ALargeFarva

I would call them and ask. I haven't tried it myself. But, the weeknight I was there were certainly plenty of empty tables, provided that they allow that. Granted, it was about 20 degrees outside so you may have a different experience in the summer.

Went to Eventide on Friday for dinner. I've been under previous chefs and it was a decent place -- nothing remarkable, but fine. I hadn't been in a couple years and I forgot how great of a space the dining room is. It's a very warm and cozy space with couches acting as booths, but it's also a very distinct space with exposed brick walls, 20+ foot ceilings with 20+ foot drapes to match, and a massive rustic chandelier. It's one of the most unique spaces around DC. A great place for a date. My fiancee and I "split" the oyster soup with country ham, green onions, potatoes and celery; beet and pickled egg with radishes, pecans, bleu cheese, pomegranate and orange hibiscus gelee, scallop and fried artichoke with an interesting black garlic aioli, the lobster roll salad, and the strawberry polenta cake. All were very well thought out, well prepared, everything was well seasoned and the sauces were both good and complemented the dishes well. I think my favorite was probably the oyster soup but they were all very good. I live within walking distance so I'll be back but I'd make the drive even if I didn't live nearby.

The person who mentioned above that something always seems to change is right. I've been to Ray's the Steaks probably 30 or 40 times. On my most recent trip, I noticed several things that I would characterize as "not as good as before": There must be a lot of turnover because I didn't recognize a single person there. There were fewer managers walking around and I wasn't able to identify a sommelier in the building (there may have been one, but they're usually pretty easy to spot). In addition, our service was somewhere between subpar and mediocre. They were also considerably less busy than they used to be. I remember times on a Saturday where I'd walk up at 9 pm, get put on a waitlist and wouldn't get seated until after 11 pm. On my most recent trip, they were pretty much "dead" by 9:30 or 10. Despite not being very old, the place is showing its age. The most noticeable thing was carpet near the entrance that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years. This would have suited the old space well because it was a hole in the wall (and proud of it). And it probably would have been in the dining scene of a few years ago, but there's too much competition now. Michael Landrum used to be lauded as an eccentric but brilliant restauranteur but, with his constant changing of menus, failure to launch of Ray's the Catch, selling Ray's the Classics, closing Hell Burger and Hell Burger Too, opening and closing Nice n Greasy Steak n Cheesy in what seemed like the same month and now Ray's the Steak's slipping, I'm beginning to wonder if there might be a more serious way to characterize his idiosyncracies. One positive: the steak was just about as good as always.

The best thing I've had there is the cheese steak. The small one is more than enough food.

I went to the Ashby Inn for dinner with my fiancee this past weekend. This was our first time there, so I can't compare it to how it was when Tarver King was there. The inn is beautiful and they have a dozen or so tables out back under a tent, which was perfect for an 80 degree June day without much humidity. After some confusion, we each ordered the tasting menu. My fiancee is pescatarian and so, 99% of the time the kitchen will just replace the two or three meat dishes with veggie or fish/seafood dishes. The server was caught off-guard by the pescatarian/vegetarian request. I called to inform them but nobody answered during normal business hours and I guess they didn't listen to the voicemail. If I recall correctly, they only had one entree without meat on the entire menu. However, they had a few appetizers which would have worked fine. The server told us that the kitchen said we would be better off ordering a la carte since it would be too difficult to substitute the two dishes. And, since they require the entire table to order the tasting menu, that I wouldn't be able to order it since my fiancee couldn't. Well, we came to Ashby Inn to try the tasting menu. After seeing my disappointment, the server went back to the kitchen for the third time and it turns out they would be able to accommodate us. It was a odd situation that I haven't encountered before. We've probably done this at 20+ restaurants and none of them ever had an issue. On to the food. In short, the food received a passing grade but I won't go back again. Not because it was terrible but it was underwhelming and there are too many other good restaurants -- including several that offer a much better value than their $99 tasting menu. Each element of each dish was cooked and/or prepared properly but the food combinations seemed somewhat random, rather than complementary and well-thought out. The tasting menu began with snacks - three pastries served on a slate board. One was a parmesan reggiano donut, another I think was a blue cheese fritter and I think the third was a puff pastry with a milder cheese. They were pretty good, although it felt strange starting a tasting menu off with these very heavy and rich snacks. Next was a radish, cucumber, grape and juniper salad. The radishes were very fresh. My fiancee's radishes were mild and pretty tasty. Mine were very pungent and bitter. I guess if you like really strong radishes, they'd be great but they needed the edge taken off them in my opinion. Next was a dish I'm still trying to wrap my head around. If you love broccoli, you might like their broccoli variations dish. It was cooked broccoli, pickled broccoli, broccoli tempura, and pureed brocolli and what I think was dehydrated crumbled broccoli. That's it. No seasoning, no sauce, just broccoli. If it was up to me, they would take this off the menu and never mention it again. Next up was chicken liver mousse with pine nut, raisin and honey. There wasn't anything noteworthy about it. It tasted like every other good chicken liver mousse I've had. I didn't think the pine nut, raisin and honey added much to it but I can see how some people might. I think it could have used a little more salt. Next up was a grilled quail leg, served with what they called an herb sauce (which was similar to a green chutney) and an incredibly sweet strawberry whipped cream-like concoction that would have been delicious by itself. I didn't think either of the sauces paired well with the quail. The quail was fine, but it definitely needed some more flavor. Next up was salmon with quinoa. Probably the best thing we had. The salmon was well cooked and had a nice crispy skin. It was served with the best quinoa I've ever had. I've viewed quinoa as one of those things that's good for you but doesn't taste like much and has too dry a texture. I'd love to know their secret to cooking it, because it was genuinely good. It was soft and fluffy and had a good flavor to it. Next up was pork with bbq sauce and corn bread gnocchi. The pork was well-cooked. The bbq sauce was quite good but I might not have included something so powerful with the dish. The corn bread gnocchi was just fine, but a bit dry and didn't have much flavor to it. The blueberry sorbet was good but I generally prefer something less sweet and more acidic as a palate cleanser. Dessert was quite good. Pineapple upside down cake with sassafras ice cream. It didn't blow me away but it was good. The service was very good but the food didn't wow either of us.

That's too bad. The tasting menu at PABU was a fantastic deal.

I always order the Roast Beef Cheddar on a sesame roll. It's simple but delicious. The roast beef is almost always cooked perfectly and the horseradish sauce and sesame seeds put it over the top. This is the best roast beef sandwich I've had at a restaurant. And, the quality hasn't changed one bit since they opened up the new location. I've tried a bite of a couple of the pork and turkey sandwiches and I thought they were good but a bit dry for my tastes, which is not surprising since it's tough to keep pork and turkey moist for long once it comes out of the oven. That's why I stick with the RBC.

I have mine and my fiancee's food allergies in Open Table. The difference between good service and great service to me is when the server has reviewed the profile and tells me what my allergies are, instead of me having to tell them. Places that have met this bar include: Inn at Little Washington, Fiola Mare, Bartlett Pear Inn. With that said, I have really only had one or two bad experiences that I can recall. One was at Bourbon Steak and the other was at L'Auberge Chez Francois.

And, the two places that I don't think get nearly the attention or rating they deserve are Bartlett Pear Inn and Patowmack Farm (now that Tarver King has taken over). Bartlett Pear being on the Baltimore DR is probably a contributing factor.

I'd commit to doing a Restaurant of the Week as long as they're geared toward good places and not a random sampling. I get to pick the restaurant 2-3 nights a week when we go out to dinner so should have the time and ability to fit in.

I will do a full write-up later, but I went here recently and it is one of the 10 best restaurants in the area, in my opinion. Food, service and atmosphere were all amazing.

Me and the misses went to the Bartlett Pear Inn for an early dinner last weekend. I generally find restaurants in the 2 1/2 to 3 star category to be hit or miss and I hadn't done any research on the place, so my expectations were tempered. The Pear blew away my expectations. I shouldn't have been so surprised, but I didn't find out until after dinner that Jordan worked at both Citronelle and Per Se. We ordered the 7 course tasting menu, which wasn't on the menu but our server offered it up. You can choose each course like a traditional prix fixe, choose some courses, or leave it up to the chef entirely. We left it up to the chef. The service was excellent -- attentive but not overbearing, and warm but not folksy. Pacing was good. Absolutely no negatives to speak of. We had everything we needed before we needed it without feeling like an army was watching over us.I have a food allergy and the server remembered the entire time, making note of what I couldn't eat. That sounds very simple and basic but you'd be surprised how even 3 1/2 star restaurants forget or are oblivious. The tasting menu $78. No amuse bouche, which I was slightly disappointed in but you can't complain for the price. The first course, a beet salad, was very ordinary in my opinion but fine. The second course was the lobster bisque... and it was the best one I've ever had. It was perfectly seasoned, not too heavy, and it came with a small lobster cake inside the soup. The third course was an almond crusted sea scallop with succotash. The scallop was properly cooked and plated with baby corn and other fresh veggies, a basil emulsion and balsamic reduction. It made for several interesting flavor combinations. For the fourth course, they did a duck magret breast with duck pastrami, quinoa, box choy and a blackberry-jalapeno gastrique. I'm not a big fan of duck, but it was incredibly well seasoned and the duck pastrami was really good. The fifth course was my second favorite and one of the best I've ever had. It was a risotto with burgundy truffles, a Talbot Reserve cheddar cheese, parmesan reggionano and maitake mushrooms. This was the best risotto I've ever had. The mushrooms and truffles were each incredible and the chunk of cheddar combined with parmesan reggiano put it over the top. If one were to make the perfect gourmet grilled cheese, it is this dish without the risotto. Just spectacular. We then cleansed our palates with what I think was a small basil gelato cone and moved onto the cheese course, which was nothing to write home about but good. For dessert, they made bananas foster tableside. The server did an excellent job with it and walked us through each step in the process. It's not a terribly difficult dish to make, but it was very good. Overall, the food was exceptional and the presentation was pretty damn close. The employees have a great deal of pride and are incredibly invested in the place, much like smaller far-flung outfits like the Inn at Little Washington or the Restaurant at Patowmack Farm. One of the 10 best restaurants near DC for me. The food and service were both top 10 for me. Maybe even top 5. I included pictures of the lobster bisque, scallop and the risotto.

Hard Times in Clarendon used to have the best wings when they grilled them and used bigger wings. Now they're fried and smaller. Know of any good places to get grilled wings but not smoked?

It may prevent others from posting less than stellar reviews, but I want to thank you for your original post and level-headed continuation of the dialogue. I read this thread just to double check that the food reviews were consistent with what I read elsewhere. The reviews stacked up but after reading his interaction with you and others, I won't be dining with them.

I went with three friends last summer after hearing many great things about the place. The service was fine but the food was subpar. I had trouble reconciling my experience with the experience of friends and reviews out there. I subsequently discovered that Tony Chittum left several months before I dined there (now more than a year ago). I tried about 8 things on the menu and the only one that met my expectations was the grilled octopus. There were a couple things that were ok and a few that were genuinely bad. Perhaps I caught them on an off night, but I certainly won't be returning until I hear favorable reviews under the new chef from reliable sources.

Hi, my name is Michael. I live in the DC area and have been lurking on DonRockwell for a couple months. I was hooked once I tried the Laotian menu at Bangkok Golden after reading the thread on here. Looking forward to contributing to the site and discovering some more gems. My favorite restaurants in the area are the Inn at Little Washington, Blue Duck Tavern, Little Serow, Bourbon Steak and the Laotian menu at Bangkok Golden. I haven't been to CityZen or Komi yet but they are on my list to knock out this year.