On Saturday, my friends, Nicole, Ryan and Adrian and I headed to the Oval Room for the first time, during DC’s Restaurant Week, located near I Street and Connecticut Avenue, Northwest DC.
Some of us already made selections from the restaurant week menu and were discussing them when the super mousy waitress appeared and asked us if we’d like anything to drink.
It wasn’t that waitress in the back there, who looks like she’s standing at attention.
She brought us some bread after we ordered, which you can see here, thanks to Nicole, under the beautiful oval-shaped light fixture above our table. The restaurant looked pretty cool.
For the first course, Ryan got Pastrami cured salmon, dijon sauce, romaine rib and pumpernickel. The salmon really did taste like Pastrami.
Adrian got Amish white corn angolotti, black truffle butter and parmesan crumbs, because he loves the Amish. It looked delish.
For the first course, Ryan got Pastrami cured salmon, dijon sauce, romaine rib and pumpernickel. The salmon really did taste like Pastrami.
Adrian got Amish white corn angolotti, black truffle butter and parmesan crumbs, because he loves the Amish. It looked delish.
Nicole and I both got tempura fried soft shell crab, buffalo sauce mayo and celery, which was very tasty! (minus the celery)
For the main course, Ryan got seared sea scallops with stew of cauliflower (and chorizo and hysoop, whatever that is). They look yum-o.
I got a weird named pasta, Garganelli pasta, which kinda looks like penne pasta. It has field tomatoes, smoked mozzarella and basil in it. The more cheese, the better. It was actually really flavorful.
Nicole got the slow baked salmon with the wonderful cucumber ribbons on top. I’ve never seen cucumber cut like that before. This dish included Greek yogurt and crushed peanut potatoes.
Adrian got flat iron steak, although I don’t eat red meat so I think it looks like dog food. He said it tasted ok though. This dish comes with roasted eggplant, roasted marmalade and herbs.
Between the main course and dessert, I visited the bathroom. The beauty of The Oval Room could not have foreshadowed the hospital-waiting-room-like quality of the two-stall restroom.
However, I soon forgot about the ugly bathroom when I saw my dessert: Date chocolate cake, toffee glaze and chocolate ice cream.
Check out the inside of the cake. It was delicious!
The verdict? I’d go back just for that dessert, everything else was just ok.
For the main course, Ryan got seared sea scallops with stew of cauliflower (and chorizo and hysoop, whatever that is). They look yum-o.
I got a weird named pasta, Garganelli pasta, which kinda looks like penne pasta. It has field tomatoes, smoked mozzarella and basil in it. The more cheese, the better. It was actually really flavorful.
Nicole got the slow baked salmon with the wonderful cucumber ribbons on top. I’ve never seen cucumber cut like that before. This dish included Greek yogurt and crushed peanut potatoes.
Adrian got flat iron steak, although I don’t eat red meat so I think it looks like dog food. He said it tasted ok though. This dish comes with roasted eggplant, roasted marmalade and herbs.
Between the main course and dessert, I visited the bathroom. The beauty of The Oval Room could not have foreshadowed the hospital-waiting-room-like quality of the two-stall restroom.
However, I soon forgot about the ugly bathroom when I saw my dessert: Date chocolate cake, toffee glaze and chocolate ice cream.
Check out the inside of the cake. It was delicious!
The verdict? I’d go back just for that dessert, everything else was just ok.
Still looking for a dish that blows me away,
Insana
I enjoyed all three of my courses. I'm ready for winter restaurant week. Next! Me want food.