the animals in the building, I guess this is the most photographed one. Lol.

I continued ambling to the next exhibit room and there was an exhibit of real like replica of different mammals that can be found on earth. From primates to giraffes and lions, etc. And there were rooms of different animal bones from birds to sea cretures, etc. And there were also bones of dinosaurs, etc. There were a lot of assorted animal exhibits in that room and was also packed with visitors.

There were also rooms for earth's precious jewels, and rooms for butterflies and birds, as well as different rocks and strange minerals, and rocks from space like meteors, etc. There were different assortment of presentations and it was magically fascinating. There were exhibits also of ancient Egyptian royalties and mummies, etc. Myriad of presenttions which were interesting, awesome, surprising, educational, spell-binding, impossible, expensive, unexplainable, etc.

I culminated my visit at the museum after feasting my eyes for 2 solid hours because I was already very tired and I needed to go home and take a much needed rest because I have to go to Bad Saint Restaurant later for my dinner, because I booked a prior reservation there. I left the museum at 1530H. It was a very fulfilling day for me despite I was extremely tired from the flight and plus the finicky weather was not cooperating either and it was wet all over the city. Haist..... Albeit it was a very successful day for me.