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Ellē chocolate
A salted chocolate tart from Ellē
Rey Lopez/Eater D.C.

16 D.C. Restaurants That Crush Dessert

Find the best sweet treats to end your meal

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A salted chocolate tart from Ellē
|Rey Lopez/Eater D.C.

Nailing dessert can be tricky, but restaurants that do it leave diners with lasting impressions. D.C. diners with a sweet tooth can look to these 14 restaurants for reliable finishers that complete a perfect night out with everything from colorful ube bread pudding to classic Paris Brest, tres leches cake, and mango habanero “peppers.”

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Ellē

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這全天的咖啡館在舊海勒的麵包店ing attracts folks from all over D.C. to Mount Pleasant. A display case up front is filled with desserts from co-owner Lizzy Evelyn that can be ordered all day, like goat cheese cheesecake or a white chocolate passion fruit mousse. At night, Ellē is experimenting with composed desserts, too,— Gabe Hiatt

White chocolate passion fruit mousse from Ellē
White chocolate passion fruit mousse from Ellē
Rey Lopez/Eater D.C.

Purple Patch

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Purple Patch, a neighborhood Filipino restaurant in Mount Pleasant, offers colorful desserts like ube (purple yam) bread pudding or cupcakes served with ube ice cream, a yuca and coconut milk cake, and frozen mango floats.

Brothers And Sisters

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The cakes from Pichet Ong justify a visit to this Asian-American restaurant all on their own. The Earl Gray crepe cake is a popular pick, as is the coconut coffee banana Brooklyn. There’s usually something seasonal rotating in, too.

Pastry chef Alex Levin oversees desserts at all of Michael Schlow’s restaurants — that also includes Alta Strada, Casolare, the Riggsby, and Nama sushi. At this Latin kitchen, his tres leches cake is a must-try.

Brasserie Liberté

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最近法國啤酒店standar是否打開ds well. The Paris Brest is spectacular: a pillowy choux pastry sandwiches sweet hazelnut cream and is topped with a light sprinkling of sea salt. The seasonal profiteroles come in a couple of flavor varieties as well and are a nice portion that you could share but probably won’t want to.

Unconventional Diner

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Ana Deshaies, the local restaurant association’sPastry Chef of the Year for 2019, complements David Deshaies’s fancy diner fare with deceptive sweets like a plate of “bacon and eggs,” with coconut and mango making up the white and the yolk, or a giant chocolate, hazelnut, and cherry truffle.—G.H.

Introducing The Cloud. . .a pillowy cheesecake with raspberry. Join us for dinner and then dessert, rain or shine! * * * #eatunconventional #unconventionaldiner #cheesecake #raspberry #thecloud

Posted byUnconventional DineronTuesday, September 3, 2019

Blue Duck Tavern

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The OG farm-to-table establishment in the West Endis famous for its apple pie, but there are plenty of other desserts worthy of attention, such as sweet potato flan. Don’t miss specialty ice creams accompanied by gooey butterscotch sauce or molten chocolate syrup.

The famous apple pie from Blue Duck Tavern
The famous apple pie from Blue Duck Tavern
Blue Duck Tavern [official]

Kinship/Metier

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This Michelin-starred duo, an a la carte restaurant adjoined to a pricey tasting menu place, from chef Eric Ziebold impresses from start to finish. A St. Honore dessert at Metier, for example, arrives on a metal Parisian street sign placed atop a rolled out map of Paris that acts as a tablecloth.

Poca Madre

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Victor Albisu’s high-end Mexican restaurant brings flavors like cajeta, oaxacan chocolate, corn, and passion fruit into sweets. The tres leches cake with cajeta ice cream and brown butter is one of the stars of the dessert menu.

Centrolina

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Executive pastry chef Caitlin Dysart oversees a memorable Italian dessert menu that includes semolina pudding cake, dark chocolate semifreddo, biscotti, and various flavors of gelati and sorbetti.

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#tarttuesday | chocolate hazelnut | lemon almond

A post shared byCaitlin Dysart(@caitlindysart) on

Dbgb Kitchen and Bar

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The Baked Alaska (for two) is aclassic spectaclethat should never go out of style. DBGB’s is a multi-day labor of love, filled with raspberry sorbet, pistachio and vanilla ice cream, almond dacquoise, and swiss meringue. Vanilla vodka is used as a tableside accelerant.

DBGB DC dessert
Baked Alaska at DBGB
Rey Lopezfor Eater DC

The Ella Grace

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This new all-day cafe and cocktail bar has a short but sweet menu from chef Jacob Heyn, who most recently made pastries at Del Mar. A black sesame chiffon cake is built with cherry compote and black sesame praline ($12).— Tierney Plumb

Black sesame chiffon cake with a raspberry finish from Ella Grace Tierney Plumb/Eater DC

Modena

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The dessert menu at Modena (nee Bibiana) is inventive, uncomplicated, and exceptional. Lemon and pear tarts are both recommended. Bombolini and Gianduja mousse are worth saving room for, too.

Punjab Grill

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The luxurious feeling of dining at opulently appointed Punjab Grill extends to dessert. A decadent shahi tukra — the Indian version of bread pudding — comes with fig kulfi. Chocolate lovers will be happy with the chocolate chaat, a medley of chocolate with other flavors like pistachio and raspberry.

China Chilcano

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The suspiro limena, an iconic Peruvian dessert with meringue and passion fruit, is a must-order. Visitors should also indulge in the Ponderaciones de Kiwicha, a crispy fried spiral cookie with chocolate cream, banana, and ice cream flavored like algarrobina, an eggy pisco cocktail .

Kith/Kin

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At Kith and Kin, executive pastry chef Paola Velez brings Caribbean flavors to the dessert selection. Look for spiced plantain buns with frosting and Amarula liqueur salted caramel. A fun twist on “habanero peppers” is a deceptive dessert that combines mango habanero mousse with white chocolate, tres leches cake, and elderflower “snow.”

Ellē

這全天的咖啡館在舊海勒的麵包店ing attracts folks from all over D.C. to Mount Pleasant. A display case up front is filled with desserts from co-owner Lizzy Evelyn that can be ordered all day, like goat cheese cheesecake or a white chocolate passion fruit mousse. At night, Ellē is experimenting with composed desserts, too,— Gabe Hiatt

White chocolate passion fruit mousse from Ellē
White chocolate passion fruit mousse from Ellē
Rey Lopez/Eater D.C.

Purple Patch

Purple Patch, a neighborhood Filipino restaurant in Mount Pleasant, offers colorful desserts like ube (purple yam) bread pudding or cupcakes served with ube ice cream, a yuca and coconut milk cake, and frozen mango floats.

Brothers And Sisters

The cakes from Pichet Ong justify a visit to this Asian-American restaurant all on their own. The Earl Gray crepe cake is a popular pick, as is the coconut coffee banana Brooklyn. There’s usually something seasonal rotating in, too.

Tico

Pastry chef Alex Levin oversees desserts at all of Michael Schlow’s restaurants — that also includes Alta Strada, Casolare, the Riggsby, and Nama sushi. At this Latin kitchen, his tres leches cake is a must-try.

Brasserie Liberté

最近法國啤酒店standar是否打開ds well. The Paris Brest is spectacular: a pillowy choux pastry sandwiches sweet hazelnut cream and is topped with a light sprinkling of sea salt. The seasonal profiteroles come in a couple of flavor varieties as well and are a nice portion that you could share but probably won’t want to.

Unconventional Diner

Ana Deshaies, the local restaurant association’sPastry Chef of the Year for 2019, complements David Deshaies’s fancy diner fare with deceptive sweets like a plate of “bacon and eggs,” with coconut and mango making up the white and the yolk, or a giant chocolate, hazelnut, and cherry truffle.—G.H.

Introducing The Cloud. . .a pillowy cheesecake with raspberry. Join us for dinner and then dessert, rain or shine! * * * #eatunconventional #unconventionaldiner #cheesecake #raspberry #thecloud

Posted byUnconventional DineronTuesday, September 3, 2019

Blue Duck Tavern

The OG farm-to-table establishment in the West Endis famous for its apple pie, but there are plenty of other desserts worthy of attention, such as sweet potato flan. Don’t miss specialty ice creams accompanied by gooey butterscotch sauce or molten chocolate syrup.

The famous apple pie from Blue Duck Tavern
The famous apple pie from Blue Duck Tavern
Blue Duck Tavern [official]

Kinship/Metier

This Michelin-starred duo, an a la carte restaurant adjoined to a pricey tasting menu place, from chef Eric Ziebold impresses from start to finish. A St. Honore dessert at Metier, for example, arrives on a metal Parisian street sign placed atop a rolled out map of Paris that acts as a tablecloth.

Poca Madre

Victor Albisu’s high-end Mexican restaurant brings flavors like cajeta, oaxacan chocolate, corn, and passion fruit into sweets. The tres leches cake with cajeta ice cream and brown butter is one of the stars of the dessert menu.

Centrolina

Executive pastry chef Caitlin Dysart oversees a memorable Italian dessert menu that includes semolina pudding cake, dark chocolate semifreddo, biscotti, and various flavors of gelati and sorbetti.

View this post on Instagram

#tarttuesday | chocolate hazelnut | lemon almond

A post shared byCaitlin Dysart(@caitlindysart) on

Dbgb Kitchen and Bar

The Baked Alaska (for two) is aclassic spectaclethat should never go out of style. DBGB’s is a multi-day labor of love, filled with raspberry sorbet, pistachio and vanilla ice cream, almond dacquoise, and swiss meringue. Vanilla vodka is used as a tableside accelerant.

DBGB DC dessert
Baked Alaska at DBGB
Rey Lopezfor Eater DC

The Ella Grace

This new all-day cafe and cocktail bar has a short but sweet menu from chef Jacob Heyn, who most recently made pastries at Del Mar. A black sesame chiffon cake is built with cherry compote and black sesame praline ($12).— Tierney Plumb

Black sesame chiffon cake with a raspberry finish from Ella Grace Tierney Plumb/Eater DC

Modena

The dessert menu at Modena (nee Bibiana) is inventive, uncomplicated, and exceptional. Lemon and pear tarts are both recommended. Bombolini and Gianduja mousse are worth saving room for, too.

Punjab Grill

The luxurious feeling of dining at opulently appointed Punjab Grill extends to dessert. A decadent shahi tukra — the Indian version of bread pudding — comes with fig kulfi. Chocolate lovers will be happy with the chocolate chaat, a medley of chocolate with other flavors like pistachio and raspberry.

China Chilcano

The suspiro limena, an iconic Peruvian dessert with meringue and passion fruit, is a must-order. Visitors should also indulge in the Ponderaciones de Kiwicha, a crispy fried spiral cookie with chocolate cream, banana, and ice cream flavored like algarrobina, an eggy pisco cocktail .

Related Maps

Kith/Kin

At Kith and Kin, executive pastry chef Paola Velez brings Caribbean flavors to the dessert selection. Look for spiced plantain buns with frosting and Amarula liqueur salted caramel. A fun twist on “habanero peppers” is a deceptive dessert that combines mango habanero mousse with white chocolate, tres leches cake, and elderflower “snow.”

Related Maps

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