The Pembroke Offers Upscale Irish Meal
The Dupont Circle hotel, 1500 New Hampshire Ave. NW, is celebrating its Irish roots throughout March with specials in-room, in The Pembroke restaurant and at the Doyle Bar.
The hotel is owned by the Doyle Collection, a 60-year-old Irish family-owned hotel group.
The Pembroke
The restaurant is serving a prix fixe Irish Heritage special that includes Guinness bread with Abernathy butter; a warm asparagus salad with a poached egg, frisee lettuce, bacon, croutons and wholegrain mustard dressing; braised Hereford beef in Guinness with herb dumplings, carrots and colcannon (mashed potatoes mixed with cabbage); and affogato with Irish butter shortbread or Cashel Blue cheese with honey and walnut soda bread. The three-course meal is $75.
During a recent visit, the asparagus salad was a delight with a perfectly cooked egg and crunchy bacon dressed lightly. The braised beef was tender and fell apart with just a fork. However, despite being several days into the start of the special, they were out of the herb dumplings and colcannon, which they substituted with plain mashed potatoes. Also, there was no shortbread in our affogato, but it was still an upscale St. Patrick’s Day celebration with a very attentive staff. With finished our night with $14 tableside Irish coffee service made with Redbreast 12-year whiskey, Lavazza coffee, demerara and cream assembled at our table from a cart.
A full Irish breakfast is also available mornings. Drink specials include Post Pandemic Punch with Boatyard Double Gin, crème de cacao, Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto and orange; the Doyle Old Fashioned with Jameson Orange, Guinness reduction, demerara and bitters; and the Whiskey Ginger with Jameson, pickled ginger and soda. All are priced at $16.
Doyle Bar
Irish Heritage specials at the bar include Irish whiskey tasting flights, including hard-to-find tipples like Greenspot and Midelton Very Rare, served on a map of Ireland for $29 and $59. On the outdoor terrace, diners will be transported to Dublin with the classic Irish delicacy of two pints of Guinness and six oysters for $28 or substitute Taittinger champagne for an additional $25. There is also an Irish Wine Geese (persecuted Catholic Jacobite soldiers who fled Ireland in the 17th Century who became winemakers in Europe) menu with Errazuriz pinot noir and chardonnay from Chile ($16 glass/$64 bottle), Sequoia Grove cabarnet sauvignon ($19/$76) and chardonnay ($21/$84) from Napa. The tableside Irish coffee is also available in the bar.
Guest rooms and suites
Nightly turndown for guests will include a few lines of poetry from famous Irish poets, and guests booking suites will receive Irish whiskey and shortbread as a welcome treat upon check-in Rates start at $325 for the month.
The Pembroke is open for breakfast from 7-11 a.m. Monday through Friday, for dinner from 5:30-10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and for brunch from 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Doyle Bar is open from 2-11 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 2 p.m.-midnight Thursday through Sunday.
Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.