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Rasika, with 2014 James Beard Award Winning Chef Vikram Sunderam, and Rasika West End, Modern Indian in Penn Quarter and West End


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I had a very nice meal there the other night. I went there with my parents (who are indian) and dear family friends (also indian) and they were pleased at how authentic and traditional the food was. The food was rather mild for them, but our very good waiter provided them with some raw chilis which helped quite a bit. i think the overall favorites of the night were the okra (bhindi) and cabbage kadi.

our starters were palaak chat, banana-avocado chaat, tawa baigan and ragda patties. the palaak chat was enjoyed, though interestingly my parents preferred the version at indaroma, which has more chaat masala and diced green mango. tawa baigan was a napoleon of eggplant, potato and peanuts, it's not as flavorful as the chaats, but they brought out the slight bitterness of the eggplant, and that went nicely with the toasty peanuts and comforting potatoes. our friend, who is from the region of india this dish is from, approved. the ragda patties, the spiced potato patties covered with chutneys on a bed of curried chickpeas was similarly a good traditional version, the comforting starchiness and mild spice of the potatoes and warmth of the chickpeas contrasting nicely with the chutneys. none of us had ever had anything like the avocado chaat, and it was good. it's a disk of avocado chunks dressed with nicely tangy tamarind chutney, with two slices of beautifully carmelized slightly green banana. the play of the sweet/sour banana against the tamarind wit the nutty avocado was good. however, i think it might have been better if the avocado had been riper (ours was on the raw side and didn't have that much flavor) or cut smaller, so it melded better with the chutney.

the mains were:baigan-which was good. most versions i've had focus on the play of tomatoes, onions and eggplant with the spice, this one tasted more of smoky eggplant, though the tomato was also present, it was good; bhindi amchoor--this was very good, the okra was perfectly cooked, the tangy flavor of the mango powder definitely shone through and was complemented nicely by the carmelized onions. growing up, okra with amchoor was always my favorite version of okra, so it's nice to see it in a restaurant rather than the version you usually get; cabbage kadi--also very good, flavorful tangy and slightly sweet cabbage-chickpea flour dumplings in a tangy velvety buttermilk sauce with curry leaves, very traditional and very good, this was probably my favorite dish of the evening; broccoli-cashew porial--i've never had broccoli at an indian restaurant, and this was an interesting mix of broccoli tossed with lots of cashews and some coconut. the broccoli was well cooked but didn't pick up the flavors well, so if you happened to get just a plain piece, without a cashew it just tasted like steamed broccoli. the cashews were toasty and buttery and rich though, so the combination with the broccoli was good. though the dish wasn't bad, it was the least good dish of the evening.

breads--the bread basket was good, the amritsari kulcha (bread stuffed with spiced cauliflower and potatoes) is like a traditional, good aloo paratha flavored nicely with amchoor, and the garlic naan was delicious, tasted like garlic bread but had an interesting texture, the top was like naan, but the botom side was stiffer, maybe like pita.

for dessert we had the blueberry kulfi, which was good, there was a strong taste of blueberries yet the traditional milky/nutty flavor of kulfi was also present, the carrot halwa which was just ok (it'srich and nicely flavored with cardamom, and had plump silky raisins, but it just wasn't that interesting to me) and the date-toffee pudding was a delicious moist sticky cake with a pleasant but not overpowering flavor of spice.

the service and atmosphere were lovely, it was a great evening!

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My wife and I made our first visit to Rasika this past Friday. After our experience, it will not be our last. We're kicking ourselves as we wonder what took us so long to get here.

We each started with a Vesper cocktail, which was much to my liking but a bit bracing my my wife. The drink was made with cucumber infused vodka, Hendricks gin, Lillet blanc, and garnished with what looked like a cucumber flatworm. It worked nonetheless, however, as the cucumber taste was just subtle enough.

Started the meal with the palak chaat and mango shrimp appetizers. Both were fantastic. The spinach was almost addictive - crisp spinach, cool yogurt. I would order this again in a heartbeat. The shrimp was nothing too fancy, but perfectly executed. The shrimp was indeed perfectly cooked - seared outside, just done inside.

For entrees, we ordered chicken makhani with sides of dal makhani and gobhi mattar, as well as an order of plain naan. This food was everything that I like about Indian food - the unique spices, seasonings, and preparations - but taken to another level by use of quality ingredients and precise execution. I can't recall a favorite from the bunch, they were all fantastic. We washed the meal down with a nice Oregon rose whose name escapes me but it was quite good.

Service was excellent. Perfectly professional but very helpful and pleasant.

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Rasika is my favorite restaurant in the city right now. The cuisine is consistently spot-on, and the service is flawless. Everyone involved in the Rasika experience- from the reception staff, to the waiters & backwaiters, to the management and wine staff, all display a true pride in delivering this extraordinary experience to their guests.

And the fact that a second location is in the works, at 22 West, is all the more exciting.

I feel fortunate to have a restaurant like this in our city.

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My most recent visits, a dinner in January, and a lunch last summer, were exemplary dining experiences. While I haven't explored deeply in the menu, both the traditional (tikka masala) and the more innovative (black cod) are done expertly, and I suspect that they reflect the quality of the menu's range. I'll leave it others to say how Rasika fits into the larger world of Indian cooking; odds are you won't leave disappointed.

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We're heading to Rasika tomorrow night for the +1's birthday. I have been a couple times (most recently about a year ago), but he has never been. We were thinking about doing the tasting menu (perhaps one of us getting the meat and one the vegetarian so we can try a lot of stuff). Is it worth it? Or should we just pick and choose things from the regular menu?

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In my opinion, I'd just order things you like from the regular menu. Last year for my wife's birthday we did do the tasting menu, and while everything was very good I don't think it was the best way to dine. For one thing, we got way, way too much food. Also, everything we got on the tasting menu was on the regular menu. Of course, YMMV.

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Thanks to advice from DCDuck and some others, we decided to forgo the tasting menu and just ordered a la carte at Rasika last night.

The visit started off a little shaky when the folks at the host stand were less than friendly. There were literally 4 employees standing behind or near the host stand, and one person was helping the couple in front of us find a seat at the bar, yet it took a few minutes of us standing there for any of the other people to acknolwedge we were standing there and eventually seat us. Very odd. Then once we were seated our waiter dropped in briefly to ask what kind of water we want, then didn't come back to our table for at least 10 minutes. I was almost to the point of getting up to ask the host stand if we even had a waiter when he finally came back. After that he was very nice and we had a great interaction with the sommalier, but the first impressions were less than stellar for such a well-renowned restaurant.

We started off by sharing the Kadi Patte Ke Scallops ($12 curry leaves, garlic, green chilies, lemon rasam) and Palak Chaat ($10 crispy baby spinach, sweet yogurt, tamarind date chutney). I had had the spinach on both of my other visits, but the +1 had never been to Rasika and thus was experienceing the palak chaat for the first time. We both thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, I think I would consider it one of the best dishes I have ever had. It is really really good with the spinach melting in your mouth and the yogurt and tamarind balancing it all out. We really liked the scallops too. It was 3 scallops served in a broth and oddly almost had a Mexican flavor from the green chilies. We wished we had bread at this point to sop up some of the delicious soup at the bottom.

For main courses we had the Chicken Green Masala ($17 chicken, mint, coriander, ground spices) and Black Cod ($26 fresh dill, honey, star anise, red wine vinegar), as well as a side of Gobhi Mattar ($8 cauliflower, green peas, cumin, ginger) and Bread Basket ($8 naan, onion and sage, mint paratha). The masala had a nice spice to it without being overwhelmingly hot. My +1 can't always tolerate heat, but he thought this was a good level. We enjoyed dipping the naan in the leftover sauce as well. The black cod, which I had once before, lived up to its billing as one of their signature dishes. Cooked perfectly with a hint of sweetness from the honey. It's uniquely flavored and very good. The cauliflower and pea side dish also had a nice spice level and we enjoyed it as a side. The onion and sage naan was by far our favorite in the bread basket. I think on future visits I would pick out a couple of the flavored breads instead of getting the basket.

Although full, we ended by sharing Apple Jalebi (Beignet) ($8 with cardamom ice cream), which was brought out with a candle for my +1's birthday (they also wished him happy birthday when we arrived and when we left, which was nice). This was a tad bit greasy, but tasted great. The flavor made me think of upscale funnel cake with apple, and although I didn't love the cardamom ice cream alone, it went well with the fried apple.

Despite the frosty beginning to the meal, we really enjoyed all of our food and will of course plan to head back soon. Until then I will be dreaming about the palak chaat.

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Yes, the sign is up, and I know a lot of people working and living in that neighborhood are quite excited.

Oh god this is going to be be dangerous. To have work that close to that spinach is not good for the waistline. I wonder how many points the fish curry is? damn.

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I went to the new Rasika West End for lunch today...still considered a soft opening, as it doesn't officially open until Friday.

The space is beautiful...i was at the bar in the front, surrounded by floor to ceiling glass windows. I'm happy to report that the Palak Chaat is as good as I remember it from my last experience at the original Rasika. Can't compare my Chicken Kolhapuri...a new dish for me...but the chicken with red chile/cinnamon/cardamom (going by memory, might not be entirely accurate) was excellent. The only disappointment was a decent, but unexciting rice pudding. Looks like Handii will remain my go to rice pudding place. :)

The only sad part...with the added nan, the bill was almost $42, too much for more than a very occasional lunch splurge. Obviously, I had a big, multi-course meal though...I can certainly see going in for a glass of wine and the Chaat for a light lunch. I asked the GM if they were considering some sort of lunch price fixe (Vidalia, right down the street, does a great $20 lunch price fixe), but he said they're not planning on anything like that. A shame...I'd probably be a once-a-week customer if they did.

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After being open for about a month, the new Rasika West End needs to improve before it is in the same category as Rasika Penn Quarter.

Personally, I did not like the design of the new Rasika. The design is cluttered (the bar awkwardly dominates the front of the restaurant ) and the rest is mainly glass, wood and hard surfaces that is the design de jour of many new higher-end restaurant these days. Frankly, you could plug any high-end restaurant concept into the design and you won't notice any difference. I found it to be very generic...one might even say trite!

Much like Rasika PQ, the new Rasika is already a hard reservation to snag. At 6:30pm on a Thursday night the place was full and at 8:45 it was packed. Note that even though the address is 22nd Street, the restaurant is actually at the corner of M and New Hampshire, directly across from Meiwah.

The cocktails were not good, seemingly watered down and without the seductive flavors of Rasika PQ.

The food was hit and miss. The main critique was the excessively high saltiness of the dishes, esp. the rajma and paneer. Just WAY too salty.

Tawa Baingan - a napoleon of eggplant, potato, peanut sauce (a hold over from Rasika PQ) was very good, we ordered it twice.

Asparagus Uttapam - rice/lentil crepes studded with diced asparagus, tomato chutney. also worthy of a second order.

Dori Kabob - Lamb that has been pounded into a paste then rolled in a long thin kabob. Texture was weird, kinda mushy, but flavor was great.

Palak Chaat - It maybe their signature dish, but personally I'm tired of it. It was similar to the PQ location.

Rajma Masala - Red kidney beans in a tomato gravy, that looked and tasted like ketchup. Very salty. Frankly I make better Rajma at home.

Paneer Shimla Mirch - Chunks of paneer in thick sauce of onion, bell pepper and onion. A solidly decent paneer dish, but again very salty.

Onion Sage Naan - excellent naan, but the onion and sage didn't really add much.

Tamarind Cashew Rice - Other than being light brown from the tamarind, it didn't really deliver that much extra over plain basmati rice.

Apple fritters with cardamom ice cream - Good fritters, great ice cream, but I love cardamom ice cream.

Don't get me wrong, they are still putting out good Indian food, in fact better than most...but it currently does not reach the levels of Rasika PQ. And I would say currently not as good as some of the other top tier Indian restaurants around town.

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I know that there are a lot of people on this board that detest Restaurant Week. I'm not one of them, although I'll admit that every year it's getting harder and harder to find bargains. Well, if you're a fan of RW, head over to Rasika West End (RWE)...if you're not, head over anyway. That was one of the best lunches I've had in a while...the fact that it's also a great RW deal is just icing on the cake.

I started with the:

  • Sev Batata Puri
    Crispy biscuits / potatoes / raw mangoes / gram flour vermicelli / chutneys

A fantastic combination of flavors. I ignored the Palak Chaat to try something new for a change, and I'm glad I did.

For the entree, I went with:

  • Malai Fish Curry
    Halibut / onion / bay leaves / coconut milk

Again, a first for me. Three or four big chunks of beautiful, snow-white halibut in a light, fragrant curry. Absolutely delicious. The RW meal came with both rice and naan, and I needed both to sop up every drop of the curry.

I ended with:

Gulab Jamun with Ice Cream

I'm normally not a big Gulab Jamun fan, but its sweetness was nicely balanced with the cardamon ice cream. Tasty.

As I said, one of the best lunches I've had in a while, and a great bargain for $20. Plus, you can walk across the street and have a first-rate espresso at Illy Caffe when you're done.

BTW, should this branch off into its own topic, or at least add RWE into the thread title?

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Had a marvelous lunch at Rasika with a group yesterday. The Palak Chaat was as good or better than ever, perfectly crisp and incredible thin spinach, just the right amounts of yogurt and tamarind and tomato. Made new converts immediately. We shared the chicken Makhani (thanks to recommendations here), butternut squash bharta which was fabulous (mashed roasted smoky squash, with onion and tomato and spices all incorporated within, savory and perfect, not a bite of it was left), a side of paneer, a side of dal, raita, bread basket, and lemon cashew rice. The lemon cashew rice is definitely worth the increase from plain rice. The bread was crisp on one side, fluffy on the other, and delightfully chewy. We left nothing behind but the plain rice and the sauce from the chicken. My one quibble is that I have liked the dal more in the past because it had more lentils and less liquid - this may just be a serving issue.

The food was quite slow to arrive (appetizer came quickly but everything else took a very long time, and we were twice told it was on the way). Service was good in other ways, including the waiter overhearing us discuss that it was one of our birthdays, and then bringing a dessert on the house with a candle though we hadn't ordered dessert.

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I have to second the rave review of the butternut squash bharta. as a big fan of the traditional version and person who usually dislikes butternut squash, i was, to say the least, skeptical when my dining companion ordered this. but, wow. the dish isn't really sweet, and somehow is much more savory and rich than the eggplant version. on the naan, it's like some sort of divine indian butter. some google searches revealed that this isn't a new concept--apparently people have been making bharta with pumpkin for a long time--but after having this version i have no idea why the squash version isn't at least as popular as the eggplant.

also as stated above, the lemon cashew rice is definitely worth the $1-2 surcharge, it's a delicious dish on its own.

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My boss and I attended the Partnership for a Healthier America's annual summit today. For those unfamiliar, PHA is the private sector arm of Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative to decrease childhood obesity with healthier diets and more physical activity. We elect to attend the following breakout session:

Media’s Impact on Driving Demand

A discussion about what drives demand. Is it main stream print media, social media, TV or something else? And if the media has sway over demand, how can we leverage it most appropriately to help improve food choices?

Moderator:
Scott Mowbray, Editor in Chief, Cooking Light Magazine

Panelists:

Elisa Camahort Page, Chief Operating Officer, BlogHER

J. Kenji López-Alt, Chief Creative Officer, Serious Eats

Tanya Wenman Steel, Editor in Chief, Epicurious.com, Gourmet Live, Gourmet.com


Really great session with very interesting dialogue about how cooking websites and social media can drive demand for healthier food. This foodie inclined nutrition policy dork was in total hog heaven. But the best part of the session was the following (paraphrased) interaction…


Scott Mowbray: How can social media and websites/bloggers help moms get their kids to eat more vegetables?


Elisa Camahort Page: Great question! Moms really struggle with this. They aspire to make healthy delicious meals. Last night I went to dinner at this amazing Indian restaurant, you may have heard of it- Rasika. They make this incredible dish with crispy spinach. If all vegetables tasted like that, kids would eat tons of them.


Kenji Lopez-Alt: That is because it is fried!


Tanya Wenman Steel: (rolls eyes, shakes head, smirks)


My boss (who's in town from NYC for the event) turns to me and says, “Palak Chaat! We’re going tonight.” We got two seats at the bar around 7:30. The place was packed. We started with a Palak Chaat and the Avocado Banana Chaat along with a toast to Kenji for the best line of the day. For entrees we each had the black cod and shared an order of the Gobhi Matar. Dinner confirmed Ms. Camahort Page theory that if all vegetables tasted like that kids would eat lots of them.

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Hubby was in town for a visit this weekend (apartment hunting - bleh), so we decided to have a really nice date at Rasika West End. First time at the space - love that the bar is bigger than the Penn Quarter location, since we enjoy sitting there instead of at a table. Dante treated us great all night. We did the tasting menu, which was a TON of food, but it meant that we didn't have to choose between all of the delicious choices. There was palak chaat, honey ginger scallops, black cod, bengali fish curry, chicken tikka masala, vegetable korma, some lamb, some okra, rice, naan, and an apple donut pastry with cardamom ice cream for dessert - everything was really delicious, but the scallops, the fish curry, and the korma were my favorites. And the good news about having all of the food is that you get to eat it all again the next day. :D Hubby did the wine pairings and said they were all spot on.

My only bummer moment was when I saw that they don't do the chicken green masala at West End (Dante said they still have it on the menu at Penn Quarter). I'll have to plan a special visit just for that.

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Very much enjoyed my first visit to Rasika West End Saturday night. The restaurant is beautiful and every member of the team gracious, kind and extremely skilled. While the restaurant was full, I honestly didn't find it to be too loud to hear my companions, even with the birthday party seated with us in the library.

The palak chaat was everything I anticipated and more. I could easily take that to a deserted island with me and be just fine. The lamb chops were incredibly tender and perfectly cooked (medium rare). I left ordering to my hosts, so I'll probably miss something but I know we also enjoyed the honey ginger scallops, mango shrimp, andhra bhindi and chicken tikka masala. Each dish beautifully composed and the flavors so bright and clean. Our evening was topped off by a tour of the kitchen, the opportunity to thank Chef personally for an amazing meal, and a mental note to find a reason to book the chef's table as soon as possible.

Special thanks to Simon for pairing the Storybook Zin and congratulations on your engagement!

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Many thanks to the team at RWE for accommodating our crazy group: called at 6:30 for an 8:30 reservation for 6; called at 7 to push back to 9pm. Ultimately, 8 of us showed up and the team graciously reset the Chef's table. Escorted 7 Indian colleagues who all fell just as much in love with this restaurant as I am.

On this night, the dishes were varied and each plate practically licked clean. More importantly, the venu and service delivered what is not just the best Indian restaurant experience in town, but one of the best restaurant experiences period.

Our West coast CEO insists he will only eat out with me on future visits to DC. Thanks for making me look good gang!

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First visit to West End last night. It is a really great space. We had excellent service...just really polished and professional and warm. I liked the Kerala fish and the lamb Chettinad, but the eggplant side was very sweet. I am going to be a heretic and say I like the food at Bombay Club more, but I love the atmosphere at RWE.

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There are a couple of meals in my life that have been eye-opening. These have been meals where familiar ingredients were presented in new/different ways (first meal at Citronelle), or experiencing a foreign cuisine in a whole new way (Peter Chang at China Gourmet). Our meal at Rasika on Saturday night comes pretty close to falling in the latter category. Paula and I don't have much experience with Indian cuisine, though we have eaten it on several occasions. However, we have been eager to explore it further for some time now. We decided to do the tasting menu, which took the decision-making out of our hands. Some of the highlights of our meal:

Palak Chaat: lived up to the hype. Many different textures in this dish and a wonderful blend of sweet and savory.

Bhindi Amchoor: Sliced okra with dry mango powder. The best okra dish that I have ever had.

Spicy Reshmi Kebab: Minced chicken with a mint/coriander/green chili sauce. The chicken was nicely browned and still remained juicy. The sauce provided a nice contrast to the heat of the chicken.

Mango Shrimp: Nicely cooked shrimp with a nice sweetness from the mango.

Black Cod: Perfectly cooked and absolutely wonderful (though I can't remember much more about it).

The only 'miss' was that the lamb was dry and overcooked; however, the accompanying sauce was able to cover that up. Service was terrific, as our waiter, Manoj, gave us great advice and insight into many of the dishes. I definitely hope to return soon (and find a good Indian restaurant a little closer to home).

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I've been slow to post this but just wanted to give a quick message of "thanks for being good at doing what you do" to the team at Rasika West End. Good service is good because it is effortless. But it deserves recognition. Case in point:

1. On New Year's Eve we had what I believe to be a perfect meal. Great food, flowing booze, and delightful company. This was particularly impressive because it is a tough night in general, we were a big group with a very late reservation that seemed intent on closing the place down and well, a little bit inebriated and boisterous. The staff never flinched and even laughed with us when we noticed the large sculpture of a hand over looking the dining room that may or may not be "the shocker". It was a great night. Thank you.

2. Last Saturday they were completely booked and a table wasn't ready when we arrived for our 9 pm reservation. They suggested we wait in the bar and get a drink. Twenty minutes later and as we ordered our second round of cocktails the manager was very apologetic about the long wait for a table. So he asked if they could comp us a round of drinks or appetizers or dessert. He hoped we would be ok with sitting outside as those tables were available. Then when the slammed bar tender didn't get to closing our tab fast enough he simply took care of it and had us seated. The meal itself was delicious and the service was attentive without being cloying.

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I generally go to the Penn Quarter branch of Rasika for lunch and grab it at the bar. The service is always fantastic and my latest visit was no exception. Surprisingly what was disappointing this time was the food.

We started with the Palak Chaat, a dish that generally ranks along with Marcel's Boudin Blanc and Tom Power's bisques as the best dishes in the city, and it did not disappoint. A bargain? No, but even at $9 a bowl, I cannot help but going back for more.

Unfortunately our other two dishes were not nearly as good. The Seekh Kabob disappointed in both flavor and texture. The only flavor that stuck with me was the spice in the meat and in the mint chutney. Both the meat and the chutney had a very similar heat profile, but were otherwise flavorless. The texture of the meat was of over-processed meatloaf. For $8 I could have done much better at any number of kabob shops in the suburbs.

The Malai Shrimp Curry was a bowl of,turmeric laced bowl of coconut milk that was supposed to complement four farmed shrimp. In reality it only complemented the always well executed naan.

My last few visits to Rasika has shown a steady drop in the quality of the food, not a dramatic shift, but defiantly downward. I hope that they can "right the ship" because when they are on they can put out some of the best tasting dishes in the city, but when they are off they are just a high priced curry house (with insanely good fried spinach).

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Hubby and I had his birthday dinner at Rasika.  We had a lovely evening.  We had some cocktails- Monsoon, GNT and Islayer all were tasty, the monsoon was quite dangerous.  We had the Palaak Chat, potato pattie (I don't remember the name), lamb gosht and shrimp curry and then the toffee pudding oh and the lentils, everything was delicious.  We had truffle naan, chile naan and mint paratha breads.  Service was so professional, as usual.  I can understand why this place is always so booked, the service really is so nice. 

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Hubby and I had his birthday dinner at Rasika.  We had a lovely evening.  ...  Service was so professional, as usual.  I can understand why this place is always so booked, the service really is so nice. 

We celebrated a birthday there recently and an anniversary recently as well and had the same reaction -- really outstanding service that justified the long wait for reservations.  I forget his name, but we also really liked the sommelier here who came up with good pairings for us on both occasions and is having fun sharing some older and interesting stuff thanks to his new coravin toy.

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I went there for the first time this week for lunch with my business partner who is Indian and tells me that he is a 'frequent flyer' there (His wife and the restaurant manager come from the same town). I told him I was bored with our usual Indian lunch spot, Jaipur in Fairfax, so he suggested we go to Raiska for a long, leisurely lunch.

We had a combination of small plates and finished up with a biryani. The flavors were sublime and every dish was refined and excellent. The food was not as spicy as I am used to except for the mint and coriander chutney which was hotter than most I have been served at local Indian restaurants. Among the standouts were the spinach appetizer , the shrimp curry and the biryani.

I liked the place so much we are planning to go back with our wives the next time we get together for dinner.

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Rasika was surprisingly empty last Saturday night at 8pm, which is to say you could move easily through the space and seating appeared available in the bar and restaurant alike. I only mention it because I've never seen it not packed to bursting. Anyway, another delicious meal that doesn't stray from the other 200 posts made here, so no need to re-hash it. Two items of note: [1] they've removed my favorite item, lamb roganjosh, from the menu (oh well, there's plenty other relishes dishes to be had); and [2] portions seemed much larger than I remembered it (it's the first time I've ever left with leftovers).

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Oh Rasika, how I love thee.  What can you say about a restaurant that never disappoints...that combines gracious service with consistently exquisitely executed cuisine...that never fails to find a seat for a frequent customer who "pops" in without reservations...and that allows locals to believe that DC, not NY, not SF, not LA is the epicenter of refined restaurant culture?

Go  Eat  Believe

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Too lazy for pictures right now, so just a short report.

We went to the West End location, mainly because we did not want to schedule months in advance to get a decent hour Saturday night reservation.

I like the space, but the bar area gets crowded and there is no obvious way to depart when the place gets hopping.  Nice hum to the room but not too, too loud.  Good service all around, had fun with the server and the sommelier as well. The Grí¼ner Veltliner we had was tasty, but overpriced (but allowed for an easier decision for another bottle...). The cocktails were...mixed. 2 out of 3 were good, one of them very. One drink was kind of a dud.

Food was all in all very good. Here's what we tried --

Palak Chat - I have only ever had this one, at the PQ location. This was very good, but I think the PQ version, even if identical, was better served.

Mango Shrimp - really great. It's so easy to screw up shrimp and they nailed it. The dipping sauce was super, and we dunked breads from the bread basket we got in to it. Mmmm

Foie gras galouti - This was very good to me, but my wife and our friend were not as enamored of it as I was. The texture was odd, but delicious. I would not call it a wow dish, and there are many other things on the menu to start that probably deliver equal or better tastiness for cheaper.

Tawa Baingan - really delicious. I wanted to steal more of this to try but I did not order it. haha

Duck Salli - Delicious and I'd be happy to order it, but this was the weakest of the three dishes.

Dum Ka Lobster was a wonderful presentation and delicious. The lobster itself provided for mere texture to counterpoint the broth/sauce (kind of a mix between a seafood stew base and a curry). I could drink a vat of the sauce and gladly let out a loud burp afterwards.

Black Cod - Excellent. The preparation of the fish was nailed perfectly. The peanut quinoa was a little odd at first, just visually, but delicious and even more so when combined with a bit of the fish. Really Good.

Date and toffee pudding was very good.

Strawberry Rasmalai - good, but not great

Chocolate samosa - very nice, but marred IMO by the drizzled berry coulis underneath. I am quibbling and I am sure it was meant to cut through the richness of the dessert, I just thought it was a bit heavy handed.

All in all a great meal. Very comfortable chairs, btw. Also, the valet is easy peasy and you can get the restaurant to put it on your bill, which is handy if you're out of cash.

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Too lazy for pictures right now, so just a short report.

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Black Cod - Excellent. The preparation of the fish was nailed perfectly. The peanut quinoa was a little odd at first, just visually, but delicious and even more so when combined with a bit of the fish. Really Good.

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Have you recently or ever had the black cod (aka sablefish) dish at Proof? Comparing that one to the PQ version led to one of my first "incidents" (:-)) on this site several years ago, quite awhile before Rasika West End and back when Mark Kuller (RIP) was such a great presence at Proof.

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Have you recently or ever had the black cod (aka sablefish) dish at Proof? Comparing that one to the PQ version led to one of my first "incidents" (:-)) on this site several years ago, quite awhile before Rasika West End and back when Mark Kuller (RIP) was such a great presence at Proof.

Not sure I did ever have it at Proof. But oh how I love Proof too.

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the lead up to mothers day's was full of angst und drang: every place we could get a reservation met with moans from one member of the party or another. I finally threw in the towel and said "let's just meet at the rasika west end bar at 6pm" despite the fact that they were completely booked. I'd been hoping the patio would be open, but it was threatening to storm so they weren't serving out there.

We hung out at the bar for a while (basically long enough to get a cocktail) and then the exceedingly nice manager approached and offered us a table if we thought we could vacate it before 8pm. We enthusiastically agreed.

Two orders each of the palak chaat and tikka masala and garlic naan, because we're bad at sharing. the black cod. lamb biryani. a bread basket. some lovely cocktails all around. carrot halwa, gulab jamun, and a very pleasant coconut dessert rounded out the meal. parental harmony restored, and we were out at the car by 7:50pm. I really should go more often than once a year.

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My professional mentor was in town to give a lecture at a conference, and said that in return for the years spent training me, I was to take him to one of the finest restaurants in DC. Fair trade! Decided on Sunday Brunch at Rasika West End, and made the reservation a month ago. We invited another rising star in the field and his wife, who were from Bombay but now lived in Baltimore.

We got there at 12pm, when it opened, and the restaurant filled up quite quickly, but there was still open tables. This location is overall less busier than the Penn Quarter one. I got a latte, others got the masala chai, and the ginger limeade.

The menu is super interesting. It truly had things on it that my parents make for weekend meals that I have never, ever seen on a menu stateside. We started with the Besan Ka Chilla, Palak Chaat, and Malai Chicken Tikka. Besan is gram flour, and this dish is a flat, pancake-ish snack that goes great with chai. Its less cakey than a pancake, though, flatter and a little crispy almost. This was a great version of it. The Palak Chaat is still fantastic, and the other 3 guests had not had it before, so it was fun to see them say things ilke "I've never had spinach that have tasted like that." It really is a special thing we have here. The malai chicken tikka was a creamy chicken curry, it has cheddar and mozzarella in it. Unique. Didn't love it.

For entrees, we shared three dishes. Pao bhaji, which is essentially an Indian sloppy joe. It's potatoes, peas, onions, and spices (bhaji = vegetables) served with buttered bread (pao = bread). It is one of my favorite things to eat, and mom makes it great, but it's best at Juhu beach or on the street is every Gujarati town. Theirs was very good, but not the largest portion. This is a dish that has very cheap ingredients, we could feed 20 people for $10 worth of ingredients. Anyway, it's a good "memory" dish, because so many dinner parties, birthday parties, and large family events center around this favorite meal, which again, you hardly ever see on a menu (at least in DC area; you can definitely get it on Devon in Chicago, some places in Metro Detroit, and some of the Indian street food places that are popping up hipster cities). The second dish was one of the "Sunday Curries", vegetable rassa. This wasn't super interesting to me, but it got eaten up quite quickly. The last entree was the Chicken Green Masala. Super cool, it was a green curry, with cilantro and cardamom, and green chili peppers. Had a great bite to it, and cilantro made it taste very fresh. I enjoyed that.

There are a lot of other cool things on the menu - Gujarati dokla (spicy lentil based cake), kedgeree (a modified version of kichdi or kichidi, a rice/daal based dish), shrikand (a spiced thick custard like yogurt), kathi rolls, and egg based dishes. Many of these have so much sentimental value to me, and I can't wait to take my folks here.

Really neat experience. I'm happy to see some of the less commonly seen dishes that are quite commonly eaten in Indian households are making it onto menus.

S

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My wife and I went to Rasika West End for the first time last week before seeing Book of Mormon at the Kennedy Center. I highly recommend both, in that order!

Google maps predicted it was a 15 minute walk from the Foggy Bottom metro to Rasika West End and we made it in 14 which is only significant because by minute number 15 it was pouring out. Our reservation was for 5:45 (I couldn't get a table at the earliest seating of 5:30) but we got there at around 5:25 and there were already a dozen or more people waiting. We went to the bar and ordered a "glass" of wine. Actually, it was two half glasses of the two different Rosés they offer. Pretty cool deal, but the spiced popcorn they offered kind of blew out my taste buds for a bit.

We got seated almost 10 minutes early and had our order placed by 5:47. We told our waiter up front that we had a show to see at 7:30 and we were walking so we wanted to leave a little before 7. He was very appreciative to get this news at the beginning of the meal and not in the middle or at the end and made a point to thanks us, a couple of different times for letting him know so early.

Speaking of the waiter, he was awesome. A perfect mix of knowledgeable and professional, without any stuffiness or pretense, but also not too casual for the room. He fully endorsed a couple of our choices and helped us pick a few more. I wish I got his name so I could give him a shout out"¦"¦.white guy, dark hair on the tall side!  And as I mentioned in another thread, he had the perfect answer when we asked some question that I don't even remember now. His answer was, "Sure we can do that. We can do whatever you like." A tiny little statement like that stands out in my mind nearly as much as the food does! Great service to accompany the great food.

The room itself was very cool and hip and it almost felt if we were in LA or someplace. I'm not sure why I say that because I've never eaten in LA, but it didn't seem like a DC place. It certaintly didn't seem at all like the original Rasika. It was very bright and covered with floor to ceiling windows and had this artsy, geometric sculpture in the middle of the room that extended up to, and became part of the ceiling. I think the real purpose what to hide a support column, but it was much cooler than looking a boring column.

For the food, we weren't ready to move beyond the Palak Chaat $11 and Black Cod $28 so those were definite picks. Both were as good as they ever were and truly not to be missed. The texture of the Black Cod was so amazing we had to ask how they do it, and our waiter said they slow cook it for around 25 minutes under low heat in a salamander. I may have to get one of those things!!

We also had two more appetizer type dishes, the Foie Gras Galouti (Smoked lamb /cashew nuts / saffron / tawa paratha) $12 and the Tawa Baingan (Eggplant / spiced potato / olive oil / peanut sauce) $9. The eggplant dish was a layered tower of eggplant slices and potato with some chopped up stuff on the top and a sauce on the bottom. (this dish, the Palak Chaat and the Black Cod were our waiters three favorite dishes). The Foie Gras Galouti looked like little hamburger patties (lamb burger) on some flat bread. The meat was crazily tender and you could "chew it" with your tongue. It felt like tartare.

The final entrée was my least favorite dish of the night and the one that reminded most of "Indian food" which in most instances, I'm not a fan of. I should say I'm not a fan of most of the Indian food I've been exposed to. Anyhow, our waiter asked us if we've ever had Chicken Tikka Masala $17 and we said no. He said it was one their most popular dishes so we went for it. Turns out, we had had it before at the Penn Quarter location during a tasting menu. The dish itself was fine, but it didn't wow me like the others. It was the most normal and least interesting dish we had and the only one that reminded me of (my version) of "Indian food". The sauce was complex with lots of subtle flavors happening but to my uneducated palate, it just tasted like chunks of chicken in a red sauce with Indian spices. There was nothing wrong with it (the meat may have been a touch on the dry side) but it just didn't wow me like the rest.

We finished with the Chocolate Samosa "“ Mocha Ice Cream dessert $9 and a couple French press coffees and we waddled out the door to the Kennedy Center. Google maps says it's 30 minutes on foot and that was pretty accurate, but we were moving pretty fast. If you have any kind of physical issue or can't walk fast, leave yourself more time!

The show was hilarious and entertaining as hell, but also raunchy, dirty, vulgar and gross"¦"¦a perfect combo!  Great meal, great show.

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Kichdi is dal and rice and spices. Sometimes made with yoghurt, too. Sometimes you add khadi to it (yogurt based gravy). Indian risotto... but not really. It's a soft dish, and it is sort of risotto-ish in texture. It's what you eat on Saturday afternoon, or your mom makes it for you when you have a tummy-ache, and I bet it's good for a hangover. It's one of my dad's favorite foods. When he married my mom, she made it for him, and hours later they found out an acquaintance died. The second time she made it, a distant relative died that same day. My dad forbade it to be made in his house, and he could only get it at other people's houses.

Toastie is a spiced grilled cheese sandwich that's made in one of those old sandwich makers that makes it into two triangles. Yup, another Saturday afternoon lunch, eaten with spicy tomato soup while watching Michigan football.

Potato pattice ... always wondered about the spelling. It's a potato patty! I always though my parents just couldn't pronounce "patties". Like a tiny latke, but not shredded potato, it's mashed, and fried and topped with various things - tamarind sauce, onions, cilantro sauce, chickpeas, sev. Delicious. Ragda is a type of pattice that uses this sauce made out of these peas that are not green peas. I think it's a white pea?

Poha is flattened rice (sort of like a dried out rice flakes, you can get it at an Indian grocery), onions, spices, and usually potatoes. Mom puts peanuts on it, sometimes. It's soft, and has a unique texture, sort of like soft, separated grits. I'm guessing this dish has crab added to it, which sounds very odd, but possibly very good.

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pattice - Indian street food breakfast item, sort of an Indian potato patty.  It's part of the chaat style dishes so I would imagine it would be drizzled with tamarind and cilantro sauces.

poha - is dehydrated flattened rice.  The rice is re-hydrated and usually stir fried with spices and other ingredients, which in this case I would imagine would be lumps of crab meat.  Poha is a typical Indian breakfast dish.

Khichdi - is typically a seasoned rice and dhal dish.  Kurkuri usually means crispy, so not really sure how this one would work.  Only one way to find out!  

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Kichdi is dal and rice and spices. Sometimes made with yoghurt, too. Sometimes you add khadi to it (yogurt based gravy). Indian risotto... but not really. It's a soft dish, and it is sort of risotto-ish in texture. It's what you eat on Saturday afternoon, or your mom makes it for you when you have a tummy-ache, and I bet it's good for a hangover. It's one of my dad's favorite foods. When he married my mom, she made it for him, and hours later they found out an acquaintance died. The second time she made it, a distant relative died that same day. My dad forbade it to be made in his house, and he could only get it at other people's houses.

Toastie is a spiced grilled cheese sandwich that's made in one of those old sandwich makers that makes it into two triangles. Yup, another Saturday afternoon lunch, eaten with spicy tomato soup while watching Michigan football.

Khichdi is also eaten as one enters the ascetic phase of life without spices or favorable tastes such as onions or garlic.

Toastie does sound like the spiced grilled cheese sandwiches and my relatives would dip them into ketchup.

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The more interesting question that arises from this conversation is how places like Rasika, while good for what the restaurant represents, falls outside their terroir and thus outside a certain kind of quality. 

I believe that if it weren't for Tom, Rasika would be no more popular than any other good restaurant in town - never in the history of DC has one person so single-handedly made a restaurant. Until my dying day, I will never understand his love for Rasika and Jaleo. We generally agree on things, or are at least in the same ballpark; with these two, we're so far apart that I can't reconcile the differences, and have stopped trying to.

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Totally agree. I love the place. I just don't understand how it makes it in the 1 - 5 list every year. Wonder if I'm missing something, too. I think based on this place alone, he starts the Washington DC/Food cities article with "A surprise only to those who haven't tried it, the finest Indian food in the country seduce with its spices in a city that's home to just over 650,000 residents".  How is that even for real? You go to Devon Ave in Chicago, and you have 5 places within a city block that are better than most of the places in town here. It's very strange. 

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