Restaurant Week-August 2011

[Elyssa]

It's that time of year again boys and girls----Restaurant Week time.

The dates were just announced: August 15-22. The full list of restaurants can be found here: https://www.restaurantweekmetrodc.org/

There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of additions of new restaurants on there, which is a little disappointing. But still a nice list.

I'm personally thinking about doing lunch at 701 and maybe Johnny's Half Shell, Nage, Acadiana, or Bombay Club. Anyone have thoughts on any of these?

We can use this thread to give recommendations, say where we have reservations, give reviews etc.

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Bombay Club
815 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20006

Johnny's Half Shell
400 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20001

Nage Restaurant
1600 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036

Acadiana
901 New York Ave NW Ste 200A, Washington, DC 20001

[takadi]

Oh my lord, did anyone try the lunch menu for 2941? Did someone kill the chef and replace him with some amateur from some cheesy pretentious asian fusion restaurant? The dishes I had were just plain boring. The duck was okay, but for 2941 I expected so much more. It was paired with this very frozen-foodesque wonton and put on a bed of the greasiest fried scallions I've ever eaten. The appetizer was some sort of deconstructed banh mi. I liked it, but if I wanted banh mi, I could have bought one myself for a quarter of the price and deconstructed myself. The dessert was the savior of the day, a hazelnut pastry with stewed apricot and lavender ice cream. The other dishes, like the corn risotto and the "thai" melon soup were just so unmemorable.

So very very disappointed, especially considering how amazing last years meal was.

[VaPaula]

We went to Prime Rib and were both pleased with our meals (prime rib and London broil). Service was very good.

You know what I liked? They offered three $6 wines by the glass as part of the RW menu - considerably cheaper than their regular menu of wines by the glass. Of course, any hopes of keeping costs contained by ordering one of these was destroyed by my $14.50 pomegranite martini. Oops.

[Elyssa]

I received 3 emails yesterday for extended Restaurant Week. Ardeo, Bibiana, and Dino (with really good wine deals) will be extending RW for the next week or so. I know there are other restaurants out there as well extending but these 3 do Restaurant Week particularly well.

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Bibiana
1100 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20005

[italy531]

I hit 3 spots during RW and only plan to head back to one but it was a good time with friends regardless.

From Best to Worst:

Againn - Loved everything about the food and drinks but service was a bit lacking. I had the tomato, housemade burrata, and white anchovy, filet with onion butter, and banoffie pie. We also ordered a side of the brussel sprouts for the table to share. The anchovy added a nice twist to the caprese salad and I could have eaten a bucket of the onion butter that came with the perfectly cooked medium rare steak. The dessert was the perfect amount. I also had two drinks, Little Sister and Pippa's Punch that hit the spot.

New Heights - The drinks were just ok and the food was ok to good. I had the fried oyster app, duck with stone fruit, and chocolate torte that was surprisingly light and more of a cake than what I consider a torte. The service was great. I would probably go back but it is just in a neighborhood that we don't spend time in regularly.

Hudsons - The drinks were definitely the highlight here. Definitely try the gucci slingback if you like rasberries and the white sangria margarita is tasty. I had the lobster hushpuppies and they were an odd spongy texture. I had steak here too and while it was good the portion was tiny. Dessert was an underwhelming peach melba. The service was horrible.

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New Heights Restaurant
2317 Calvert St. NW, Washington, DC 20008

[MoCoMe]

Had a great meal at Siroc Sat night. Service was outstanding! Was my first time there, and would definately go back. My friend did better on ordering than I did! Crabcakes and tiramisu were awesome. I had the branzino and almond cake, both were very good, but I were to do it all over, I'd get the other 2.

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Siroc Restaurant
915 15th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005

[Elyssa]

Siroc actually had a pretty affordable lunch menu and the serving size is pretty large for lunch. Delicious sandwiches.

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Siroc Restaurant
915 15th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005

[reiflame]

I had a good meal at Vidalia; nothing spectaular (not sure what Sietsema's raves in last week's chat was about). My fish was overcooked, the smoked salmon appetizer was pretty boring, the mac and cheese was excessively salty and they charged us $21 for a Manhattan (overcharging for drinks is a huge pet peeve of mine). Flavors were generally good and the desserts were the standouts. I'm not in a huge rush to return, but it made for a nice night.

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Vidalia
1990 M Street, Washington, DC 20036

[Elyssa]

I have found that Vidalia dumbs it down a little for Restaurant Week. I went there for lunch for RW a year or so ago and was pretty disappointed with my experience. I have been back since for their excellent lunch deal (around $19) and thought it was much, much better. They change the menu daily with seasonal ingredients and feature much more creative items.

And was that $21 for ONE Manhattan? If so that's insane!

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Vidalia
1990 M Street, Washington, DC 20036

[reiflame]

Yeah, one Manhattan. 3 oz of Rye, a splash of vermouth and a cherry.

I sounded pretty negative above, but the meal was really fine. The complaints above border on nit-picks, and if it were any one complaint I would've considered the meal a smashing success, but it was just a lot of little things that added up. Anyways, I hadn't been there in like 4 years and I'm glad I went, but there are just so many better options in the price range nowadays.

[takadi]

Do they always have a 19 dollar lunch deal?

[Elyssa]

I'm pretty sure during the week they do. But I would double check.

[takadi]

I went through every single review on opentable.com and the restaurants that consistently were at the top were all the steakhouses like ruth's chris, mortons, capital grille, flemings. I loaded up all the reviews based on overall score, food score, and number of reviewers, and the names that kept popping up were Rasika (especially rasika, the hype for it is amazing), 1789, Tosca, vidalia, Zaytinya, 2941, and la bergerie. Other names I saw were La chaumerie, the prime rib, filomena, passionfish, black salt, and kinkead's. I personally have reservations for filomena and 2941.

I was looking for blue duck tavern on the list and it turns out they aren't doing it this year. It explains why there were so many openings.

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Rasika Restaurant
633 D Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004

Zaytinya
701 9th St NW, Washington, DC 20001

[Elyssa]

I had a great Restaurant Week dinner at Bombay Club last night. I haven't been there since the Clinton Administration so was pleasantly surprised by how delicious our meal was. I started with the chaat, which wasn't quite as good as Rasika's but was still delicious none-the-same. I then had the trout which had a mixture of spices and herbs on top. This was served with rice and basket of naan to share at the table. Very good.

For dessert I had the chocolate/coconut dessert. Which I probably would have thought was amazing...if I hadn't tried my friends shredded carrot dessert which was out of this world. Super tasty and simple. Our (wonderful) waiter told us it's an Indian comfort food. He even told us how to make it so we might try to recreate it at home.

I'm glad I finally returned to Bombay Club so now I can put it back on my list of places to dine at again.

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Rasika Restaurant
633 D Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004

Bombay Club
815 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20006

[Jeserf]

hm, makes me want to hit that spot for their sunday brunch buffet one of these days

[kathleen440]

I went to Bombay for lunch on Monday and also really enjoyed it. Like Rasika, I thought the vegetables/legumes outshone the meat - my Bombay thali was excellent.

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Rasika Restaurant
633 D Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004

[Mulan]

I am going to 2941 on Saturday. I think this is the first time they are doing RW for dinner. The following Saturday, we are doing Liberty Tavern which is one of our favorites. They are doing an extended RW.

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The Liberty Tavern
3195 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201

[ClevelandDave]

Can you use a Groupon on a RW menu or is that considered a "special?"

[mselectra]

It should say in the fine print, might vary by restaurant, but my impression is mostly no. Dino, for example, makes it clear you can't use the Living Social during RW.

[Elyssa]

Most places won't allow it. They likely consider it a "special." I would read the fine print and call the restaurant before hand.

Some of them specifically say you can't use it during Restaurant Week like PS7 or Dino.

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PS7 Restaurant
777 I Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001

[Smiles2008]

I have reservations at:

Tabbard Inn

Buddha Bar

Bibiana

Sushi Taro

Rasika

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Bibiana
1100 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20005

[takadi]

Bibiana is horrible! At least when I went last summer.

[majmaj4]

I went to Passionfish last night. They have all entrees as part of the restaurant week with only 2 with up charges.

I am trying Adour and Oval room over the weekend.

[woodleyparkhound]

Bibiana was excellent when I went a month ago.

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Bibiana
1100 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20005

[Elyssa]

I have to disagree. I've been many times and have always had excellent service and delicious food. What happened during your experience that was so horrible? It helps to expand vs. just saying "it's horrible."

I also went for Restaurant Week lunch last year and it was great. The meatball w/ polenta is delicious Italian comfort food.

[hamster]

I also really enjoyed Bibiana for Restaurant Week last winter (lunch).

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Bibiana
1100 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20005

[takadi]

When I went for restaurant week last year, I remember first and foremost the tiny tiny portions. I can understand small portions in a place like 2941 where each dish, despite being a sample, is a masterpiece but I felt like they ran out of ingredients or something and had to make do with a limited supply. The bucatini in the amatriciana was undercooked and it was the most measly dish I've ever seen. Maybe three specks of bacon and barely dressed in a tomato sauce. I think it was a meatball or a terrine dish of some kind, but it was incredibly salty and bland, as contradictory as that sounds. I think there was also some squid mousse in squash blossoms, and maybe a soup. I remember getting only two blossoms and don't remember it tasting that great at all. All I remember is that I came out of there hungry and dissatisfied, and I probably don't remember the rest mostly because of the fact that they were unmemorable.

[Snd485]

My top choices -- 1789 and Birch and Barley -- were already booked, so I made a dinner reservation at Prime Rib and a later lunch reservation at Art and Soul to take advantage of their extended restaurant week special. I've been to Art and Soul before and really liked it, plus I don't think it will be as busy after the 22nd. I've never been to Prime Rib before, but heard good things and I do love a good steak.

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Prime Rib
2020 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006

Art and Soul
415 New Jersey Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20001

Birch and Barley
1337 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005

[reiflame]

Is Vidalia still any good? I grabbed a reservation just to see for myself; the last time I was there was like 2006 and I know they've gone through at least 2 chefs since then.

[Elyssa]

I went there last summer for Restaurant Week and was really disappointed and felt that the food lacked any sort of creativity, even though there were quite a few dishes to choose from.

That said I have been back since for lunch and our meal was excellent. Lots of fresh, seasonal ingredients, a creative menu etc. I think I just caught it on a slump, maybe between chefs. The chef they have there now is quite good.

[RobertM]

Any good rec's for a great sea food place?

[majmaj4]

Passionfish is great. Last time they offered all the entrees for the RW menu.

[Elyssa]

Watershed or Blacksalt (although I think this one is only open for lunch).

[daves_32]

I am glad to have Adour

[startsev]

I ate at Adour and Oval Room during the winter Restaurant Week and I highly recommend them both. This year I am heading to Rasika, Tosca, and Watershed.

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Rasika Restaurant
633 D Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004

[bcarter3]

I'm addicted to the lobster mac 'n cheese at Nage. V rich.

Tried Acadiana during restaurant week a couple of years ago, and was disappointed by the portion size and selection. But that was a while back--maybe it's changed.

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Nage Restaurant
1600 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036

Acadiana
901 New York Ave NW Ste 200A, Washington, DC 20001

[Elyssa]

Just made a reservation for Nage for lunch with a girlfriend. Looking forward to finally checking it out. It's one of those places I consider all the time and then chose some place else.

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Nage Restaurant
1600 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036

[odkaty]

First choice was Rasika, which is booked. So I made dinner reservations for Ardeo + Bardeo.

[Jeserf]

Birch and Barley is already booked. I was trying to figure out where you get a good bang for your buck - I figured there...and maybe Bibiana. It's hard to pick until the menus come out for me.

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Bibiana
1100 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20005

Birch and Barley
1337 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005

[Elyssa]

I've gone to Bibiana for RW before and they do it really well.

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Bibiana
1100 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20005

[Jeserf]

I ended up with somewhat early evening reservations at Birch and Barley. Bibiana is a place I'll definitely go regardless of RW.

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Bibiana
1100 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20005

Birch and Barley
1337 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005

[Jeserf]

nixed the reservation due to having tickets to the Nats-Phillies game. Oh well!

[crosby_p]

I have a reservation at The Prime Rib...never been there and really looking forward to it!

[Elyssa]

The Prime Rib is great! The first time I went there was for Restaurant Week. It is an incredibly good deal for RW. Of course get the Prime Rib as a main course and the key lime pie for dessert.

Delicious, old school Washington restaurant.

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Prime Rib
2020 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006