Baby Wale - Washington

Really interesting, fun space. Friendly service. Food was very good. Lots of drink options, all well done.

I tried Baby Whale for the first time this weekend with my boyfriend and his family. I had heard mixed reviews but wanted to try it myself. They seemed to be low on staff, as there was just one waitress and she was also the hostess to be fair it could have just been because I was there on the early side for dinner. Most of what I had was delicious! Especially the fried chicken and the papusas...however DO NOT order the ramen. It was completely bland and not good if you want ramen for dinner, go to a ramen place! I would go back again though as the bar was huge and there were several appetizers I wanted to try in addition to what I had!

The venue was pretty empty on a Saturday evening 8pm) and our party of 10 was able to snag a table towards the back. Decor is beautiful, our server was friendly and so attentive. He really sold each dish on the menu. Small bowl of Olives $4): An assortment of olives. It was good, they're olives. Meatball Casserole $14): A smallish dish of tender meatballs. They weren't bad but not particularly memorable. Lobster Salad Sandwich $18): Probably the best dish ordered. Mushroom Pizza $14): This was my dish and I was not pleased. The pizza was exceptionally bland and I seasoned it with extra salt and pepper. Others said it tasted like tobacco and refused another slice. Some at our table raved about the Buffalo Mozzarella Porcupine but I think I'm good. I was sad I spent my cheat day here.

I think I came on the wrong day... I dunno. 4 of us sat down here for a drink, waiting for a table at Dabney. I love to see a bar that lacks TVs... flatscreens suck. Staff was kind of distracted, but it was a **** day in general in DC. Buffalo Mozzarella was good. Pizza was just meh. Spring rolls were... lukewarm. Have to make a return trip. Such a cute little place. Could have been better... I suspect it's 5 star on a good day. Verdict remains out.

Went here on a Thursday night for dinner with some co-workers. The atmosphere is super hipster-very industrial looking with unfinished walls and ceilings and lots of twinkle lights! Their menu comes on a clipboard with the restaurant title burned into the wood! I got the gruyere grilled cheese&ham that came with a side salad. The portion of the food was kind of small, the grilled cheese looked like it was on Melba toast- really mini. However, this did not end up being a bad thing because the grilled cheese was really really rich! The cheese was good, but overall the sandwich was too salty with the ham, and the bread was dry and hard to bite into. The side salad was fine, just standard mixed greens, with some baby radish on top. In their dessert section they have something called cookie dim sum . It sounded intriguing, so we asked about it and our waitress told us that they had three cookies to choose from, peanut butter, chocolate or oatmeal raisin, and you could just pick one to have. A little underwhelming because it was basically just choosing a cookie to eat after she told us the options, nothing very dim sum about it! I got a chocolate chip cookie that had walnuts, and it was also on the dry side and crunchy when you bit into it, I would have preferred it to be soft and warm. It was also slightly larger than a chips ahoy cookie, and I think I was imagining it to be a bigger cookie. Overall 3/5: the food portions are on the small side, the grilled cheese bread and cookie I had were pretty dry, and overall food was pretty average on taste. The atmosphere itself though was really awesome, with very cool vintage music posters and industrial-type decorations. Would recommend to go for drinks with a friend (they have a pretty extensive wine menu), but I would say skip the food!