This is Restaurant Week in DC, a semi-annual affair that we try to take advantage of when we can.   Today was the only day we could make a meal work, and lunch is always a better value since it’s a 3-course meal for $20 rather than dinner, which is $30.  I made reservations at Ten Penh which is part of a local restaurant group that is known for offering lots of options during RW.  I’d been to each of the other 3 restaurants in the group so this completed the set.

I didn’t realize that the name comes from the address: the restaurant is at 10th and Pennsylvania.  (I guess they threw on the final ‘h’ to demonstrate its Asian persuasion.)   As someone used to driving all over DC, I always prefer to drive into town but we decided based on the parking situation to take the metro (pictured above).   It’s weird how long it’s been since I’ve been on the metro– when my office was downtown, I was on it several times a week.

 Anyway, lunch was tasty.  Seth selected the spring rolls with a trio of dipping sauces, red curry shrimp with jasmine rice, and a coconut rum panna cotta.  I had a chilled watermelon soup with thai basil, pecan-crusted halibut over japanese eggplant, and a chocolate mousse cake with banana cream and mandarin oranges.  It was all extremely yummy, except the chocolate mousse was really salty for some reason.  Perhaps my taste buds are just not quite refined enough for the fancy chocolate!!  Or maybe someone knocked over the canister of Morton’s…