Domku

When you wake up on Sunday morning and it's 80 degrees out...and it's October...brunch is in order.  It's the law.  I think.  But where to go? Apparently my choice this morning was to the outskirts of Columbia Heights in Washington, D.C., where a quaint Scandanavian restaurant is nestled between a gospel church and a convenience store.  Domku.

I will admit, the surroundings are...interesting.  Located on Upshur and Georgia Ave., disassembled car parts lay in the middle of the street, and the voice of a woman from the church next door yelling "Praise Jesus" reverberated throughout the restaurant.  Editors note: "yelling" is an understatement.  She was quite possibly experiencing an exorcism, or giving birth.  It's a toss-up.  Yet, Domku still managed to emerge as a quiet refuge in otherwise unassuming surroundings.

So....on to the food.  I started out with Abelskiver.  Abelskiver are traditional Danish pancakes cooked in a special Abelskiver pan, and dusted with confectioners sugar.  Pancake balls, if you will.  Conceptually: amazing.  Who wouldn't like a pancake ball?  But I like my pancakes light and fluffy, and these little guys were heavy and a bit chewy.  Moreover, I was sorely disappointed they weren't filled with any sort of jelly or fruit, which I was under the impression all abelskiver were made with. Just like a pancake, abelskiver aren't at all sweet on their own, so they were missing that gooey deliciousness that happens when you combine that sort of "pastry" with jam.

Abelskiver

For my meal, I got the Nordic Eggs Benedict- 2 poached eggs and gravlax on toasted sourdough rounds, topped with hollandaise.  Gravlax, which I had never tasted before (and, I note, has a semi unappetizing name), is salmon that has been cured in a dry marinade of salt, sugar and dill.  Minus the smoky flavor of smoked salmon, the two are very similar...but there is definitely a difference in texture- smoked salmon being a little more slick, and gravlax being more grainy.

Domku's twist on an egg benedict was well seasoned and tasted pretty good.  However, there were some missteps.  The toast rounds at the bottom killlled me.  They were were WAY too hard- the consistency of melba toast- and totally threw me for a loop.  Plus, my poached egg was a bit overcooked and they forgot the hollandaise (as you can tell from the photo).  I personally like more of a runny texture when I open up a poached egg.  But when the waitress brought over a side of the hollandaise and put it on top, it totally pulled the dish together.  It was creamy and LIGHT.  How a chef can possibly take a sauce made completely out of butter and egg yolk and make it taste like it's good for you, I will never know.  I work for a steakhouse where hollandaise is commonplace, and while ours is definitely delicious, you can actually feel your arteries clogging as you eat it.  Domku's version was comparably salty and creamy without the heaviness. 

Nordic eggs benedict

My friend got the Pyt i Panna, which is a Swedish hash. The chopped potatoes, carrots, and onions were the perfect texture, perfectly uniform, and pretty damn delicious.  Reminded me of a holiday Pot Roast dinner.  My other friend got an omelet, which was a balanced combination of spinach, red bell pepper and feta cheese.  The egg was well cooked and it was heavy on the feta cheese.  I also appreciated the fact that it was not, in fact, the size of a small child, like many omelets I see these days- see, e.g. The Pancake House.

Pyt i panna- with an added fried egg

The omelet.  Looks like...an omelet.

An omelet from The Pancake House. Looks like... a heart attack.

I also tried the borscht.  Nothing to write home about...but the only other time I've had borscht was in a little neighborhood restaurant in Prague, so my scale of delicious borscht is probably skewed.  Nonetheless, the soup base had a good beet flavor, and it was packed with tender strips of carrots and beets.  Following Domku's theme, the broth was very light.  Although the soup would have benefited from a dollop of sour cream...everything tastes better with a dollop of sour cream, so that's not really a critique as much as it is a fact.

Borscht

Overall, Domku is a good neighborhood spot.  It's definitely health conscious- all the plates are served with a tangy vinaigrette-topped green salad- and somehow, even though there were a ton of potatoes and eggs in Domku's dishes, the kitchen managed to make those ingredients taste light.  It's clear that some things could be improved...but hey.  Almost everything was less than $12- the Pyt i Panna was $4. Four dollars! A box of Mike & Ike's from CVS is like, $3.29.  $4.00 is a steal.

For those who live in the Columbia Heights area or for "travelers looking to experience something off the beaten path" (as it says on their website), Domku is a solid and inexpensive nearby brunch spot.  Check it out!

Domku Cafe 

821 Upshur Street, NW

Petworth, DC 20011

T 202.722.7475

F 202.722.7472

E-mail: domku@domkucafe.com

www.domkucafe.com