I am not sure if anyone besides me was wearing black, or if my shirt would actually be described as black - but I was back from Tokyo to visit the DCBC!!!!! I am so happy that the group continues on even though I am not there to participate!  I thought about taking a page from Jeannie at the Chicago Brunch Club and listing our conversation topics, but we can't.  Seriously, what happens in brunch club, needs to stay in brunch club!!  The drinking probably does not help...

First,  (environment) I do not recommend going to the upstairs of Tabaq (on U Street near 13th) with a large group unless you are large enough to get the entire floor or an entire section and are able to move around. It is really hard to hear anyone unless they are next to you or you are leaning across the table (good if you are on a date, but not if you are trying to catch up with old friends...).  It was really bright, like looking at an eclipse maybe...  The music was also to clubby for a Sunday am brunch...we were all still recovering from the night before or more likely the week before, so it was a bit of a rough start.  But, when the bartender (and I mean that literally) brought us our drinks we perked up!  This was billed as the "Sunday Bloody Sunday" brunch, so we started with bloody marys with the intent to continue drinking them at different locations throughout the day.  (booze)I liked the Tabaq bloody mary, but I would have preferred a celery garnish.  It came with an olive and lemon and lime and was quite tasty - but in my opinion not at the same level as the bm at Axis, District Chophouse or Bourbon.

(booze) The mimosa selection is quite impressive but our table stuck with the traditional and felt that it was unbalanced in the juice to champagne ratio.  Erica did receive a tasty special mimosa-like drink form the bartender, (service) since it turned out our waiter was THE bartender, which later proved problematic and no one seemed to take responsibility for us when he had to actually tend the bar. (Drinks) The coffee was a disappointment, not good at all.  I recommend that you go the espresso drink route at Tabaq if you want a coffee fix.

(service) The service was friendly and helpful in general, especially considering our large group and they were accommodating to all of our special requests, including Jeri's egg white omelet. I don't like the fact that you can only use 3 credit cards per table...why? I mean, really?

(food) The omelets  got great reviews as did the yummy egg sandwich I had.  I also thought the potatoes were great, but the french fries are plain and not so tasty (but that did not stop me from nearly finishing them, which I would have if the waiter did not forcibly remove the plate from me...).  Lindsay felt like her veggie sandwich was lacking something , perhaps peppers - but it looked good.  (service) We had 3 folks arrive late and they did not get the best service, however when I asked for a little butter - I received a plate of it (pic to right)- which was odd, but I am not complaining. 

Overall, I think it is a great place for a brunch for two, but not a whole group.  I think the place is small and a little too hectic for a large group on a Sunday.

We then moved on to Axis, which was closed!?  I hope they re-open for brunch because that was one of our better reviews!!  We then moved down to Bar Pilar to continue the "Sunday Bloody Sunday" project.  (booze) Everyone there seemed to like their drinks but all agreed that he lack of any garnish whatsoever was disappointing. I thought their bloody marys had too much horseradish, but ended up trading my drink with a guy that Lindsay brought because he said his was not spicy enough.

Erica and I then went on to continue the bloody mary tasting tour of DC as everyone else fell away...  The weather was unusually nice so we walked all the way to Adams Morgan intending to try Cashion's.  Turns out that one can only drink so much tomato juice in one day...I was kind of sick of the bloody marys and Erica wanted coffee (with a shot of course...) so we popped into another DCBC fave, Napolean! (booze and drinks) I had an Americano and Erica had the Cafe de Paris (coffee and booze) and we shared the Chocolate Mousse .  It seemed a bit more like ice cream than mousse, but was still yummy and hit the spot after all that tangy tomato juice.

Ann's top Bloody Mary Picks:

Since we did not do the official DCBC Bloody Mary Review, I will give you MY favorites and invite other DCBC-ers or the 2 people that read this a chance to comment!

1. Willard - I feel like it is not even fair to let Willard compete in brunch or bloody marys, but Sara did not enjoy her Easter brunch there, so perhaps DCBC will have to go back and confirm that our earlier DCBC brunch was not a fluke.  However, with Armando manning the tableside rolling bloody mary cart, it is really no contest as to where the best bloody marys are in DC!!

2.  Axis - I feel like we may have to go back and verify if Axis even has a brunch anymore, but still I think the Axis bloody mary was excellent!!

3.  District Chophouse - Dana and Kevin can verify this for me, but these were darn good drinks!!It could have been that since we were the only customers, we had the full concentration of a bored bartender who was striving to stay awake!

4.  Napolean - I remember these as being very good, but I also remember drinking champagne with Tiffany, so I may be confused...

***Special Note of Caution:  I feel like I have to mention this so that (booze - bloody mary) Oyamel either steps up and works on their bloody mary or to prevent others from making the mistake DCBC did in May...the Oyamel bloody tastes exactly like their salsa, with a shot of vodka in it.  Oyamel is just lovely, and the presentation is beautiful, but after we all took a sip, we all had the same reaction  "Is this salsa?"  I am not sure, but I think they had Old Bay on the rim of the galss as well..it was just a gigantic flop."