Depends on your mood. I might give the edge to Heritage on food, but the service can be annoying, the room is kind of meh and it's more of a neighborhood crowd. Rasika is a much hipper, high-energy joint (though with enough restraint that one can hear one's dining partner speak) with odd specialty drinks and people in cool shoes. If you want to relax and catch up, Heritage might be a better fit. If you want a "night out" I'd do Rasika.

I went here for the first time a couple nights ago. It was very good, but not exactly "authentic." For that I'd head to Passage to India in Bethesda.

Though Rasika does have some nice cocktails. The Cucumber Basil Rickey is my new favorite drink...

My brother and I went to Rasika last Friday and ordered the six-course tasting menu (one veg, one regular per the waiter's suggestion). Frankly, we were blown away. While I cannot recall all of the dishes that we tried, some of the highlights were:

--Fried spinach chaat
--Banana-wrapped tilapia in a tasty green sauce
--Honey-marinated black cod with star anise and dill (omg omg)
--Eggplant curry

I liked all of the curries frankly. But in the end the whole meal blurred into one delicious delectable whole and the service was great. We came away with a $193 bill before tip but it was well worth the money. I'd go back there in a second for another special occasion.

rob

Getting a late start on Saturday night (9:45pm), we were able to secure two seats at the bar after just a few minutes. Even at that time, the wait for a table was nearly an hour! Not to worry though, we were well-cared for and well-fed by the very capable bartender.

We ordered quite a few items - probably too many, but we really enjoyed almost all of them. They included:
Calamari Chili Garlic - tender rings of calamari, gently cooked with a well-balanced mix of sweet and spice.
Spicy Reshmi Kebab - Great flavor, with a nice kick (as would be expected) from the green chili.
Palak Chaat - a fun dish, described many times. I'm glad we tried it, but I'll try something new next time.
Chicken Green Masala - The favorite of the night, with bright flavors of mint and coriander enrobing the tender chunks of chicken.
Mixed Grill - Salmon, Chicken Tikka, and Seekh (lamb) Kebab - the salmon was the one miss of the night, mushy and without any distinct seasoning. Seekh Kebab was another good one - the flavor of the lamb shone through the garam masala seasoning.
Dal Makhani - I really like this - a fairly thick dal with kidney beans to complement the lentils. The +1, not so much, but that just meant more for me
Vegetable Moilee - This was a lovely dish - a far cry from the mixed veg curries you often see. No frozen peas and carrots here. Rather, precisely julienned carrots, zucchini, and carefully trimmed haricots verts, along with other seasonal bites, all coated in a delicate sauce of ginger, chili, coconut milk, and other seasonings.

The Blood Orange Margarita and... a green chili mango (?) cocktail (I've forgotten the specifics, but it was good and spicy) stood up to the flavors of the food, with the fruit taking the edge off some of the hotter bites.

A nice evening out and a refreshing change from our usual haunts on the 'other' side of the river.

So much for trying something different. Instead of the awesome black cod, I ordered the fish manga. For some reason, spicy and seafood don't mix well for me. Also, I normally LOVE fish with strong flavors but this was a bit too much.

Thankfully, everything else about the meal (palak chaat, dal makhani, gobhi mattar, and ragda patties) was spot-on.

My first experience with both the black cod and the palak chaat were during Restaurant Week two years ago, and it made me a fan on the spot.