This weekend I went on a Girls' Date to Ketchup at the new National Harbor in DC/MD. (It's more like D.C., but technically Maryland). Can we just say YUMMMMMM...after this I'm thinking of changing professions to food critic. The experience overall was great. They were extremely accomodating on a Saturday evening for a party of 8 - which is beyond surprising considering how busy they were. They were ready to seat us within 10 minutes of arrival! The only catch is that you have to have 75% of your party there.
We were seated in "the Back Room" which was super nice because it was quieter and separate from the rest of the restaurant and....we had our own large flat screen tv at the head of our table. Our waiter, Chris W. was very entertaining and certainly made the experience even more fun for our group. He was very honest about his recommendations and people's opinions of the dishes. Just how we like 'em.
One of my besties, NOLA native, Auntéa brought two of her friends, Claire and Karen to dinner and as we waited on Jessie and Wuyah to arrive we ordered two appetizers for the table.
If you take anything away from this it's: ORDER THE THREESOME at Ketchup.
In case you're wondering, the Threesome is Old Bay fries, Cheddar fries, and Sweet Potato Fries served with 7 different kinds of Ketchup (i.e. Maple, Raspberry, Herb & Garlic, Regular, Chipotle, etc.).
No words can describe the subsequent foodgasm. Next...
Make sure you order at least one of their AMAZING martinis. While pricey at $12 each, the menu is amazing. I tried three different ones (no, I'm not an alcoholic, lol) and each one was equally as good as the first. At the table we had an array of 5 or 6 of the martinis offered.
The American Psycho, had yoo-hoo, kahlua, and vanilla vodka (I think). If you like mudslides, try this one.
The Gallagher, was a watermelon flavored martini that comes in a martini glass rimmed with green sugar and topped with a slice of watermelon - the general consensus was that this was the best they had, it certainly looked it!
The Honeymooner, was a champagne martini - don't ask me what it had in it other than that, it was my third - don't judge. lol. It also was pretty good - think pink mimosa.
Taya and Karen tried the Dazed and Confused, which I'm told was similar to a margarita, and had Patron Silver in it. I'm not a tequila fan - hence, my avoidance, but hey - everyone else thought it was great!
The second appetizer we tried was the Crab Dip - as a true Baltimorean, I have to say I thought it was pretty good - but it reminded me more of a Spinach & Artichoke dip than real Baltimore Crab Dip. Also, they got minus points for serving the dip with fried bowtie pasta rather than chips or garlic bread. We found the pasta to be a) extremely fattening, and more importantly, b) not as good.
For dinner we had several "Young Chick"'s at the table, which were lemon and herb roasted chicken on brown rice with fresh steamed veggies - everyone who had it loved it. We also had the BLT Sliders (which were just the right size for a small meal).
Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera to the restaurant so we are without photos. But, hopefully I've described well enough the tasty treats we got at Ketchup and entice you to go there and try it out soon - if you haven't already!
Here's their contact info:
National Harbor, MD 20745
(301) 749-7099
*Note: They don't accept reservations on weekends...so you better go either before the crowd between 6 and 7 PM or after (we went after).
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