Surprised to find this restaurant review visible today after it was initially "disappeared" by YELP editors within their "reviews not currently recommended" section. I think they thought it was an "inside job" or that I was paid for it. YELP readers who sought it out clicked on the HTML images for useful, funny, & cool. I gave this eatery the top rating of 5 stars. The owners of Crown Bakery told me they were able to identify individuals checking up on my review. I enjoyed rereading this piece of writing and decided to revive it:
"With the opening (on Easter Sunday 2012) of a second floor dining room for a Sunday buffet from 11-4, Crown Bakery may have emerged as the best Caribbean restaurant in the Wash DC metro area. For many years I've been dropping by the first floor bakery for very distinctive savoury pastries filled with salt cod, lentil, salmon, chicken, callaloo, & . . . Amongst the sweets, I love their version of cassava pone. Because I usually end up eating such items in my car on my way home, I rarely order side dishes & entrees--though I fondly remember a roasted winter roots concoction I was able to buy one Saturday. I arrived this past Sunday June 24 around 3PM, ascended one flight of stairs into a comfortable & attractive space, and was greeted warmly by an impressive, formally-dressed head waiter / maitre d'. He was happy to provide background detail on the dishes with which I had less familiarity. I enjoyed the stewed chicken with brown gravy, a poached tilapia with pumpkin and orange peppers, and a salt-cod concoction verging upon but not really a ceviche. Amongst the sides, the callaloo served over pillow mounds of rice pleased me the most, its unusual consistency having emerged in Trinidad from its historical existence as a soup. I liked a pigeon pea dish and will be curious to learn how it was made. Mac & cheese was served as a kind of very distinctive loaf. Two styles of plantain. Both vegetable and fruit salad. Plus rum punch (non-alcoholic), though I await the Sundays on which sorrel is served. The owner informed me that special entrees and sides emerge each Sunday, so it's unlikely you'll ever see exactly the same dishes. Seating for approximately 40. I parked right in front of the restaurant and during this time-period on Sunday, anyone should be able to park within one half block of Crown Bakery. I've been eating Caribbean food for at least 40 years, starting in Toronto and San Francisco, & I can't recall a better dining experience than that which I experienced at Crown Bakery this past Sunday."
Barry Alpert
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