I'll keep it super quick. As part of the Triumphant Return of my boss, she elected to take us all out for a tasty lunch at our friendly neighborhood and strangely-punctuated upscale trendy restaurant, Bar-Cöde on L St. NW. (See why we celebrate her return?)
I've eaten here three times, but my experience last Friday was by a significant margin the best of the three -- in large part due to this pizza stuffed chok-a-blok with seafood.
The best part was that each shellfish element of this seafood smörgåsbord was well cooked in its own right: the giant mussels had garlicky tomato sauce; the shrimps were clearly pan seared in a little garlic, butter and wine; the calamari were fried spicy and tender (not at all rubbery); and the little octopi were peppery and delicious.
The chopped cilantro gave the whole thing a nice freshness, and the weight of the pizza was reasonably well supported by a thin, crunchy crust. I was more than happy to eat pretty much the whole thing in one sitting.
Other things: The starters I've had here are delicious, although as with the name of the restaurant (an umlaut? really?) my colleagues and I give scathing reviews to the punctuation choices made on the menu. Our Avocado Dip "With a Tuscan Flair" was tasty, despite the unnecessary quotation marks (who said this? the dip?), as have been the fries during other visits.
My verdict? After a few visits, and despite the silly umlaut use, Bar-Cöde is worth a visit. EAT THIS PIZZA, unless you're allergic to shellfish, in which case you'd explode.