CommonWealth Gastropub

The thing I liked best about this pub was the cask ale that is actually a departure from their Commonwealth theme because it comes from Baltimore. But there's a lot of other things I liked, too.

The ale was Oliver Breweries Best Bitter, brewed by the Pratt Ale House in Baltimore and making a guest appearance at the pub in DC. It was flavorful, just the right temperature, fresh and not too gassy because it's a hand-pumped cask ale. I had two British pints (20 oz.) and it took me back to some happy hours pub-crawling in London.

The conceit of the place is to have beers from the UK and original Commonwealth countries as well as the four states in the U.S. that style themselves commonwealths -- Virginia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Kentucky (so you see why a Maryland ale doesn't really fit in, but so what). Gastropub is a new concept in the UK to designate efforts to serve relatively healthy, good-quality pub grub. The UK is a good 10 to 20 years ahead of the U.S. in food awareness, but they don't have the massive industrialization of food production that we have.

The food and atmosphere here were both great. It's a light, high-quality version of very heavy pub food (translation: it's still pretty heavy) and we may have ordered too many fried things. But the Scotch eggs -- hardboiled eggs wrapped in sausage and bread crumbs, deep-fried, and served cut in half with three sauces -- were a great starter with beer. And the frog in a puff -- merguez in pastry puff like pigs in a blanket, served with pickles and mustard -- were equally good. The fish and chips were equal to anything I've had in England, and great with the tartar sauce and ketchup.

The atmosphere was deconstructed pub. Some dark paneling, some cinderblocks, some tufted leather upholstery, but big windows looking out on the crowd going to and from the Columbia Heights Metro station.

Another great thing about this pub are the prices, which are considerably moderate, even the beer, keeping in mind that $8 gets you a 20-oz. portion of a real cask ale.

Lots of other food to try, and rotating cask ales -- so we'll definitely go back.