Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Oohh's & Aahh's

Our next stop takes us to another historic restaurant on the culturally diverse U St.. Oohh's & Aahh's has been serving patrons classic soul food for year's on end. Their unique ability to serve this popular food has made them a main stay on this rapidly transforming neighborhood.

My first experience here was in my early youth when I would go and order chicken wings with french fries with my latino friends who adored soul food. I barely remember my overall opinion but I went a number of times so I know that I liked it.


Despite my early introduction and familiarity with this establishment I took a prolonged hiatus from eating here. My next experience came while randomly watching an old episode of Diners, Drive-in's and Dives at which point my childhood memories resurfaced. After watching this I decided that I needed rekindle my long lost relationship.

Before I returned I did a bit of research and discovered that it was quite pricy now due to their celebrity status. I also read that their portions were very generous and with this is mind I decided to go a rather long run to increase my appetite. When I walked in the restaurant was a whole lot smaller than I remembered it, the walls were lined with photos of famous pop culture stars who adore the food served here similar to that of Ben's Chili Bowl.


My first observation was that each of the employes wore a shirt with Guy Fieri's face on it which to me seemed a bit excessive especially for a restaurant that is considered divy. Regardless both the exterior and interior resembled this characteristic. I decided to order the fried chicken platter which comes with two sides. I went with the mac and cheese per the numerous accolades from yelp and the rice with gravy because I was somewhat in the mood for that as opposed to the potato salad.

I stood by and watched as they made my chicken in an age old deep fryer. For every second I waited the anticipation grew and this weight increased minute after minute until I had my food in hand and began walking home. When I got home I turned on my TV, opened my box, got my Tabasco and salt and began to consume my meal.

I started with my mac and cheese which was fantastic. The flavor and consistency was very unique and while it was not the best I have ever had it does rank high. I then followed on to the rice and gravy which was very disappointing. The lack of flavor in the gravy did nothing to alleviate the bland rice. I then began to tackle my fried chicken which was divine. The meat was hot and juicy, the skin was crunchy and extremely flavorful. The chicken accelerated the level of the overall dish from good to great. This box was worth two meals for me which somewhat justified the high price I paid for it ($17.00).

(Fried Chicken with Rice & Gravy and Mac & Cheese)

I have since returned and gotten their chicken wings which are good but for $12 are too expensive for what you are getting. I haven't had their catfish but I have heard great things about it, they also have good collard greens and cornbread.

All in all, this place serves good food but it is very expensive. They are a cash only place which is one of the commandments of dive restaurants. They do have limited seating both upstairs and downstairs so I would recommend taking your food to go. They have relatively late hours so this is definitely an option for late night food. So if you love soul food I would give this place a shot, even though they are very pricy I would highly recommend going here at least once in your life.

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