Ceiba

This summer I'll be interning on Capitol Hill and living in Clarendon. My number one passion is politics, but my interest in FOOD is a growing competitor for my precious attention. While I'm here for the next two and a half months, I plan to experience a ton of restaurants in the DC/ Arlington area. I love all food (and drinks)--Latin American, Asian, Italian, Mediterranean, French, of course classic American and I'm sure more I haven't named. After dining at a restaurant, I'll share my thoughts about the food (obviously), but I'll also rate the restaurant based on atmosphere, service and overall dining experience. Forgive me for leaving my AP Style book in Blacksburg. I'm not going to be grammatically correct with every sentence; I want to have fun with this and I want my readers to enjoy reading my posts. Hopefully I have a few readers... 
Blogging is new to me. I've been a tweeter for awhile now but this will be different and more exciting! So here it goes:


My first meal out in DC was at Ceiba.
Contemporary Latin American Cuisine 
Location: 701 14th Street, NW 
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-393-3983

Let me start by saying my overall experience was simply amazing. The food was prepared to perfection, the service was all that it should be and the atmosphere made the meal taste even better (if that was possible). 

All gone...I obviously hated it

If you like Latin American food and you're anywhere near 14th street, then you must go to Ceiba. Instead of the traditional bread to start the meal off, it was cracked bread, more like a chip-like texture, and freshly made hummus. Delicious. I was dining with my parents (last meal with them before they said bye for the summer) and we ordered guacamole for three. It tasted as fresh as the hummus and wasn't too spicy like some restaurants make it. For the main course, my dad and I both ordered the tuna. I wish I wrote down the exact name of the entree because it was the best fish I've had in months. I forgot to take a picture of it before I dove in...whoops: 
It was cooked perfectly--medium to medium rare. We hardly needed a knife to cut it. The flavor had an Asian sesame kick to it which was interesting for a Latin American dish, but the chefs made it work. On the side was crab meat, black beans and a guacamole-based sauce which surprisingly complimented the asian flavored tuna. Somehow the chefs pulled together the two different flavors, wonderfully. The portion was generous, but not overwhelming...and left plenty of room for dessert. What else at a Latin American restaurant than churros? 

Gourmet cinnamon churros with warm chocolate sauce

Not your everyday churros. Whoever thought to put warm chocolate sauce on churros is a genius. Yum. These were sinful, but worth the calories for sure. It was the perfect dessert to split two or three ways. 

Overall, Ceiba gets an A-

A- because it was a bit pricy but still, in my opinion, worth the few extra dollars. I believe my entree was $26 which isn't terrible but might be hard for a young professional living paycheck to paycheck. If that's the case, I suggest trying it for lunch at least!

I could go on and on about this restaurant but I'm going to go enjoy my first night out on the city. More posts to come soon!