About Maple Ave Restaurant
Who wouldn’t be skeptical of a suburban restaurant that charges
upward of $20 for entrées and looks to be housed in a ’60s-era doughnut
shop? And the menu’s crazy quilt of influences—Korean, Thai, Americana,
Mediterranean, and Moroccan—doesn’t do much to convince you to chance it.
But you should. Chef/owner Tim Ma doesn’t take shortcuts and puts his
heart into everything he sends out. His rendition of shrimp and grits
could persuade a Louisianan that the chef grew up in Bayou Country. A bowl
of mussels in a saffron-coconut broth bests the work of most Thai
kitchens. And pork-fried rice tastes like what a Chinese or Korean chef
whips up when he’s off his shift. Don’t miss: Crème
fraîche chicken wings with Korean chili paste; scallops with
coconut-scallion risotto; braised beef cheek; whole branzino;
beer-battered fries; chocolate dumplings; yuzu-lime pie; mochi.
Open: Monday for dinner, Tuesday through Friday for lunch and dinner,
Saturday and Sunday for brunch and dinner.
Moderate.
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
