Thunder Grill, Washington, D.C.

Well, we got Tony to the train station this afternoon to send him on his way to Thurgood Marshall Airport (formerly known as BWI) and then back to Tulsa. Now I just have to catch up on stuff, do laundry, clean house, etc., etc. He wanted to get to the train station early, so we had time for lunch at Thunder Grill, one of the three sit-down restaurants in the Union Station lobby. All three places are owned by the same company, but Thunder Grill is a southwestern food place, so that seemed an appropriate way to segue Tony back into the culinary world of Tulsa, America.

I was actually pleasantly surprised with Thunder Grill. The menu was varied and original, the prices reasonable, and the service adequate. I also saw a lot of interesting presentations at other tables for various dishes. We stayed rather simple, though.

Tony ordered the grilled swordfish. It was an interesting dish with the swordfish topped with a sort of salsa that included chunks of avocado. On the side were mashed potatoes and a huge amount of sauteed red and green bell peppers, onion chunks, and pieces of the green tops from green onions (which didn't get eaten, since Tony is not a fan of peppers or onions). He drank an Australian Bulletin Chardonnay.



I had the Maryland crab cake sandwich with Thunder (a/k/a French) fries and a jicama-cabbage cole slaw and drank a glass of 2004 Thierry & Guy Fat Bastard Shiraz. I thought the slaw was good, but it needed some jalapeño kick. The crab cake was served on a big sourdough bun with lettuce and tomato. While they were doing the standard Maryland-style recipe, since Thunder Grill is a southwestern place, I would have put some cayenne or something in the crab mixture to heat it up a bit.



The dessert selections looked yummy, including fun things like banana tres leches cake, bourbon-spiked black bottom pecan pie, and margarita key lime pie, but Tony finally remembered that he's on a diet this month, so he said he couldn't eat dessert.

So, that was Tony's last meal in D.C. Now he's relegated to Village Inn, Waffle House, and IHOP with his buddies back in Tulsa.