Szechuan House (Briefly Fusion Grill), Chinese Reopen Above Medium Rare on 8th and E Street SE on Barracks Row

[Tweaked]

Since we are bashing on crappy Hill restaurants, has anyone been to Fusion Grill, I believe that is what it is called on 8th Street, SE Use to be a crappy Chinese restaurant, they remodeled, went all modern looking.

The name alone should be warning enough...but I'm craving Chinese but can only eat on the Hill tonight.

So no Virginia burbs or Rockville Pike snobbery please

[Spiral Stairs]

Since we are bashing on crappy Hill restaurants, has anyone been to Fusion Grill, I believe that is what it is called on 8th Street, SE Use to be a crappy Chinese restaurant, they remodeled, went all modern looking.

The name alone should be warning enough...but I'm craving Chinese but can only eat on the Hill tonight.

So no Virginia burbs or Rockville Pike snobbery please

I am still traumatized from my trip to Fusion Grill.

We sat outside, and experienced what was quite possibly the worst service I have ever encountered. Nothing went right. We waited too long for menus (which then sat on our table, after ordering, until I asked they be taken away); too long for drinks (which had been forgotten); and an unbelievably long time for our entrees (this turned into an epic, two-hour-plus experience). Our table was broken, such that a carelessly placed elbow would cause the whole tabletop to act as a catapult. Three or four other outdoor tables were occupied, and I saw the same things going on at those tables: missing silverware; incorrect entree delivery; and assorted other mishaps.

Foodwise, I take some blame for what I was subjected to. Against all better judgment, I ordered a ribeye steak, medium rare. What I got was a purported steak, very well done. Not being an expert, I suppose it may have been a ribeye, but it was thinner and, well, worse, than any other ribeye I've had. My wife got a fried beef thing that was actually pretty good. I guess if you're going to go, stick with the Chinese stuff, and you may do okay. (One thing I noticed from my wife's food and from looking at other plates: They make their Chinese dishes look "fusion-y" by forming the white rice into a cube on the plate to the side of the meat, instead of in a pile or a bowl. How swank!)

I mentioned to our waiter that my steak was overcooked, who assured me he had told the kitchen to prepare it medium rare. He said he would check on it but he never mentioned it again. Oh, and despite the obvious delays we encountered and problems with the food, nothing was offered or done to make us happy.

Suffice it to say we won't be going back.

(Note: Apparently, the old Szechuan House menu is the take-out menu. The Fusion Grill menu is only for sit-down.)

[Banco]

I am still traumatized from my trip to Fusion Grill...

I've been thinking of trying that place recently but just didn't get the opportunity, and was wondering when a thread would start up here. Of course, my worst fears were confirmed. When will the horror end?

[Al Dente]

Since we are bashing on crappy Hill restaurants, has anyone been to Fusion Grill, I believe that is what it is called on 8th Street, SE Use to be a crappy Chinese restaurant, they remodeled, went all modern looking.

The name alone should be warning enough...but I'm craving Chinese but can only eat on the Hill tonight.

So no Virginia burbs or Rockville Pike snobbery please

I think Fusion Grill is still the same crappy Chinese restaurant-- just a new name. I had Chinese delivered using the old take-out menu I had and found their Fusion Grill menu in the bag of god-awful food. Other than the snappy looking cover, the menu items looked to be largely the same as my old menu. They seem to be doing their level best to put the F-U in fusion.

Edited to add: I'm taking a look at the menu again. It states that they serve:

Low Cholesterol * Served Low Fat & Highly Nutritional Food

It's the same old chinese menu you see everywhere. And the only item I can find that would be "grilled" at the Fusion Grill is a chicken satay appetizer.

Stay far far away from the Kung Pao Shrimp. Trust me.

[DonRocks]

I was very leery walking into Fusion Grill on this beautiful autumn evening on Barracks Row (perhaps a contradiction in terms) - compared to the surrounding restaurants, it was relatively empty, with only about a half-dozen customers inside.

Never having been here before, I decided to "dip my toe into the water" rather than take the plunge, so I ordered risk-free and delicately.

The few people at the bar seemed to all know each other, and my bartender was perfectly friendly and attentive, in a mellow, dreadlockian sort of way.

I started off with a bottle of Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA ($5.95), and sipped as I read the menu carefully.

At home, I'd noticed that Fusion Grill seems to be proud of their crab cakes, so I ordered one Jumbo Lump Crab Cake ($12.95) as an appetizer, served with Asian slaw and Chinese mustard vinaigrette. Also, the Sweet Potato Tempura ($4.25) to round out part one of a two-part meal.

Well, surprise! I enjoyed both my dishes very much. The crab cake arrived first, about the size of a large plum, or slighly smaller than a tennis ball. Indeed, it was jumbo lump, with minimal binder that resulted in almost zero structural integrity - it buckled and collapsed upon the first fork cut, leaving me a flattened round of lump crap in a somewhat salty mustard sauce (there were three small pools of a pale green vinaigrette on the plate that didn't seem necessary, but didn't interfere with the dish). This was a good crab cake that was no bargain, but was fair value - made better because of its very good homemade slaw, consisting of cabbage, red pepper, and carrot strips, dressed in a semi-sweet Asian vinaigrette.

On the other hand, the sweet potato tempura, at $4.25, was sensational for the price - seven large strips of battered sweet potato (probably adding up to an entire skinned potato), looking something like battered fish sticks, but having freshly baked cuts of sweet potato inside instead of fish, and served with an important tub of soy-based sauce for dipping. If you're a tempura aficionado, you may be disappointed, but in the genre of "battered, deep-fried sweet potato," it was really very good. And along with the crab cake, made a nice small meal for a total of $17.20 without beer. The sweet potato was enough to provide filler without being boring, and the crab provided you with your protein splurge, the slaw adding the occasional bite of acidic sweetness.

Two gentlemen sitting to my left appeared to order chicken with black bean sauce, and if I lived in the neighborhood and wanted carryout, I'd roll the dice on this.

I know that Fusion Grill hasn't gotten much attention, but based on this one visit, I'm raising it a few notches in the Barracks Row Dining Guide - not to Italic, but up from where it was before. Color me pleasantly surprised.

[lindzjax]

Pleased you had a pleasant dining experience here but sadly, I think you lucked out and/or hit on a good night. Having been a number of times the service has ranged from mildly absent to abysmal and the food is merely okay. What tipped us into the "never again" category was a few months ago we went in on a Sunday night after a long travel day, ordered drinks and an appetizer (which we got) and then a few minutes later, ordered entrees. The entrees never came and by the time we flagged down our server to ask about their status, it has been SO long that we just wanted out of there. We asked that if they hadn't already been made, we'd just take the check. The crazy part was the server's response "Yeah, well, you know if you aren't dining at a really fine restaurant you are basically playing Russian roulette on whether the kitchen will ever even get your order. Sorry about that!" and walked away. !!! We were too stunned to respond!

[Mark Dedrick]

Don, did you lose a bet that requires you to eat at the worst places on Capitol Hill? Can we expect reviews of Union Pub, Hunan Dynasty and Banana Cafe next?

[DonRocks]

Don, did you lose a bet that requires you to eat at the worst places on Capitol Hill? Can we expect reviews of Union Pub, Hunan Dynasty and Banana Cafe next?

I've learned how to make the best of a bad situation.

But I promise both courses I had here were good, especially the sweet potato tempura. The thing is, I've been to so many bad restaurants in my life that I've developed a "sixth sense" about what to order. I can cobble together a pretty good meal most anywhere (you'll notice I didn't order the Crispy Calamari with Thai sweet-chili dipping sauce or the Caesar Soy Salad). If I wanted to be Robo-critic, I'd order what a "typical" customer might order, but I just can't bring myself to do it; I suppose that's why my reviews tend to be skewed positive - my goal is (usually, not always) to find avenues for people to get themselves a decent meal.

[Mark Dedrick]

Fair points. I have not dined in at Fusion Grill in I don't know how long. It was our Chinese delivery staple for a while (since replaced by Panda Cafe), and it does deliver reasonable generic Chinese takeout food.

[Mark Dedrick]

Per Young and Hungry, Fusion Grill is no more and is being replaced by a Medium Rare.  

[Pat]

According to this: Fusion Grill has the same owners as the nearby (John Boehner-favored) Lavagna.  It's reopening but this doesn't say where, just that it's "nearby."

[DonRocks]

According to this: Fusion Grill has the same owners as the nearby (John Boehner-favored) Lavagna.  It's reopening but this doesn't say where, just that it's "nearby."

Interestingly, Fusion Grill's Facebook page bills it as being vegetarian/vegan - I got a bit of that when I went (scroll up to posts #5 and #8), but didn't realize it was a primary selling point.

[Pat]

Fusion Grill is going to reopen as an Asian carryout in the space above Medium Rare.

[Pat]

According to a couple of postings on a neighborhood list serve, Szechuan House has reopened for takeout and delivery in the space above Medium Rare.  The posters report that delivery is prompt, the food is good, and they seem to be using the same recipes as before.  These are people who liked the food before and missed the restaurant, so YMMV.  202-546-5303

(Don, I guess the title of this needs to be changed once again...)

[DonRocks]

According to a couple of postings on a neighborhood list serve, Szechuan House has reopened for takeout and delivery in the space above Medium Rare.  The posters report that delivery is prompt, the food is good, and they seem to be using the same recipes as before.  These are people who liked the food before and missed the restaurant, so YMMV.  202-546-5303

(Don, I guess the title of this needs to be changed once again...)

After some research, it appears that the townhouse itself (which also housed Medium Rare) was sold from Thomas Queen, Esq. to Taoti Creative, an eighteen-year-old software design firm founded by Brett Lightner. There's no indication that I can find about the ownership of Szechuan House, but it appears to have been open (above Medium Rare) for several months now.

Mark, can you add any information?

[Pat]

Isn't it still owned by the owner(s) of Lavagna?