Tryst in Adams Morgan has all the makings of a perfect coffee house, except for one tiny problem: the coffee is just not very good. They pride themselves on fresh organic coffee or whatever, but it always ends up coming to you lukewarm and watery. The animal crackers on the side don’t help, either. It’s almost patronizing — an apology for the shitty coffee.
The food is pretty disappointing, too. It’s hard to tell whether their baked goods are stale or vegan, the vegan option being worse. A bran muffin had the texture of a towel.
The lemon-poppy seed waffle with blueberry sauce was a complete flop. Your Reviewer was expecting a moist, muffin-like waffle with the aroma of lemons and a light sprinkling of poppy seeds, arriving at the table with that sweet blueberry sauce dribbling seductively down the side, except, it didn’t really turn out like that. What Your Reviewer got was a waffle that tasted like it had been made with sour milk, and a very sour blueberry sauce to boot. Yuck.
The free WiFi is good! Maybe the coffee and baked goods will get better.
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Geeze, the description of what the lemon-poppy seed waffle should have tasted like sounded pretty good. What was delivered – not so much.
Oh, Noes! What happened to my favorite coffee shop on the planet! What have you people done to it while I was gone? IS NOTHING SACRED???
Their web site doesn’t list their coffee prices. Even if it is fair trade, shade grown, bird safe, sustainably organic I can’t afford more than $2 for a cup of joe. Maybe the shitty coffee ensures turnover so wif-fi hogs don’t hibernate. Or they just think clueless beltway types will fall for anything. Which may well be true.
Yeah,
That place was awesome, all be it smoke filled, back in 1997. By 2003 it had a ok clientele, was still smoke filled, but the food and coffee had become gnarly. I think it’s been that way for about ten years.
I vote for stale and/or incompetent. Sticky Fingers is a vegan bakery way up in Columbia Heights (right across from the Giant). Their stuff is awesome.
Vegan desserts is what separates the poseurs from the real artistes. If you can make some vegan cakes that don’t taste like wood pulp, you’ve got game.
Food reviews? Trashing a coffee shop? On Wonkette? Really?
[re=259171]ExecutorElassus[/re]: You’d think a place named Tryst and one named Sticky Fingers would have more in common.
This article made me miss DC…I moved back to NY in 2007 and haven’t been back to Tryst in forever. But yeah, I agree about the animal crackers…I know they’re trying to be cute, but “child chic” isn’t really cool anymore.
My ex used to LOVE their grilled PB&J…although it’s pretty hard to fuck up PB&J.
Their side dishes are really disappointing too…bean salad? WTF? I can make that shit at home!
bla bla tryst bla bla bring your mac bla bla bens chillibowlz
[re=259151]Marilyn[/re]: Wow – worst review ever! Not only is it bad now, but it is going to remain bad until 2013!
I think Tryst deserves a lot of points for the atmosphere. It’s pretty non-exclusive, and douche bag-free. And I don’t really go there thinking, “Man, I am going to have some great coffee/whatever,” I go thinking, “Here is a chill place with chill servers and good music where I can hang out for a few hours with my friends and not feel a lot of pressure to order or get out.” If you want good food, visit Tryst’s sister restaurants, “The Diner” and “Open City”.
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