Author: Mari

From Alex Padro

Shaw Main Streets will present a free Afro-Caribbean food tasting at the next Shaw Main Streets Night on Thursday, July 28, 2005, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Cafe Mawonaj, 624 T Street, NW (Metro: Green Line/Shaw-Howard University Station).

Cafe Mawonaj Manager Concei Civela invites you to come try African, vegetarian, and vegan dishes not available anywhere else in DC.

Located in the building that housed the pool hall where “Duke” Ellington was first influenced to become a musician, Cafe Mawonaj (Haitian Kreyole for “resisting oppression”) opened in 2003. While the restaurant’s menu of Pan-African, Caribbean, and Soul Food has been dramatically expanded and refined, the cafe’s focus on Afrocentric entertainment and events and its brightly colored walls remain unchanged.

Menu items include Angolan flavored beans, served with rice or fufu; smoked beef, chicken, or fish served with egussi (a ground melonseed sauce) and joloff rice; African vegetables such as azuka (eru), cassava leaves, and ndolee, served with plantains or rice; Haitian and Jamaican chicken, with rice and beans; grilled fish, chicken, beef, and shrimp, all served with a groundnut sauce; breakfast items served all day; fresh fruit smoothies; and a variety of salads and pita and wrap sandwiches. Cafe Mawonaj recently added a bar serving beer, wine, and cocktails and a second floor meeting space that is available for community events. Catering is also available.

Cafe Mawonaj is open 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM, Tuesday through Sunday (closed
Mondays). Free delivery is available with a minimum order of $10.00.
For more information on Cafe Mawonaj, call 202-332-4480 or visit www.mawonaj.com.

I guess the only way to get a sit down restaurant with wait staff and a menu is by error. As I was looking at the restaurants listed for Restaurant Week and spotted “21 P” which is listed on the Washington Convention and Tourism as well as the Restaurant Assoc. of Metropolitan Washington site as being at 21 P St NW. So. So. Wrong. If memory serves me, the only thing in that vicinity where food is served is the New York Fried Chicken at the corner of P & North Cap, and I don’t think they’re doing Restaurant Week.
The real address I believe is 2100 P Street, in Dupont Circle, but the name of the restaurant is 21 P. I’m beginning to think this is the winner of the bad names for restaurants. 15 ria, which is at 1515 Rhode Island Ave, at least one does not automatically think 15 Rhode Island Ave when seeing 15 ria.
So if there is actually a 21 P Street, warn them that they may have to put out an extra plate for dinner.