Taste of Georgetown 2008

I finally made it over to the Taste of Georgetown this year. Accompanied by Mr. J, we braved the crowds that gathered between M St. and K St. on Wisconsin Avenue. The weather was absolutely beautiful -- sunny, blue skies, no clouds, and just warm enough to be happy to be standing in line... And stand in line we did. Not that we minded - it was actually fun (and mouthwatering) to watch other participants walk by with their piles of food and scope out what stands to hit next.

The Taste of Georgetown featured 27 of favorite Georgetown restaurants -- each restaurant offered between 1 -5 different selections. We purchased 5 tasting tickets for $20 and split it between us for "lunch." Our selections:

• Morton's: Steak sandwich : We spent our first tasting ticket on this... and I have to say that I was a bit disappointed. Although Mr. J was a fan of this one, I found that the sandwich had very little steak on it and was dominated by bread. The sandwich itself was quite small too, especially compared to the generous portions offered by other restaurants. Verdict: Skip next year.
• Agraria: Pork Belly: Agraria's booth was near Morton's and talk about an improvement! The pork belly came with an apple/sweet potato mash and both were delicious. The pork belly wasn't too dry and had tons of flavor. The mash was a nice compliment to the saltiness of the pork belly. Verdict: One of the day's best.
• Bangkok Joe's: Chicken Pad Thai: The line at Bangkok Joe's was at least 15 people deep, but well worth the wait! I was salivating watching people leave the Bangkok Joe's booth with their plates stacked high with pad thai. I generally love Bangkok Joe's pad thai anyways and was very pleased with the selection that day. Especially with some of their chili sauce squirted on it, gives it an extra bite. Verdict: One of the day's best.
• Seacatch: Mushroom soup, shrimp in puff pastry, salmon tartare: Here's a restaurant that I've passed by time and time again, so we were curious to give it a try. Each of the bites were tasty, but they didn't bowl me over... think a plate of hors d'oeurves. Verdict: Good, but perhaps should have tried something else.
• Cafe Bonaparte: Nutella and strawberry crepes: I was shocked by the length of this line. But by this point, we were dying for dessert... and Georgetown Cupcake already ran out of cupcakes (plus I celebrated a co-worker's birthday the day before with Gtown Cupcakes) and Baked and Wired looked out too. Plus, I love crepes... I mean, let's be honest, I love anything covered in nutella! The line took a long time to get through because Cafe Bonaparte was making each of their crepes fresh. Verdict: Very tasty but probably better to go to the restaurant.

All in all, I think it was a successful "meal" at the Taste of Georgetown. I would definitely go back to sample more next year -- this is my favorite form of eating anyways. Grazing over little dishes. We missed out on the wine pavillion this year, but luckily, there's always next year...