Steak N Egg Diner, Tenleytown, Washington, DC

UPDATE: For further thoughts on Steak N Egg, see here.

Steak and Egg Kitchen has a new location and a new name: Steak N Egg Diner. As a result of a complex real estate deal, Steak and Egg moved from its tiny little house to the ground floor of an adjacent brand-new four-story box next door. That means a lot more indoor space and additional abundant outdoor seating.

And the new place is clean. I don’t want to say their original location wasn’t clean, but it did not exude a salubrious air. It looked like a place that’s open 24 hours, seven days a week, which is what it was, and is.

I remember going to the old location to meet Larry Gonzalez for breakfast. As I recall, we sat in mismatched chairs at a beat up table and had a pretty good breakfast. I hadn’t been back because I don’t go out for breakfast often, at least when I’m in DC, and because Nancy wouldn’t have set foot in the place for love or money.

But now the Steak and Egg Diner is new and shiny, and fate led me to Tenley at lunchtime, and there it was. So I went in and ordered the Paul Bunyan, three eggs (over easy) with bacon and hash browns.

I ordered the third egg because it only cost a dollar more than a two egg plate. I wonder if I got an extra strip of bacon, too. As you can see, there was some unwelcome solidification of two of the eggs, but not that much, and, most important, the eggs arrived nice and hot. These were above average eggs. Good start.

The bacon tasted good, but it was not really crisp. Bacon is rarely as crisp as I like unless I cook it myself in a cast iron pan (which allows you to save the bacon grease). That’s why I usually get sausage (patties only unless it’s Conecuh Sausage) or corned beef hash.

The hash browns had a lovely crisp top and an almost fluffy center with a good potato flavor. Excellent. I prefer them scattered, smothered, and peppered, but you can’t get that here in Washington.

The toast, alas, had not been buttered. Washington is a butter-averse city; indeed, a fat-averse city, so that wasn’t a surprise. And the toast wasn’t warm enough to melt the butter. Still, it wasn’t bad, and it worked well in soaking up the egg yolk remnants.

The bill came to $13.99 for the food and the usual 10 percent, rounded up, for the Mayor. Plus a tip. And it was a pretty good meal. Now, when I eat breakfast it usually is in a small city in the South where if you put down a ten after a breakfast like that, you’re a real sport. But Steak and Egg is in Washington, 20016, where the average income is well over five times that of, say, Louisburg, NC, just northeast of Raleigh, where I got a delicious breakfast for two with tax and tip (which I had to force on them) for under $10. Well, the two were me and my doppelgänger, but it was enough for two normal people.

I enjoyed it. The place is clean now, and the service at Steak and Egg Kitchen was very friendly. It was a treat to joke with the servers. And thinking about it, I see that we’re blessed to have a place like the Steak and Egg Kitchen within easy reach. It was good to get an unadorned traditional breakfast. I’ll go back, and you should go there, too.

***

And while you’re at it, click “follow” on our front page to receive blog posts in your email box.  Or bookmark us and check in from time to time.  If you’re planning a trip, you can “Search” the name of the destination city, state, or country for good restaurants (in Europe, often close to sites, like the Louvre or the Van Gogh Museum, that you’ll want to visit in any event). And stick around for news, all manner of recipes, hotel reviews, the odd book or movie review, and occasional fine arts and architecture commentary.  Comments, questions, and suggestions of places to eat or stories to cover are very welcome.  And check out our Instagram page, johntannerbbq.