Sign Inside of Pow Pow (1253 H Street)
Pow Pow–a new fast casual Asian fusion concept coming to 1253 H Street–will have its grand opening this Saturday, May 7th. The restaurant, a collaboration of Shaun Sharkey (involved with multiple existing restaurants on H Street), Stephen Cheung (Lavagna in Eastern Market), and John Yamashita (Sticky Rice), will serve a variety of creative bowls, salads, and rolls. District Cuisine got an opportunity to tour the space over the weekend and was very impressed with the buildout and design. The space features a gigantic mural on one wall (see pictures below) and clever references to the H Street community throughout (such as a streetcar sign with the Pow Pow tiger logo on the front). The wood on the main wall is reclaimed from an old barn in Virginia and is used in several of the signs throughout the restaurant as well. The restaurant owns the building and will lease out the top floor.
Large Mural Inside of Pow Pow
Pow Pow will initially start out only serving dinner before expanding to lunch once they get going. While the setup is fast casual and customization will be welcomed, the majority of the menu is crafted in a way where the customer will order a set menu item as opposed to creating their own.
Counter at Pow Pow
At this time, there are no plans for a liquor license as the restaurant plans on being a food driven concept. Some of the exciting menu items we learned about:
- Pork Sword–giant pork and pineapple egg roll (the egg rolls will be large enough to be entree size)
- Midnight Marauder–giant steak and cheese egg roll
- Wu-Banger–Pow Pow’s spin on an orange chicken bowl
- Superfly Snuka–Asian pork BBQ bowl
- Fugazi Osbourne–hoisin beef bowl
- Mock chicken bowls for vegetarians
- Taiwanese fried chicken (gluten free)
- Trolly Chips–Kimchi fries
In addition to these main items, they will have a series of finishers to go on top of the salads and bowls, called “Pow Pow’s”:
- Sriracha roasted cashews (District Cuisine got a chance to sample these and loved them)
- Fried capers
- Togorashi croutons
- Fried shallots
- Broken fortune cookies
In addition to the savory items previewed above, Pow Pow will have one dessert: the Chimi Chimi Pow Pow–a deep fried banana and Nutella eggroll (District Cuisine also got a chance to sample this and enjoyed it as well).
Chimi Chimi Pow Pow: Deep Fried Banana and Nutella Eggroll
Look for Pow Pow to have streetcar specials in the coming weeks as well. For the opening next weekend, they will likely have a DJ for the opening celebration. We can’t wait to check them out this weekend once they officially open.
District Cuisine 