13 replies to this topic

[Tujague]

Is Cervera's oyster bar concept also slated for 8th Street?

Yes, it's going in the former veterinary clinic near the Belga; it will be called Senart's Oyster House, after an old ghost mural that is painted on the outside wall of the building.

[leleboo]

It it's oysters he wants I'm pretty sure Senarts (I think that's the name), the new oyster bar on 8th, has opened.

Really? Because I cannot wait to try it; not that it will be awesome, but if it comes even close, I will be over the moon.

[Pat]

According to the bartender today, they officially opened last Thursday evening. I wandered in for a late lunch and got the 1/2 price raw bar specials this afternoon. They appear to be going one up on Old Ebbitt, running this everyday, 3-6PM and 11PM-1AM. I loved the space. Xavier has really been perfecting his style. This is the first time I've sat on one of his bar stools and didn't feel like I was climbing onto an adult's chair. The space looks similar to his others but lighter and more refined (the way that Chesapeake Room is more refined than Lola's and Molly's). The place has a nice feel. They were playing what I would consider jazzy, Big Band music, including Sinatra. The only design issue I see being a problem (which is one they can't do anything about) is that the bathrooms are at the very back of the place, down a narrow hallway, past the kitchen and storage and prep areas.

Service was just about perfect, at 3:30 on a Wednesday afternoon, in a surprisingly crowded establishment. I ordered half a dozen oysters (half Hog Island from Va and half from Chincoteague), a shrimp cocktail, and onion rings. I watched the oysters and shrimp be prepped at the bar. As they came out, I figured my onion rings would be brought later. At just that moment, someone arrived at my right elbow with the onion rings. Impressive orchestration.

This is just about my favorite "I don't care what anyone thinks, this is what I'm ordering" meal, and it didn't disappoint. The shrimp were amazing--plump, meaty, and sweet. I asked the bartender, and he said that they were from Ecuador. They came with a red cocktail sauce and a spicy tartar sauce. I ended up using a lot of the tartar sauce on the onions because I thought the marie rose sauce that came with them was a bit bland. The onion rings themselves need some tweaking. While they tasted good, the batter was falling off of them. My oysters were good but had some grit. The shrimp were the clear winners.

The prices on the print menu differ some from the website. I didn't note everything, but the oysters are $13/half doz., not $12, and 4 pieces of shrimp were $12, not $10.

[leleboo]

The happy hour raw bar isn't quite half price -- the online menu says that, but the printed one doesn't, and the prices bear out the latter -- but a dozen oysters for $16 works for me. My friend and I arrived at 5:35 and her comment was, "Doesn't anyone in this town work?" The place was *packed* -- we barely got two seats together at the bar, and the bar runs both sides of the length of the restaurant.

The oysters tonight were all local, Virginia and Delaware. My friend and I did six Chincoteague and six Great Bay, and we quite liked both. The red wine mignonette is actually lovely, not nearly as overwhelming as a "red wine" mignonette sounds; my friend loved the spicy cocktail sauce, which I didn't try as I can't abide cocktail sauce on oysters. It took quite a while for our dozen to arrive, but in part that's because there are three or four guys behind the bar shucking everything to order, and during that discount raw bar, they couldn't even remotely keep up with the pace of the orders. I can't fault them -- this place is going through shellfish to beat the band, but with oysters that fresh and lovely, I'll deal, at least for now.

We had intended to share the oysters with my friend's husband, but he failed to appear before the oysters were gone (how did that happen?) so he got a dozen for himself as we moved on to some more food. My friend had the cheese plate, which came with four cheeses, quite decent sized chunks, and good accoutrements -- crispy toasts, olives, cornichons, and some fruit confits, it appeared (I didn't partake, nor did I hear if she was given a description of the cheeses). She also got the onion rings, which were really fantastic. I often find onion rings to be just a lot of heavy batter, but this was a light, perfectly fried batter, with good seasoning including fresh herbs. Not at all greasy, these were completely habit-forming. Finally, she and her husband got the side of seasonal vegetables, which were the same as the veggies with my daily fish special of seared salmon. Whoever's doing the veg has the timing down; each component was cooked just right (haricots verts, young asparagus, young carrots, and various mushrooms) in a delicious butter sauce. I forgot to ask the provenance of the salmon, which I regret, but it too was cooked exactly to temperature, so it had a crispy skin and was just creamy enough internally, and seasoned very nicely without relying overly on salt.

The service needs some help; the bar is almost by default a crowded area, being so long and narrow, and the full-service along the back wall of the bar can't seem to get straight who's dealing with whom. Perhaps they have a flexible service arrangement on their end (multiple servers helping each party) but it makes it tough to know whom to flag down when you need something else. Also, and this is purely selfish and probably a slash against the bottom line, but it'd be nice if the cheap raw bar went until 7, or 6:30. Just sayin'.

Really glad to have Senart's in the neighborhood. My friend announced, "This is my new favorite neighborhood place" and I can't really come up with any reason to disagree.

[Pat]

The happy hour raw bar isn't quite half price -- the online menu says that, but the printed one doesn't, and the prices bear out the latter -- but a dozen oysters for $16 works for me.

It looks like the pricing has changed again. When I was there, 1/2 dozen oysters cost $6.50, and that was half of the price that was listed on the printed menu. The standard charge had gone up $1 from what was online, but it was all proportional (i.e, the happy hour charge was "half price"). Looking at the online menu, I see what you mean about the pricing for full price and half price. It's up to $9 for 1/2 dozen oysters now during happy hour, though the regular price of $13 is the same as what was on the printed menu last time I was there. $9 is not half of $13 and $16 is not half of $26. Maybe they ought to rename the deal.

[leleboo]

It looks like the pricing has changed again. When I was there, 1/2 dozen oysters cost $6.50, and that was half of the price that was listed on the printed menu. The standard charge had gone up $1 from what was online, but it was all proportional (i.e, the happy hour charge was "half price"). Looking at the online menu, I see what you mean about the pricing for full price and half price. It's up to $9 for 1/2 dozen oysters now during happy hour, though the regular price of $13 is the same as what was on the printed menu last time I was there. $9 is not half of $13 and $16 is not half of $26. Maybe they ought to rename the deal.

Exactly -- the print menu no longer says "half-price" but merely notes "happy hour" pricing -- but online, it still says "half-price" (even though the numbers listed are not half the full price). It's just an editing glitch, but I tend to notice those, given that I'm an editor.

[Banco]

I've been to Senart's quite a few times now, always at the bar, and have found their oysters to be some of the best I've had in the city. They usually have some Washington State or British Columbia selections, to which I am partial because of their briny sweetness and firm texture. The few entrees I've had have been good as well, especially an Amberjack I had recently that was perfectly prepared and carefully garnished despite the place being absolutely slammed. I was puzzled, therefore, to read Sietsema's First Bite in today's Post, where, after spending over half his word count on the decor, he complains of "scrawny oysters" and asks "where's the heat?" in the "G-rated steak tartare." I guess TS prefers the gloppy local oysters, but since when is a steak tartare supposed to have "heat"? I found this whole review strange and off-balance.

[chiefdc]

I've been to Senart's quite a few times now, always at the bar, and have found their oysters to be some of the best I've had in the city. They usually have some Washington State or British Columbia selections, to which I am partial because of their briny sweetness and firm texture. The few entrees I've had have been good as well, especially an Amberjack I had recently that was perfectly prepared and carefully garnished despite the place being absolutely slammed. I was puzzled, therefore, to read Sietsema's First Bite in today's Post, where, after spending over half his word count on the decor, he complains of "scrawny oysters" and asks "where's the heat?" in the "G-rated steak tartare." I guess TS prefers the gloppy local oysters, but since when is a steak tartare supposed to have "heat"? I found this whole review strange and off-balance.

Honestly, I've found Sietsema's (and Kliman's!) reviews to be curmudgeonly and subpar recently. He seems to hate noise in restaurants and it seems to color his reviews of places. I may be in the decided minority, but I'm craving new blood. I actually think Tim Carman would be a superb replacement. He digs in more, and writes some really fascinating columns. Sometimes Sietsema reminds me more of the snooty reviewer from Ratatouille.

Sorry if this is a bit off-topic. It's just that I've disagreed with most of Sietsema's recent reviews in one way or another.

[Pat]

Some friends and I got brunch at Senart's over the weekend. The service was generally very good. We arrived at different times, put orders in at different times, lingered for a good while, and everything was handled well. I don't know why Tom Sietsema has had such problems with the service there, but when I've gone, service has ranged from good to excellent.

The brunch menu is rather extensive and includes raw bar items, which didn't appeal to me so early in the day. I ordered the Sliced Blackened Prime Rib Sandwich Caramelized Onions, Cheddar Cheese, Tomato & Dijon Mayonnaise. Steakhouse Fries or Salad $13. I believe Todd Kliman recommended this in one of his chats. (Somebody recommended it somewhere ). I liked the ingredients and the way it tasted, but it was very messy. I'm not sure that a ciabatta roll is the best vehicle for this, but I don't know what I'd recommend instead. I finally resorted to trying to cut it with a knife and fork, but that didn't work too well either. After hemming and hawing I got the fries instead of the salad. They were good enough, but I tend to like thin fries and not as much the steakhouse kind. I thought this was a decent value for the price. Iced tea (with numerous refills) was $3, which was perfectly reasonable.

Two of our party got the Lobster Omelet Lobster, Grilled Spring Onions & Brie with Shellfish Cream. Served with Hash Browns & Fresh Fruit $13. The description on the actual menu was somewhat different. I know it specified creme fraiche, but that may be a tweaking of the seafood cream. They both liked the omelet and ate everything on their plates. (I was the only one to leave anything on my plate, actually.) The only complaint was that the "hash browns" were the cubed "home fries" kind rather than the shredded, cooked-into-a patty-kind, which is what they expected. Surf & Turf Breakfast Seared Hanger Steak, Grilled Shrimp, North Carolina Cheddar Cheese Grits, Roasted Tomato & Red Eye Gravy $16 was the other order and evaluated as "okay." The server explained that they make the gravy from the bones and remnants of all different kinds of meat. She didn't mention coffee, which I thought was usually a component, but then I didn't ask if was an ingredient either.

We had an enjoyable time and did not feel rushed at all, even when it started to fill up after we had been there a while. We sat inside and most people seemed to have opted for tables outside, so it took a while to fill the inside tables.

[leleboo]

I've been to Senart's several more times without writing anything, because it sort of seemed like, why should I? Solid oysters on the half-shell at good prices during happy hour, a great hanger steak with the incredible onion rings; a decent wine list, good craft cocktails...Frankly, in my usual way, I don't want to tell everyone about it, because it's really good and consistent and it's my neighborhood place and I don't want it overrun with everyone on the planet.

Which it would be, if word got out. $8/$16 for a half/dozen oysters at happy hour, well-shucked and with a great red-wine mignonette or a solid cocktail sauce, which also accompanies the jumbo shrimp cocktail -- holy moly are these shrimp good, by the way; they must be poached in court bouillon or something wonderful for all the flavor they have even without the cocktail sauce or the horseradish sauce, and I often find super-large shrimp tough and tasteless, but these were lovely and sweet -- that hanger steak, which really has no right to be as good as it is, and the onion rings, which are even better ... I don't want more people to know how solid Senart's is because it's crowded enough with us Hill residents already, and I like being able to get a seat when I show up, even (especially) on a Saturday.

I know 8th Street gets some flack from people for being a row of sell-outs; I know there's some local disappointment with the transformation of the strip into nothing *but* bars and restaurants. I get that, and I don't disagree. But then you get something hitting all the right notes, like Senart's, and you are thankful that you can get things like that a mere stumble from home.

(I write this, by the way, with Frodo caught in Shelob's web on my TV, which normally would block all thought of food from my mind as I cringe in arachnophobic horror at what I know is to come. That is a large fuckin' spider. And I'm still writing. Take that for what you will.)

[darkstar965]

First visit to Senart's today with a friend driven by the enthusiastic posts here. Will Never Forget It. Forevermore, Senart's will be my answer to the question "Where were you when the biggest earthquake in DC history struck?"

Pre earthquake, we enjoyed it and had:

- a dozen WA and BC oysters ($26 at regular, non-happy-hour prices): pretty good. one or two of the varieties were a bit creamier/grittier than ideal but, overall, they were good.

- mixed green salad ($6): simple, fresh, nice mustard vinaigrette

- special NC pulled pork sandwich ($13): my friend had this and didn't love it. He said it was "kind of dry" and nothing special.

- seafood lasagna ($18): ordered this because the waitress seemed genuinely enthused about it and it seemed like a real, on-menu special for which the place is known (?). Mixed bag. nice shrimp, calamari and maybe a scallop or two? Sauce was fine. Pasta in the middle of the plate with a round centerpiece that was very tough, difficult to cut through and very starchy. At the price, probably wouldn't order this again.

- carrot cake ($7): my friend ordered this and I didn't try it. He seemd to enjoy it and finished it off.

- espresso (?): didn't realize 'till later that I wasn't charged for this espresso, which was fine but unremarkable. Probably due to the earthquake which, for the record, hit as I was about 2/3 done with my single espresso.

Service was maybe a bit too attentive but I'll take that over being ignored any day. Our waitress was very nice and everyone bonded a bit going through the 5.8 (or was it 5.9) together.

[Pat]

A friend and I had a little holiday damn-the-cost get together at Senart's. They've extended the raw bar happy hour (back?) to 6:30. The web site still says 6 PM, and the bartendress said that it had changed within the past week or so. We managed to consume 2 1/2 dozen oysters, 6 clams, 8 shrimp, a whole lobster, and an order of onion rings. (Onion rings don't have a happy hour discount, but everything else did.) I know leeleeboo loves these onion rings and they were very good, but I don't think they were any better than the ones at Tunnicliff's down the street. They serve them with what is basically the same marie rose sauce too.

The shrimp continue to be fantastic. Xavier told me a while back that they make them with a mirepoix that is turned into a poaching liquid. I forgot the exact ingredients he mentioned by now, but these are some extraordinary shrimp. When I go there, I feel like I should be ordering oysters, but I always have to get some shrimp.

I tended to like the thicker sauces more than the mignonette/vinaigrette sauces, but everything was good. I was surprised it wasn't more crowded than it was, especially during happy hour.

My friend had a couple of glasses of wine and I had a couple of beers. Everything was just fine and it was great for us to be able to catch up with each other. The service was great at the beginning and started to decline. It was hard to find someone to pay when we wanted to leave. Maybe they just sensed that we were there to socialize or something, but it did begin to get annoying that we couldn't find anyone to pay. My friend directly asked the hostess about getting a check and she totally blew us off.

[DCDuck]

My wife and I hit this place up while en route to another gathering this past weekend. While we weren't able to give the place a full, legitimate shot, we were both impressed. Granted, this may be because our expectations were lowered by the owner's other establishments, but I'd say those biases were more than offset by my excitement towards oysters, chops and booze. The oysters and clams were fantastic, and served properly. The steak tartare was only ok. The pork chop was outstanding, very juicy and flavorful, served over polenta with brussel sprouts. The wine list was solid, and the bartender, who served us, was excellent. We will definitely be back sometime soon.

[Pat]

Senart's continues to be my favorite of the Cervera empire. My husband and I stopped in last night on our way back from the Nats game. We had tried Matchbox first and there was a half an hour wait onto the sidewalk. Senart's was my second choice, and since most of the places along Barracks Row looked pretty busy as we walked past, I thought it would be more crowded than it was (it was a little before 7 PM). The patio was full and the bar was largely full, so I asked how long a wait was for a table, and it turned out all of the tables in the back were unoccupied. (Two more of them filled up with parties of 4-6) during the time we were there.) I'm wondering if this is because he's so much of his own competition in the area. At some point, he can't pack all of his places full.

In any case, we had an enjoyable meal. I ordered two appetizers and a side, and my husband ordered an appetizer and an entree. His entree and appetizer and one of my appetizers were specials. I ordered shrimp cocktail ($12 for 4) because I always do and onion rings (because I usually do) to start ($7). The onion rings are back to being a little flakier than they were, but not falling apart flaky as they were the first time I had them. They've gone from being good to better than good. The presentation has also gotten a little fancier.

My husband really liked the tomato soup with truffle cream special ($9). The taste I had was delicious, but I didn't take much since it was a fairly small serving--a noticeably (to both of us) small serving. He got the flounder special ($24) which came with crabmeat and Moroccan spicing (had currants, cherry tomatoes, cumin and probably some other things I don't recall.) He enjoyed it and the bite of the fish I had was well-prepared. He cleaned his plate with no problem, but his entree portion of fish was only a teeny bit larger than the appetizer I ordered as a main: small lamb chops with spinach and mushrooms.

The lamb appetizer was my favorite part of the meal. They were just the slightest bit over salted; 3 of the 4 were cooked perfectly rare/medium rare, while one was medium. There was a slight hint of gaminess, which was fine with me. I love the taste of lamb. The sauteed spinach with onions and mushrooms that formed a bed underneath was just what I wanted. It all worked together really well and was a great deal to boot.

I was having trouble figuring out what cut the lamb chops were. They were indeed small, but there were 4 of them. Their size and shape were a bit puzzling. At first I thought rib chops, but the bone didn't seem to be in the right place for that and they were cut off. Then I thought loin chops sliced very thin, but that didn't seem right either. My husband thought they were chops cut in half which made me wonder if they were shoulder chops, since they were slightly tough to cut (but not in a deal-breaking way), the bone was in the right place, and the appetizer was cheap for that much lamb ($14). Finally, on the way out I asked the chef. (I assume he was the chef. I know the previous chef moved to Boxcar when it opened. I guess I should have asked but he was in chef's whites and seemed very authoritative and knowledgeable.) He said they were a small shoulder chop that they can buy the ends of. That solved the dilemma. I was encouraging him to put them on the regular menu, and he had already been considering it.