We ate at a few interesting places while in Washington, so I thought I would give some quick reviews and recommendations for anyone headed that way soon. I did make dinner reservations in advance given that it was a holiday weekend. Sorry I did not get too many pictures as I was enjoying the time with family.

Rasika West End – This is an upscale Indian restaurant that my daughter and I went to in 2019. She wanted to return so I booked it for Friday night. We were able to walk there and back from the Park Hyatt. We all decided to get the tasting menu for $80 per person rather than individual dishes. We really enjoyed the appetizers, including everyone’s favorite, the crispy spinach. The four different curries that made up the main entrée were a bit too rich, especially after we had an amuse bouche and two appetizers. The desserts were also excellent. Overall, we enjoyed the meal, but it was almost too much food.

Call Your Mother – Local bagel chain with all kinds of flavors and interesting cream cheese options. We grabbed lunch here after visiting some of the museums. The smoked salmon bagel and iced coffee were both very good.

China Chilcano – This is a Peruvian/Chinese/Japanese tapas style restaurant by Jose Andres (of World Food Kitchen fame). Our daughter picked this one out. We shared several plates and enjoyed the different flavors. The drinks were not great as they had some strange ingredients that didn’t really blend well. I would recommend this place for dinner if you want something a bit unusual.

Old Ebbit Grill – This is a DC institution over 150 years old. I have always wanted to eat here, even though it’s very touristy. They had a good selection of beer and my wife enjoyed the wine. The menu is a bit like a diner, a bit of everything. My wife had a burger, our daughter had pasta and I had the meatloaf. We also had key lime pie and bread pudding for dessert. It won’t win any James Beard awards, but it was good comfort food and a fun atmosphere.

Da Hong Pao – We visited this dim sum restaurant for lunch on July 4^th (how American!) They don’t run carts like many dim sum places. Instead you check off what you want on a list of dishes. The food was good and they had all the standard dishes like ribs, pork buns, custard buns, shiu mai, etc. Service was fast and attentive. If you are looking for dim sum in DC, this is a good bet.

&pizza – Before we went to watch the concert and fireworks at the Capitol, we grabbed pizza to go from this DC chain. They were out of some ingredients due to the holiday rush, so I won’t penalize them too much for that. The line moved very quickly despite the long line. Everyone can get their own individual pizza for around $11, so there are no arguments over toppings. For a fast casual place, the quality of the sauce, toppings and cheese was very good.

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