Agree with most of this, except -- I finally ate at Komi in January and the fish they cooked for me must have been in a reactive pan, it had a terrible metallic taste and I left before dessert.
Now, I understand that the place was closed for a few weeks and completely revamped since then. But I really am not keen to go back.
Also disagree on Citronelle, it
can be very good but it's been rather uneven for me -- both in terms of food and service.
But 100% agree that CityZen is the best meal in the district proper, that in Virginia Maestro is in the same league, and that both compete with the food (though not the experience) of the Inn at Little Washington.
IndeBleu is very good though overpriced for what it is (same with 2941 in Fairview Park). Zengo is also very good, but its location next to the MCI Center can wreak havoc with traffic and valet parking attempts -- get there early!
And alas TenPenh and Vidalia are unimpressive.
Originally Posted by blueDC
If you're willing to trek up to Dupont Circle (Metro Red Line),
Komi has awesome New American food. For oysters, check out
Hank's Oyster Bar. Both are on 17th St.
In Chinatown (the "new" Downtown), I can highly recommend
Zengo for Latin-Asian fusion, and
IndeBleu for French-Indian fusion.
For upper brackets, I've always had great food at
Citronelle in Georgetown, and arguably the best (and most expensive) restaurant in DC right now is
CityZen at the MO|DC. Justifiably so, I might add.
For the suburbs, I'm glad someone mentioned
Maestro (Tysons Corner) and
Eve (Alexandria) coz they are both fiercely good!
Personally (and IMHO), I'd file Galileo, TenPenh, and Vidalia under "I'm not rushing back there anytime soon"
