Bocadillos
Estadio
1520 14th Street NW
Logan Circle
Brunch weekends only, 11-2
$5 each

For a period in my earlier 20s, brunch was far and away my favorite meal of the week. But at some point, after the practicalities of adulthood made starting my day at noon or later impossible, the whole brunching concept began to feel embarrassingly bourgeoisie. A proper brunch now being something of a special occasion, it’s thanks entirely to my upcoming birthday and my thoughtful fiancée that the bocadillos at Estadio, the acclaimed Logan Circle tapas restaurant, are the ninth entry in our month-long September Sunrise Sandwich Spree. Estadio’s slider-sized version of the Spanish tapa sandwich is available with chorizo, pork belly and morcilla, or Spanish blood sausage, all of which are served on a ciabatta-like roll. Among the three varieties, I preferred the pork belly, which is topped with an otherworldly aioli of pickled shishito peppers. Diners not familiar with blood sausage will understand what Andrew Zimmern means when he describes a dish as “hemoglobiny” after sampling the morcilla. Truthfully, while all three bocadillos were excellent bites of food, they were just bites. Especially when compared to the hearty, proletariat, eggs-and-bacon breakfast sandwiches I’ve featured the past couple days, it’s clear these are of a different class. Apples and oranges. But I have a birthday this week, and I’ll brunch if I want to.

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