Heading to DC for a few days from July 5-9. I briefly lived in the district, but it was 40 years ago. Any suggestions on where to stay, where to eat? Trip is just my wife and I (her first to DC). Want to do the usual tourist thing with government buildings and such. Heading to a farm in Virginia for several days on the 9th. Appreciate any helpful thoughts.
Monaco near Verizon center would be a gray location and be sure to go to RASIKA
Bunch of stuff below on where to eat. What type of food do you like / what type of restaurants do you want to try?
In addition, where’s the farm?
LOTS more info needed about what budget you have, what you like to do, what you like to eat . . . . The threads Doug linked will give you a good head start
The farm is in an area the locals call the Upper Neck, near Montross. I truly appreciate all the responses, especially the links to earlier threads. We have reservations at Proof and Corduroy, but would be open to change. We come from Colorado and would probably appreciate fresh seafood and ethnic cuisine most. We don’t mind spending $100-150 for a bottle with dinner and another $100 or so for the eats. If it takes more than that to have an excellent experience, we’ll swallow hard and go for it. Neal’s Indian restaurant sounds interesting.
Brian
Hands down, in my opinion, the best seafood in DC is at Sushi Taro’s chef counter: Omakase Counter | Hours + Location | Sushi Taro. You could eat there with a bottle of sake for the budget you mentioned if it was per person for food.
Also good seafood at Fiola Mare, Black Salt, a couple Greek places (Kellari Taverna and an excellent whole fish baked in salt at Mourayo), and Eat the Rich. Corduroy usually has an excellent fish dish or two, as well - my wife orders their seared preparation of tuna on top of sushi rice four out of five times. And we prefer eating at their bar upstairs - 3 courses for $30, best fine-dining value in DC by far!
For ethnic, Rasika or Rasika West are excellent up-scale Indian (busy, so make reservations soon or eat in their lounges) with good wine lists. Little Serow is (northern) Thai food by one of DC’s top chefs. There’s a few good-to-decent ethiopian spots (Ethiopic, Etete, Meskerem). Zaytinya has good Mediterranean food in a nice setting. Might be a few I’m forgetting but most of the best ethnic spots are in the suburbs.
Lots of votes for Rasika. Set that up this AM, which pretty much fills out the dining dancecard. Thanks to all!
Black Salt and Kellari definitely have splendid seafood. Ripple’s a fine restaurant in upper NW on Connecticut
(Cleveland Park Metro stop) with an excellent wine program.
Rasika is great.
Another interesting restaurant is Jaleo, Spanish tapas. Both are not too far from Proof.
A fabulous restaurant in Cleveland Park is Ripple.
Randy,
Agree on Black Salt and also mentioned Ripple on my post above.
What is Kellari. Have not heard of it.
Of course, you and I might say the best place to eat is Nat’s Park. Food is mediocre and no wine. But the entertainment is great.
They usually have nice specimens of whole fish which they then grill.
Dean Gold has opened a great new place in Shaw — Dean’s Grotto.
One thing you shouldn’t miss is the Marine Retreat. Don’t know if you can get a ticket at this late date - but try. It is really special.
http://www.marine-corps-video-evening-parade.com/reservations_and_schedules.html
One of my favorite museums is the Portrait Gallery. Great building and excellent exhibits.
Thanks Ted. We’re in DC Saturday to Wednesday. Looks as though the Marine Retreat is Friday evenings, so we’ll have to save that for the next trip. You folks have overwhelmed me with restaurant reccos. I’d need to stay a month to work my way though all the stuff that sounds great. Thanks again to all.
Thinking of staying at either the Sofitel Lafayette Sq or the Jefferson. Anyone have experience with either?
The Sofitel is across the street from my office and clients/visitors stay there often. It is a very nice smaller hotel. Nice restaurant. Very nice rooms (get a corner if you can). Strongly recommended
Done! Thanks Neal.
I spent a fare amount of time of my life near Montross, and in my experience all of the locals called it the Northern Neck. But heck, maybe you found an uber-specific local variation. Regardless, it’s a really lovely part of the state–right on the water. I suspect you’ll have a great time.
I’ve lived in VA my entire (very long) life; it’s Northern Neck. I’ve never heard anyone use “Upper”
My research staff has been suitably chastised.