Restaurant Week Recap
Jan 18, 2006
Well, Restaurant Week sucked for me this time. I spent half the week recovering from food poisoning and I had to cancel most of my reservations. The only place I was able to go was Zengo, and my experience there was average at best. Put it this way, just because you put an Asian sauce on a Latin dish, doesn't make it Latin-Asian fusion.
The Restaurant Week menu that Zengo offered was OK, but there were things on the regular menu that interested Amy and I so we skipped the Restaurant Week offer. I was glad we did this, because when we compared the portions of what we ordered to the Restaurant Week portions, ours were obviously larger.
I'm not going to waste a lot of your time going into to much detail, but I'd say the dish that was most representative of our experience at Zengo was the whole crispy fish that Amy ordered. Normally, a whole crispy fish is a great dish and one thinks of similar dishes at DC Coast and TenPenh. The entire fish is usually deep fried, flesh still on the bone which leaves the meat of the fish juicy and more flavorful than if it was filleted.
Zengo's presentation, however, is the carcass of the fish deep fried AFTER the meat is removed. They then put "nuggets" of fried fish meat on the plate with the fried carcass. Amy and I had a theory that they just have a bunch of deep-fried fish bones back there and some fish "nuggets" which they fry up fresh and put on the plate together. Presentation aside, the dish was bland. The breading had a slightly bitter flavor to it and the veggies it came with added nothing to the overall experience.
Anyway, we were very unimpressed.
You still have a chance to take advantage of some Restaurant Week offering. The following restaurants extended the offer this week:
Sea Catch Restaurant - through the 21st
CABANAS - menu available at dcseafood.com
Nick's Riverside Grille - menu available at dcseafood.com
Tony and Joe's Seafood Place - menu available at dcseafood.com
Butterfield 9 - menu available at dcseafood.com Dino - Through the 19th
21P - Extending for Dinner only.
Zengo
Tuscana West
I'd highly recommend taking advantage of Dino's offer if you haven't had a change to stop by there yet. They have their whole menu available and you really can't beat the deal. Make sure you try their cheese course!
Indebleu is extending for lunch only this week as well.
Posted by: LawDancer | Jan 18, 2006 at 01:22 PM
I don't understand why you haven't informed your readers of the restaurant you received food poisoning from. We as your readers look forward to your updates, and the infortuate event was hopefully not deliberate and rather an unfortunate accident.
Posted by: Demetrius | Jan 18, 2006 at 03:01 PM
I think it would be rather irresponsible (perhaps unethical?) for Jason to report the restaurant where he *believes* he got food poisoning. While I don't have ANY reason to doubt him, I can imagine a scenario where an angry restaurant owner threatens legal action (hasn't the DCFoodie Family had enough of that lately?) over any loss of business, especially if it turns out there WASN'T anything wrong with the food, and it turns out the cereal Jason had for breakfast was what actually made him sick. Better to play it safe then sorry, and instead report the restaurant to the health department for them to check into. Just a thought.
Posted by: Jon | Jan 19, 2006 at 10:18 AM
Restaurant Week was disappointing for us, too. We only managed to make it to one restaurant, and that was Beacon Bar & Grill for lunch. While my food was decent (spinch and artichoke app and meat pizza), my husband and our friend's crabcake sandwiches were very dry, and the service was beyond awful. It took 20 minutes for a waiter to take our drink order, and there were perhaps 10 other tables in the entire place. Needless to say, we won't be going back - ever.
Posted by: Peyton | Jan 19, 2006 at 11:08 AM
Jon. I couldn't have said it better myself.
Posted by: Jason | Jan 19, 2006 at 11:10 AM
I was also disappointed with my Restaurant Week experience at i Ricchi. While the food was good, it was not good enough that I would consider going back. I felt rushed by the waitstaff throughout the meal and the limited menu provided little choice to someone who doesn't eat red meat. While the first course of risotto was very good, the main course salmon dish was something I could have cooked at home. I will definitely seek out a place offering their full menu in August!
Posted by: Martha | Jan 19, 2006 at 11:52 AM
Yep, my RW lunch at DC Chophouse was disappointing too - only TWO choices per course & not good variety or taste. I had calamari, beef tips in heavy mushroom sauce with mash potatoes, & apple pie with caramel sauce & ice cream. The calamari was the best of the lot...
Posted by: Sal Monella | Jan 19, 2006 at 12:37 PM
It was not my intention to offend, and apologize if my earlier comment ruffled some feathers. As a reader of both DCFoodies and his wife's site, I didn't remember reading that both *believes* to have gotten sick from the food they ate, but rather a more blunt response that they both were fairly sick for a few days from the food they ate.
I agree that DCFoodies and his family has already been treated poorly as a result of poor manners from a respected DC chef and certainly would not wish another unpleasant experience on them.
Posted by: Demetrius | Jan 19, 2006 at 01:35 PM
Sorry that you couldn't partake in RW this time. Just wanted to say that I picked Corduroy largely based on your favorable reviews and everyone in our party had an amazing meal there. I loved how many choices there were and every course was delicous. Thanks!
Posted by: Deryn | Jan 19, 2006 at 02:41 PM
Sorry that you couldn't partake in RW this time. Just wanted to say that I picked Corduroy largely based on your favorable reviews and everyone in our party had an amazing meal. I loved how many choices there were and every course was delicious. Thanks!
Posted by: Deryn | Jan 19, 2006 at 02:42 PM
So, this was already my favorite buffet of food narrative on which to gorge before I read your review of Mandalay just now where you actually noted that the restaurant uses dark meat chicken. Now THAT is the kind of information I need. I'm serious. Besides whether a place is impossibly uncomfortable or unattentive or tasteless (or, you know, evil in their nature), I wanna know what they mean by "chicken". I'm sure my comment's already too rambling but since I was served fresh-plucked, eyes and beak on chicken in France, I like to know what's coming my way. Thanks!!
Posted by: Laura | Jan 20, 2006 at 06:38 PM
I really enjoyed my experience at la taberna del albadero, Bistro Bis, but was also underwhelmed
by Zengo. I did enjoy their seared tuna appetizer,
but it seemed a little dated as a concept. Presentation was flat, and the ceviche was pretty good, but nothing to worry Jose Andres' restaurants ( well most of them) but overall
not a horrible experience but very middling, at best.
Posted by: latinkidgomez | Jan 22, 2006 at 01:22 PM
Though this is a bit late, you've got an incorrect link for Butterfield 9 there. They are not affiliated with dcseafood.com, but can instead be found at butterfield9.com.
That being said, I wanted to report on a rather unfortunate experience I had with their Double Restaurant Week promotion. My wife and I decided to go before seeing Les Mis last Thursday, as we have always had wonderful experiences at Butterfield 9 in the past.
This time, however, their Restaurant Week offerings were generally unimpressive. I was especially put off by an appetizer that their menu described as:
Seared Scallops
potato foam, shaved cauliflower, watercress coulis
Fool that I am, I assumed the 's' at the end of the title implied more than one scallop. So I was disappointed to receive a single scallop nestled atop the garnishes as described above. It was rather tasty, but still a negative surprise.
As regular RW patrons, we also took the opportunity to try a new restaurant - Rasika, which you reviewed last month. Their RW offerings were wonderful - I can't recommend the ambience, the service, or the food highly enough.
We began our meals with appetizers of palaak chat (crispy spinach) and tawa fish. The palak chat was wonderful, with just a bit of oily sweetness. The fish had a nice, subtle heat to it. We enjoyed Black Cod and a lamb dish whose name slips my mind for entrees. But everything was great, and the experience was definitely a positive.
Great blog here, Foodies! I may have to stop by more often!
Posted by: re:district | Jan 23, 2006 at 04:47 PM
It sounds like so many people had bad restaurant week experience. Though I'm no longer in D.C., my friend ate at Capital Grille (meh) and Mie N Yu. Both places he had awful service, and at one, it was so bad the manager comped the drinks and gave them a gift certificate. What is the deal with these places? Is this restaurant industry in the city so stuck that a majority of diners can't get a nice bite to eat anymore?
Posted by: Jon | Jan 23, 2006 at 08:17 PM
Unlike the commenter above, I didn't enjoy Taberna Del Albadero's offerings during restaurant week at all. I didn't think the salmon I had was anything to write home about. I don't remember the dessert I had, it was a custard type dish, that was good. In general, I didn't think that the dinner was worth the money-- even the restaurant week prices. On the other hand, I had a great experience at Charlie Palmer's for lunch. I had skate for an appetizer, the salmon for the entree, and chocolate hazelnut mouse for dessert. All of it was good and memorable. The salmon filet was lightly crunchy on the outside, but moist on the inside. I loved it!
I'm now in the throws of Bethesda-Chevy Chase restaurant week. My first restaurant was La Ferme-- um totally not all that it was chalked up to be. First off, the bread (french bread!) was as flavorful as paper and the butter was hard (I hate hard butter). I had the spinach endive salad for my appetizer, fogettable. I then had the salmon in mustard sauce. Ok, I must admit, it was not bad, it just wasn't wow- which was the experience I had at Charlie Palmer's. Finally, the honey vanilla creme brulee was just plain bad. It was too sweet, too watery, and the combination of falvors was off-putting. However, I did split an appetizer from the menu with my friend, duck breast wrapped in phyllo dough- that was good as long as you go the bite with the meat and not just skin in it. My friend had the calf-liver and onions. Though I probably didn't appreciate it as much while I was eating it, the liver was well cooked (he got it medium), so I really can't complain abou that. The liver was smooth, soft, and moist and the ring of fat around was good. I'm going to three other restaurants and I'll just have to see.
Posted by: Joanne | Jan 25, 2006 at 11:28 AM
Just to put in my two cents, I went to DavidGreggory for RW and it was wonderful! They offered their full menu with surcharges for a few items. I was especially impressed that for the "appetizer" selection the entire left side of the menu, including all the pizzas and salads, was avaliable. I had the three cheese truffle scented pizza (very good) and my dinner partners had the crouquettes (amazing) and the shrimp stick (also amazing). As an entre I had Scallops in an almondine sauce, and they were by far the best, fluffiest, most perfect scallops I've ever had. My fiancee had some type of pork wrapped in bacon, which was very very very good as well. The desserts were also memorable, with the bread pudding and the S'mores in Greek Clothing being standouts. All in all, a very good deal for RW, and this would also be a great place to go for drinks and appetizers, as they have many different sized portions and prices to fit a range of budgests and appetites.
Posted by: Erub | Jan 26, 2006 at 05:32 PM
LA FERME on Brookvill Road continues to live up to its reputation for excellent food and service, combined with convenient parking and a really fine ambiance for dining and conversation. We arrived at 12:45, enjoyed our asparagus salad and wild mushroom soup with a wine selected from an extensive wine list, and followed with calves liver in an onion and vinegar sauce, with string beans, scalloped potatoes, carrots and a squash terrine. The calves liver entree was cooked to perfection, the best I have had in years. The vegetable servings are refreshing, and set off the main course most appropriately. I had not seen my friend, who had just returned from India, for several years, so we had much to catch up on. The waiter did not disturb us, but quietly provided whatever service was needed throughout the delicious afternoon. Our wine extended to the fruit and cheese course, followed by good coffee. We left around 3:30 grateful that such a gracious restaurant continues to be avaliable to us here in Chevy Chase/Bethesda.
Posted by: Lois | Mar 02, 2007 at 06:24 PM