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On May 20, 2018, I enjoyed a very delectable lunch at Mikko's Café, which serves casual modern Nordic fare. See café menu. Seating is limited to 5 seats at the back counter and 4 at the front so take-away is a very quick and convenient option. Mikko plans to expand to al fresco dining with beverage service in the near future. I can't wait for the expanded café menu! I enjoyed the following: Pickled Herring Open-Face Sandwich with Egg, Greens, Mustard, Dill (Herring is pickled in-house. Mikko has a smoker for smoked fish. And for smoked mushrooms in a recipe for a catered soup, which I hope will make it on the expanded café menu!) Karelian Pastry (served reheated) Finnish-Style Fish Soup (this is a hearty dish and can be enjoyed on its own) Salmon Quiche (as take-away immediately enjoyed by reheating at home)

GRK Fresh Greek, described by some as a "Greek Chipotle", opened recently on 19th between M and L in South Dupont. Looks like an offshoot of a NYC place. Yes, they have salads, and a nice Greek yogurt bar, but essentially this is a gyro place. The kitchen is dominated by the gyro spits, grilling up chicken, pork, portabellos, and a beef/lamb combo. You pick one, decide if you want it on a pita or on a platter with a side, and pick one of three tzatzikis. I went with the lamb/beef on pita, with the traditional tzatziki (Grk). They also have a spicy one and a garlicky one. The gyro comes with red onion and tomato. To put it simply, it was excellent. Real meat, not the spam-like gyro stuff you see at most places. Nice flavor and a little char, juicy and satisfying. I would have preferred more topping choices...some chopped cucumber and feta crumbles would have been nice...but stressing the meat certainly isn't a bad idea. Decent sized sandwich, but not huge...about right for lunch. A little slow getting the food, but it just opened. I'll be going back.

From the sounds of things, it seems that Little Sesame is a separate entity getting its start in DGS's lower-level, with a common co-owner in Nick Wiseman. Thus, it will also get its own thread. Congratulations to the whole team, Nick, Robin, and everyone else - please stay active here and let us know when you expand beyond lunch, get a beer and wine license, open another location, etc. All these pop-ups and restaurants within restaurant are parallel to recent college graduates living with mom and dad for a couple of years because they can't afford to pay rent (heck, I did it for a year - I think it's a great idea, and it can even bring the family closer together).

Let me start by saying I've never been to Japan, and I've never been to Masa. That said, for my personal preference, Japan is second only to France for my favorite cuisine, and I am very much of a sushi and sashimi hound - it's just about my favorite thing (along with foie gras, caviar, etc.) I had, without much doubt, the best Sashimi-Sushi Omakase I've ever eaten on Wednesday night at the Sushi Bar at Sushi Ogawa, and I've been to most of the great sushi specialists in the U.S. and Vancouver. The only option is a $100 omakase, and I highly advise all diners to call and see if Chef Ogawa will be working before they commit to this meal. My friend made the reservation under her name, and I have no reason to think I was recognized, but boy, this sure seemed like more than the "12-14 courses" they advertise. I don't rule out the possibility that I was spotted, but regardless, I'm spotted at most other top Japanese restaurants in DC, and nobody has put out sashimi and sushi like this before, not even the great Sushi Taro. I had made an exception to my own unwritten rule (the only other one-visit Bold I've ever made has been Elements in Princeton, NJ), and initialized Sushi Bar at Sushi Ogawa as such (this was absolutely the best meal I've had in 2017, my dining partner said it was by far the best sashimi-sushi she's ever eaten, and I've spent nearly 8 weeks this year in Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles), but just to be prudent, I'm going to wait for other people to chime in. There are numerous Michelin 3-star sushi restaurants in Japan, but I honestly cannot envision any sashimi-sushi-driven meals being much better than this, even though I'm sure they are. Still, this raised the bar for me, personally, by a fair amount. About the only thing that fell short of excellence was the crème brûlée (it was fine, but Koji Terano can rest easy). If you go with another person, treat yourselves to a .720ml bottle of Eikun "Big Hawk" Junmai Ginjo sake ($65 on their list, and it will carry you through the entire meal).

So um...The Board Room has opened at Sehkraft...apparently it's a casual place that serves beer. Plus, board games.

Tried out the newish Duke's Grocery today for lunch over in Dupont on 17th street. First a few odd things: 1) it is not much of a grocery - they have a few baskets of produce for sale, but it is really a restaurant, 2) its menu consists solely of sandwiches, a few sides and a bar menu - but for now they do not offer carry out sandwiches (concerns about too long of a wait when they have a tiny open kitchen and basically one (maybe 2 sometimes cooks), 3) it looks like it'd be a place for counter service, but they have bartenders and waiter?/food runners so it is unclear whether tipping is expected. I sat at the bar where you order on the ground floor when you enter - but they have an upstairs with tables and some other ledges and stools around on the first floor too. Overall, I think they are still trying to figure out what their concept really is. Nevertheless, the bar is nice and 2 young bartenders were very friendly and nice explaining the menu and chatting. Now onto the food. So the price/value is great here. All of the amply portioned sandwiches are just under $10 with tax included and despite my gluttony of finishing my whole Brick Lane Salt Beef monster, it easily could be shared by 2 people. The other couple of sandwiches I saw come out were equally well-made, fresh in the kitchen using mostly homemade ingredients in small batches and likewise large. The sandwiches come on a variety of breads from Lyon Bakery including rye, ciabatta, etc. I've never been to the UK nor had Salt Beef but it was described as less salty corned beef. It had thick cut soft white bread that was good and then piled high large chunks of tender beef (not melt in your mouth, but soft). The sandwich is slathered with sinus-cleansing Colman Mustard (think horseradish or chinese spicy mustard without the heat) and house made dill pickles with bit of onion laced within. I said next time I'd get the sandwich with less mustard and more of the good pickles. The sandwich was good and definitely well made with quality ingredients - but I think the mustard overwhelmed the somewhat lightly seasoned meat. Probably go back and get something else or maybe the salt beef on rye with sauerkraut and dilled mustard (Ruby on Rye). Besides these 2 options there are several pork ones, a chicken salad, and a vegetarian aubergine/eggplant sandwich - but check/call before you go if you want something particular as most of the menu changes according to the staff.

We tried City Tap House last night, the new DC incarnation of a Philadelphia beer bar, and walked away reasonably satisfied. The service was fine--the server informal but knowledgable about the menus (beer and food). The beer menu wasn't bad, but there were about 5 interesting beers that were on the menu but not available, which was surprising for a list that looked like it was printed daily. But we found enough interesting beers to put together a few rounds for each of us. I might be wrong, but it seems like the beers here are just a touch cheaper than several of the other beer-centric restaurants in DC. The food was good. My pork flatbread was nicely baked, with flavorful chorizo and a few other pork types that were less interesting. The roasted shishito peppers were also nice. The bacon popcorn looked good on the menu, but was less interesting than we'd hoped, and in retrospect, hasn't popcorn approached the realm of trite foods? My friends' entrees--the rabbit bolognese and the pulled pork sandwich, were both fine according to them. The space is nice, perhaps a bit loud, but this would be a fine spot prior to a Capitals game--it's head and shoulders better than RFD, which is the other close-by beer option (though there are probably others by this point--there seem to be so many worthwhile places to drink beer in DC right now).

Celebrated @MichaelBDC's birthday with some friends at Le DeSales a few weeks ago. We had a reservation on the early side (6:30pm), which worked out well given our leisurely pace. Except for two hiccups, service was attentive and our water glasses were always full. Our party of four started with a bottle of Zinfandel and a mocktail for one member of our party who is nine months pregnant. We also ordered a platter of charcuterie and cheese to share: jambon cru, duck proscuitto, comte, parmigiano reggiano, and prefere des montagnes. This was a decent board of meats and cheeses, but nothing was particularly interesting or unique. The first service hiccup occurred when we wanted to ensure that the cheeses on the menu were pasteurized. The server said she would ask the kitchen but thought they were all pasteurized. When she came back to take our order, we realized she hadn't checked as she had already told us that she "thought" all the cheese were pasteurized. So we had to insist she go back and check with the kitchen. Turns out all the cheeses were pasteurized, but it was a frustrating back and forth. We ended up finishing the bottle of wine relatively quickly and ordered a second bottle, a Mourvedre from France. For our entrees, we wanted to share the other dishes - a mix of appetizer and entree sized plates as well as sides which the restaurant accommodated, but left for a very full table. We ended up ordering: beets with avocado, miso and quinoa; duck egg with paprika potatoes, soup de pain, and watercress; pork loin with carrots and preserved lemon; cod with turnip and clams pesto; bass with cranberries, cashews, celeriac, and chive oil; broccoli with peanuts and mustard; grilled leeks with sunflower seeds and buttermilk; and the fries. Highlights for me were the duck egg dish, the beets (not super interesting but well executed and loved the crunch of the quinoa), and the broccoli (an odd combination but successfully executed and very tasty). The cod, pork loin, and leeks were well executed but not particularly memorable. I passed on the bass and the fries so I can't comment. For dessert we had the deconstructed cheesecake, chocolate tarte, and creme brulee. Again, well prepared and satisfying, but not outstanding. The GM/owner also brought out four glasses of champagne for us. Not sure why we were on the receiving end of such generosity but we appreciated it. By the time we were done, the restaurant was packed and it took us awhile to flag down our server and get our check. Overall, I was pretty impressed with Le DeSales. Food was well executed and some dishes were really interesting and outstanding. Glad to have more French options to choose from.

I didn't see a thread on this so I thought I'd start one. This place serves one dish, Donburi, a Japanese comfort food - basically fried something over rice with egg. Donburi DC is in Adams Morgan next to Meskerem, and opened a few weeks ago. Seats maybe 15 people, sushi bar style in front of the prep area. Modern Asian atmosphere, lots of nice wood and blacks everywhere. I went last night, and it's clear they're still working the kinks out, so I would DEFINITELY withhold final judgement until they get everything in gear. Service was a tad slow, one of our orders got maybe lost? (I actually think someone else claimed our party's bowl as theirs, but either way, there was definite disorganization), and it was one guys' first time operating the cash register. They were very apologetic about all the issues, but I'm sure it'll get going soon. Finally I will say I am no expert on Japanese food, let alone donburi. This would be a first for me. Appetizer You order before you take a seat, and have a small variety of drink options, some Japanese ones included. There's also a free chilled tea to drink.They have 3 appetizer options, we got the sashimi and chicken karaage (fried chicken) ($6 each). Both were good, the sashimi was 4 hefty portions of salmon, the chicken was a little overbattered but overall quite juicy and tender with a crispy exterior, but then again I am a total sucker for fried chicken. Entree I only tried the katsudon, the fried pork cutlet option (forget price, but around $10+?). It's served with a fried egg ontop, with onions simmered in a dark, sweet soy sauce. It also came with pickled spicy peppers and pickled daikon(?) It was good. It was not great. The pork was a little flavorless and it could have overall used a bit more sauce. I think it may have a sat out for a little (could not have been long though as party turnover was high) and lost a bit of its luster after being fried (as I said, there were technical difficulties). The gooey, savory egg however, was doing some fantastic work and really brought the whole dish together. I don't feel like the pepper or daikon lent much to the whole dish, but they added a little variety to each bite. Anyway, it was good, and totally hit the comfort food spot for me. I think, given a months time or so, I'd definitely consider returning to see what's improved. As it is now, its a pretty good price for some pretty good food. I wouldn't destination dine there though, at least not yet. For now, I'd give it 7/10.

Your friends at Sushi Capitol are getting ready to open our second restaurant in your neighborhood. Kanji characters mean "sushi" and we look forward to getting to know our new neighbors when we open our doors.

I got the last seat at the bar at a crowded Riggsby, and immediately got an odd impression about the bartender. This was going to be an unusual evening - I felt it. He handed me the cocktail list, full of ordinary wines a touch too expensive for my blood, but I flipped it over, and there were some graphics showing some of the more upscale drinks; the problem, is that both the graphics and the text were so faded that they were barely readable. Strike one. But I wanted a Gin & Tonic, and that was the one list in the top-right corner, touting that it was made with Hendricks Gin and Fever Tree Tonic Water - I don't love Hendricks in my G&Ts, but I can live with it, so I ordered it. You're out of Fever Tree Tonic Water? Oh. Normally, I'd say Strike two, but you'd just been First Bitten the day before, so, no pitch. And plus, you told me you had their Ginger Beer, so I looked below it at their Moscow Mule. A picture of a beautiful copper tankard was accompanied by the description that the drink was made with a "high-quality" vodka with Fever Tree Ginger Beer, a little lime juice, and a wedge of lime - sounded good to me, so I went with it. Oh, you don't serve these in copper tankards like you have them pictured? Well, I'd say Strike two, but that's not really you're fault, so no pitch. Sure, why not. So I started my meal with a Moscow Mule ($8), and the vodka he used was pulled up from under the bar and poured like he was trying desperately to empty the bottle. The lime juice was measured, however - I thought it was supposed to be the other way around? It was a *strong* drink, but it didn't taste bad, and after all, it used Fever Tree Ginger Beer. But what was that vodka? It was in a blue bottle, and I became curious. I nursed my drink while perusing the menu, and by the time I got to the bottom, I was ready for another, and when he asked me, I asked him what type of Vodka he used in that first drink. He pulled the bottle up from underneath the bar, and held it before my eyes: Skyy. Strike two, my friend: this is a $14 bottle of rot-gut, and it's no wonder you were trying to get rid of it - what happened to the "high-quality vodka" in the description? Well, at least it was an $8 drink. He told me I could have it made with any of their shelf vodka's ... Tito's, Ketel One, Grey Goose ... okay, better. This one, I got with Ketel One. And he measured the vodka, and short-poured me - filling the measuring cup only about 3/4 of the way before taking a scoop of ice so large that there was ice 3-4 inches above the top of my glass which needed to be whisked off. The rest of the drink was made normally, but it's amazing how small of a cocktail you can get when your glass is absolutely full with small ice cubes. It tasted like a mocktail with no alcohol in it. And damned if I didn't get charged $12 for the drink. Strike three. He knew what he was doing; he was just anti-customer, or so I thought. I ordered my meal, a Schnitzel "a la Holstein" ($29), and asked what it came with - "warm, German potato salad," he said. Okay, it sounded potentially acidic, but I took my chances, and with it, I ordered as a second side order, something from the bar menu: Chorizo-Stuffed Mushrooms ($7) which took him aback - I guess people aren't ordering these things as sides with their meals, but it sounded like it would go just fine with my meal, so I verified with him, yes, I'd like it with my meal; not as an appetizer. No problem. A short while later, everything arrived from behind me, and I could see why my bartender had raised an eyebrow - my entree and its "German potato salad" had been cooked to order; my chorizo stuffed mushrooms were made earlier in the day and reheated - they were dried out, and really did look like pass-around canapes, or bar snacks. But the flavors were all there, and they did, in fact, go with everything else. The schnitzel itself was delicious, but pounded more thinly than I've ever seen a schnitzel presented before - I was hoping for something nearly twice this thick for $29. So they not only get you with a high price, but also with deceptively small amounts of meat. Still, the batter was delicious, the schnitzel was cooked very well, and it came with some anchovies (for some much-needed salt), capers, and a runny egg. Every so often I'd spear a new potato from its iron skillet sitting next to my plate (this was my "German Potato Salad" - it was halved new potatoes, with a little onion on the bottom and cooked with some jus, perhaps from the schnitzel, and they were *delicious* - a nice surprise in a meal where I felt like I was getting nickled-and-dimed. Likewise, I did the same with my chorizo-stuffed mushrooms, which were about the same size as the potatoes - yes, they were older and dried out, but when put on my plate and cut in half, they went very well with my other two items. Right when the food came, my bartender asked me if I'd wanted another drink, and I told him I was thinking about a glass of wine. He thought for a moment, and said, "I've got something for you to try," before pouring me a generous glass of Vermentino ($11), which is exactly the wine I would have chosen for myself. I complimented him on his call, and he began to warm up. So I enjoyed my rather expensive meal (the final bill was $73.70 before tip), then asked for the check. I reached for my wallet and mouthed the words, 'Oh, my God.' He saw me do this, obviously read my lips, and knew something was wrong. I had forgotten my wallet in the car. Embarrassed, I explained this all to him, and handed him my keys and iPhone, saying I'd be back in five minutes. (I did have the wits about me to take my car key off the ring.) No problem, he said, and I showed up a bit later, left a $15 tip, and all was well. "I could tell something bad had happened when I saw your face," he laughed. So, all's well that ends well, and I enjoyed my meal even though I was out $88.70. And the bartender wasn't such a bad chap after all.

Because of a career transition, I have found myself at the Cosmos Club many times in 2017 and yet, am not a member. I don't know if that makes my review more or less biased because I actually cannot pick up the bill at Cosmos. I am a fan. First off, the service is absolutely perfect. Second, the building is amazing, beautiful, old, and historic. Third, the walls are full of history. Forth, I feel incredibly young and extraordinarily beautiful when I dine at Cosmos. If you exclude grandchildren, I am usually the youngest in the room by about 20 years. It's amazing. But really, I'm here to tell you about the food. When I first went to dine, I assumed that I would get a big baked potato with sour cream, cheddar cheese and bacon bits. I had, however, a very lovely lobster salad that was lightly, and yet perfectly dressed. ALso, I'm a huge soup and crab fan. Even though their crab soup has square carrots in it, I love it. It's very good and the crab is, I think, added at the end so it keeps its crabby, sweetness. My theory is that the average age of the members is quite advanced and their chef is personally invested in keeping them all alive as long as possible so created a wonderful, light, tasty, healthy menu. He should be commended.

Arlene Shechet (pronounced SHECK-ette) currently has a display at Washington DC's Phillip's Collection entitled 'From Here On Now" (a word play on "From Here on Out," playing around with the definition of the future). The little audio recording on The Phillips Collection's website almost sounds like a parody on a Valley Girl artist, but it never deviates enough from being dead-serious to, well, not be taken seriously. "From Here on Now" <--- There are two of these videos, on the right side of the screen (you may need to scroll down a bit) - after you click on the text, click on the center of each one. I'm not convinced Shechet is a great intellect, but I do believe she's a great creative thinker. For whatever that's worth to you (it could be worth anywhere from something to mock, all the way up to something to study), Shechet is worth a thought, even by the most skeptical of viewers, and she's absolutely worth a minute of your time, because, come on, what the hell else are you going to do with the next minute of your life? Why not learn something about Arlene Shechet?

This restaurant just opened up this week with high hopes, as the executive chef is from the acclaimed gas station taqueria in Elkridge, MD - R&R Taqueria. I absolutely, wholeheartedly love R&R - the devotion to food is incredible there. It was packed at 730. It's the former One Lounge in DuPont Circle and they did a fantastic job with the space. There is red tiled floors, beautiful wood ceilings, exposed brick, a nice bar. Something is different recently in terms of service in this town. Maybe it's a re-expression of what is important in a dining experience, or that people are just nicer, or social media is forcing customer service to be better. In any case, in the District itself, I find myself pleasantly surprised with service. We were told 45 min, and were called back in about 35 for our table for two. I know it's different with these higher end places, but there are not chips and salsa served with the meal - it's 4 bucks a pop. And since a few Yelp reviews stated that the salsa tasted canned and not fresh, I didn't order it. We got the queso fundido and the pozole to start. The queso was not melty goodness. It was silly putty consistency and not tasty. It was too hard to eat - you had to hand pull it to get it onto the tortillas served aside it. The pozole was tasty, fresh with cilantro and spice, but ... served cool! I mentioned it to the waiter, and he said he would tell it to the kitchen. We ordered two plates of tacos. We had the chorizo and the fish. The chorizo was almost as good as the R&R version, but a little different. Only one tortilla instead of two (I don't know why that matters, but it does to me). I don't know if it was masa, but it did taste good. The green sauce they gave with it had a bite, I liked it. The fish tacos were lightly fried and had a nice sauce, the typical white sauce of west coast fish tacos mixed with seasoning so it was brownish and tasty, but heavy feeling. Salsa was a few bucks extra, we ordered it, but they forgot. We didn't mention it. The kitchen was very slow, and the server came more than once to tell us how backed up they were. I'm very sad that this place didn't kill it. R&R is so amazing. The idea that they were going to have a real restaurant 25 minutes from me was so exciting. They don't have the Barbacoa, or the lamb stews. I saw fajitas at the table next to me that smelled and looked delicious. It was sceney- lots of pretty folks here. Nice service. Out of respect of the original location, I'll go back, but not for a few months. One question - does executive chef mean something unique? Does it mean his ideas but he isn't there? Because then it maybe explains away the food/execution. Simul

PoPville reports that Rakuya (concept change for Dupont Raku) has opened. Rakuya's Facebook page lists the Raku website. Neither the Facebook page nor the Raku website have been updated to reflect Rakuya's opening.

There is a great opportunity tomorrow and Sunday to gain free admittance to some of the lesser-known DC museums that normally charge a fee for entry. It's the Dupont-Kalorama Museum Walk. Participating venues this year include the Christian Heurich House, The Anderson House, the Phillips Collection, and others. There is a free shuttle that makes regular stops at all of the venues throughout the weekend, but I find that most of them are within reasonable walking distance of one another. If you haven't visited any of these museums or it's been awhile, I think it would be well worth your time (and again, free admission to all of the participating museums tomorrow and Sunday).

The Dupont Underground is the latest attempt to do *something* with the abandoned trolley station located beneath Dupont Circle. Their opening exhibit is "Raise/Raze." The exhibit repurposes the 650,000 three-inch, translucent plastic balls used for the National Building Museum's Beach exhibit last year. The exhibit is a mixture of walls, blocks, and towers made up of these balls, as well as building block cubes which visitors can stack and arrange. Needless to say, there were kids running around having a blast stacking up the cubes and knocking them down. It is an interesting space. The steps leading down have a dystopian feel as you descend into the bowels of Dupont. One gets the feeling that Dupont Underground is underfunded and understaffed, and only a small segment of the space is currently being used. Raise/Raze felt like it wasn't fully realized, not half-assed, just felt like they ran out of time to get the project completed. In addition, the space has some serious challenges, like no plumbing. It will be interesting to see what other projects and events they have planned. Sounded like they are hoping to run some video installations and music events. We'll see, fingers are crossed that the Dupont Underground will survive.

BarredInDC.com has announced that Japonè (2032 P St.), Cafe Japonè, and its lounge, Sango Sho, have closed - the two-story operation has been open since 1986 - (congratulations, by the way, on a 27-year run). Of the three Japanese restaurants on the south side of P Street in West Dupont, only the more traditional Sakana (2026 P St.) remains, as Uni (2122 P St.) also closed within the past year.

I'm meeting a friend for dinner Monday evening. Said friend is pregnant and still dealing with occasional nausea. She said she is up for a nice dinner out, but the menu at Convivial didn't appeal to her. Any suggestions for something still worthwhile, but that might have simpler options available for her? Another friend is supposed to be joining us and there is a possibility that her husband and 1 yo-ish baby may also come so that could further complicate things. Husband is not an adventurous eater. I'm on a really tight budget right now, so I don't want to break the bank, especially if it's on something generic. Friend is staying at the Fairfax at Embassy Row in Dupont, other friend would be coming directly from work at the Museum of African Art, but I am coming from MD (green lining from the Greenbelt metro or driving from Laurel), so I would say it just has to be metro accessible in a somewhat central area. Good luck! Seriously, I appreciate any help.

A friend has suggested dining at Nazca Mochica, a new "contemporary Peruvian" place on P Street in the spaces formerly occupied by Skewers and Café Luna, and then by Heritage India and Malgudi. Downstairs is Mochica, a "pisco and cebiche bar", while upstairs is Nazca, a "contemporary Peruvian restaurant". I had never heard of this place before, and don't know when it opened. Has anyone been?

I'm surprised I couldn't find a forum for this place which I think has been there for years. Today was my first time actually tasting it though and it was great. I tried the cinnamon oatmeal cookie ice cream which tasted just like a cookie but instead opted for a scoop of my other taste cardamom almond. This basement place has a really nice selection of ultra cream ice creams in your usual flavors and some more unusual ones like the ones I tried. It isn't cheap though at $4.90 (with tax included) for one good sized scoop but it wa delish. They also have several types of fancy cupcakes, good looking baklava and a 5 layer coconut, chocolate brownie wedge that looked really good for some serious indulgence.

So my friends and I have been Mighty Pint patrons for over 5 years now, as in we were there pretty much 10+ times a month for 5 years straight. Many relationships started and ended there, many friends gained, many memories lost. So as a last hurrah for our beloved TMP, we booked a 15 person reservation for Second State on its opening weekend. At first glance, "WOW." They really revamped the entire place, we were all extremely impressed with the new decor. TMP was pretty much the definition of dive, and to be able to convert from that to a fine dining establishment is no small task. We're talking some major construction work completed in half a year. The drinks were ok, pretty standard for a barstaurant; I ordered the "Second Statement ($14)" (a sazerac), which was pretty good. Other table ordered a few bottles of wine. --- A sample of the dishes we ordered: 2 orders of mac&cheese: very inconsistent, one was mostly noodles, the other was mostly heavy cream. I guess if we had a pot to mix it together ourselves, it would've been pretty good. We returned the heavy cream order. Broiled sprouts: decent, farm fresh! Bone In Ribeye ($36!!!): my friend usually gets steaks rare, the waitress suggested she get it medium rare because last time a customer complained that it was too rare. Well, my friend's medium rare steak was actually a well done. Ossabaw pork chop ($25): I ordered this, it was pretty good, the apple chutney was delicious. Garlic-parsley fries: pretty good, this was their top item from the Alexandria restaurant though. Oysters: unshucked (what?) returned. Our appetizers also came either during or after our entrees. We ordered a bunch of other dishes, but these are just the ones I remember most clearly. --- The service: We didn't have waters for the first 25 minutes at the table, we had to request waters from 3 different waiters. One person didn't have silverware until she got her food. For most of the entree-eating, we didn't have water refills. The waitress was very apologetic, I suppose they were busy/frazzled/in growing pains so they were unable to provide a "great experience". The manager later came by to give the table whiskey+chocolate liquer shots (they were pretty strong/good). --- Overall, a disappointing experience. I was very sad leaving the restaurant, for TMP was easily one of my most favorite bars in the city, I could always bet on having a great time there with the beers, wings, or shenanigans. What does Second State have to offer? They're just another "fine dining restaurant" in Dupont Circle, and a poor execution of one at that.

For a posh Francophile and serious foodie who prefers European cuisine. (Friend of a friend so that's all the info I have). Et Voila and Mari Vanna were all I could come up with. And Mari Vanna was a shot in the dark. Any suggestions? Geo range is Dupont to Friendship Heights, though MacArthur Blvd was seen as in range.

Okay, this is one of those mornings where I *have to have a bagel*. Don't ask my why; I just do. Bullfrog Bagels is closed on Monday (and yes I *would* have driven to H Street to get one). I've heard good things about Bagels, Etc. on P Street in West Dupont. Can anyone vouch for them?

First, let me point out that I'm not a connoisseur of Japanese cuisine, so hopefully someone that is will jump on this and give you a better overall opinion of this place. Personally, I'm just happy that in the space of a few weeks, south Dupont opened two spots with ramen in a few blocks of each other...this place, and Oki Ramen down the street, which I haven't tried yet. As you can see there's lots more than ramen at Nagomi. Nov 2014 Lunch Menu Nov 2014 Dinner Menu So look at this as a very quick, and totally incomplete, preview. I had a very solid bowl of shoyu ramen...the other choices were, um...well, I'd tell you if the menus weren't so damn slow to load. Hopefully they'll work on that. Anyway, it was a very traditional bowl...noodles, soft boiled egg, sliced pork and some veggies. The noodles didn't quite have enough of a chew for my taste, but the broth was excellent, and I'd go back again to try the other varieties. Which are...come on...getting there....aha, shio and tonkotsu. So please, if you're an izakaya fan, go on by and fill in all my blanks...this has been a pretty cursed location, so hopefully this place can change that.