Two nights in a row blogging after going out I’m on a roll and expect to continue to do so for a few days! Woo hoo! Tonight, I made plans with two of my favorite ladies I became good friends with my senior year of college.  We realized that we haven’t hung out (me included that is – they hang out routinely!) in approximately 4 years!! But even with all of those years that have passed, we picked up right where we left off.  I love friendships like that I vowed to keep better in touch and can’t wait to see them again soon!

So, anyway, on to the restaurant… my friend Marjorie is a part of a Big Sister/Big Brother program and was meeting her little sister in the China Town area and since Anne was coming from Capital Hill and I was coming from Dupont, we decided that China Town was the perfect place to meet. I left my hotel about 45 minutes in advance and took a leisurely walk south to the White House and then east over to China Town.

Our plans were to meet at Clyde’s – Gallery Place for drinks and dessert at around 8pm.  Clyde’s is located right on 7th Street in the heart of China Town.

I’ve been here before and am always impressed with how large the restaurant is.  There’s lots of rooms and two levels including a very large bar area.  Since we planned to do a lot of chatting, we saw a table in the bar area and asked to be seated there.  I took photos but they turned out blurry.  Oh well! It was wood and leather

We each ordered drinks that we were happy with.  I ordered a glass of wine – a Franciscan Chardonnay from Napa Valley (2008).  I could have sworn I took a photo, but there’s none there.  Guess I was too busy catching up!

Ann and Marjorie had already had dinner, but I hadn’t had a chance to and decided to get a bite with our drinks.  I ordered the Grilled Cheese and Tomato Bisque combo.  It was oven dried tomatoes, swiss and cheddar cheese on sourdough bread.  (It usually comes with bacon as well but I asked for mine without.)  When it arrived, it looked a bit small, but it ended up being the perfect size.  After my tomatoes fell out, I pulled the sandwich apart to dip it into the soup.  Yum! The soup was less bisque-y than I expected and at first I thought it was fine.  In the end though, it actually did hit the spot.

As we finished our drinks, we decided that we all wanted something sweet to share.  The entire dessert menu (one of the biggest I’ve seen in a long time) looked appetizing but we settled on a classic – warm brownie sundae.  As you would expect from classic, it was comforting and sweet.  The brownie was one of the best any of us had had in a while.  A great choice!

So glad I got to catch up with my girlfriends from college tonight! Clyde’s was a great venue for out meetup and the service was great.  While we’re not necessarily huge fans of Chinatown, the location worked out well for all of us.  Can’t wait to see these ladies again soon :-)