Top 5 Restaurants
Apr 10, 2006
Wow! I haven't updated my Top 5 in a long time and it's about time I updated this since there are a couple places I haven't been to in a while. Here are my top 5 restaurants for April 2006.
1) Komi - Come on, did you really expect anything else?!
2) Corduroy - Foie gras and whole crispy fried fish, and probably the best steaks in town. Plus their web site is really kick ass.
3) Ray's the Steaks - Excellent fresh steaks and the best crab bisque in DC. Who could ask for more?
4) 2 Amys - This is the best pizza in DC, plain and simple, but the secret is to order off the bar menu once you go every week, twice a week and are bored with the pizza.
5) Circle Bistro - If you're seeing a show at The Kennedy Center, there's no other choice for dinner.
Honorable Mentions:
Dino - This is slowly becoming my favorite place to eat Italian food in the district. Try the lasagnette or cinghiale. Also the wine, cheese and cured meats can't be beat.
Uh....Not sure why this incomplete post was up for a while. It's updated now.
Posted by: Jason | Apr 10, 2006 at 03:03 PM
Ok...but, what is the advice for Amy's? You lost me..
Posted by: TH | Apr 10, 2006 at 05:18 PM
Run on sentences are my specialty.
Get the pizza when you first go. Then once you get hooked and go over and over and you get bored with the pizza, order off the bar menu.
Posted by: Jason | Apr 10, 2006 at 05:22 PM
Does Komi change their seasonal menus? Meaning, will summer be different this year than it was last?
Posted by: Matt | Apr 10, 2006 at 08:05 PM
Yes, it most definitely will. Here's what you'll find on the menu right now (based on a recent intelligence report I wrote myself.) You must try the goat shoulder, cooked very much the same as the suckling pig, although not quite as overpowering. I also thought the pappardelle with favas and radishes (and a little bit of crushed red pepper) was suprisingly tasty - I thought it would be a bit bland, but ended up being the hit of the meal.
Posted by: Jason | Apr 10, 2006 at 09:05 PM
I'm having my first Komi experience on Saturday. I can't wait. I read somewhere, however, that they no longer offer a wine pairing option with the tasting menu. That would suck, as my wine-choosing skillz are mad bad, and I like handing off the whole issue to an expert. (Which I still could do on a per-glass basis, I guess.)
Posted by: Spiral Stairs | Apr 11, 2006 at 08:54 AM
They don't officially have it on the menu anymore, but all you have to do is ask and they'll pair something with each course for you.
Posted by: Jason | Apr 11, 2006 at 09:03 AM
Since I don't get out to most of these places, I'm glad to get some confirmation that Ray's crab bisque, which I thought was amazing, is actually amazing in comparison to others in the area.
Posted by: neil | Apr 11, 2006 at 02:27 PM
For dining near the Kennedy Center, what about Notti Bianchi? While I enjoy all the places on your list (haven't been to Corduroy), there are some serious holes: Palena, the Laboratorio, Equinox, Makoto, Obelisk, and Restaurant Eve come to mind.
Posted by: Jason R. | Apr 12, 2006 at 04:59 PM
Notti Bianche isn't as good as Circle Bistro IMO. I don't just include restaurants in this list because of the quality of food, but I also consider value when I include restaurants in my list. If this list were based solely on that, then it would be very different.
I should probably remind people of this each time I post a new Top 5, but these are my favorite places to go to and their MY Top 5. There are many places that I can't go to enough to include on this list due to lack of funds. Laboratorio and Maestro would be a couple of them.
You're suggestion of Restaurant Eve is a good one. I need to go a few more times, write a post and then maybe I'll include them in this list if they live up to their reputation.
Posted by: Jason | Apr 12, 2006 at 05:22 PM
A new one to check out is Nage Restaurant on Rhode Island Ave at Scott Circle. They just opened in March and have a very interesting menu. I had heard about them out in Rehoboth Beach. I enjoyed an entree of Crispy Duck with Sweet Potato Gnocchis. It is tough to find a good duck dish. Overall, the food and service were outstanding, although it was a little quiet in there.
Posted by: Kim | Apr 13, 2006 at 06:19 PM
2 Amys is awesome. I'm usually not all excited about Pizza -- but damn they make good stuff. I actually crave it.
Posted by: CarlenLea | Apr 14, 2006 at 02:30 PM
Um, I heard you designed the Corduroy website yourself. Isn't it hypocritical to be hyping a restaurant you're working for?
Posted by: landon | Apr 16, 2006 at 12:37 PM
Um. I think you might mean unethical. I don't see anything hypocritical about doing someone's web site for them and at the same time writing about how good their food is...What do you think? I get a cut of their profits?
Posted by: Jason | Apr 16, 2006 at 12:53 PM
Hilarious. Definitely not hypocritical. Quite probably not unethical either. In Jason's defense he's been touting Corduroy for at leaest a year and they've only added a website within the last month (finally).
Kudos on the website, Jason. Unless you've been working on it for years and are what's kept us all waiting so long, I'm impressed and pleasantly surprised it doesn't move around so much as to give me a headache!
Posted by: p | Apr 16, 2006 at 03:39 PM
Just so the record is complete on an upthread comment, the wine-pairing option has returned to the Komi tasting menu. (It was there on Saturday night, for $40.) Definitely worth it. The barrage of first courses was accompanied by a prosecco, which I dutifully downed and set aside, assuming the next glass would come with the pasta course. Not so. I had three glasses of prosecco before the first courses were done! Ay, chihuahua.
Posted by: Spiral Stairs | Apr 17, 2006 at 07:22 PM
I still dont get the Cordury raves. I've now been there twice. Both times the service has been less than professional, the food served luke warm, the atmosphere bland at best, and the quality of the food just ok. For a dinner at that price I expect more than mediocrity.
Posted by: Jonny | Apr 18, 2006 at 01:22 PM
How can you do a top list and not include Either of Ann Cashion's restaurants? Is this a popularity contest? If you're really serious this seems like an incredible oversight...
Posted by: Jeff Cherry | May 04, 2006 at 09:47 AM
I just can't understand why Corduroy keeps making it onto lists of "best food". We went for lunch and dinner twice and it was not only average food (if not below average), but average service and let's be real - it's a cheap-looking hotel bar. Jonny...maybe someone responded to you with some sort of answer? There are LOADS of places that have better food, better service, and better atmosphere for 1/4 the price.
Posted by: Sarah | Aug 01, 2006 at 12:48 PM