WASHINGTONIAN’S TOP 100


setting, tented in colorful fabric and dressed with larger-than-life-size photographs of Indian ingredients. // 100-B Gibbs St., Rockville; 301-610-0303; www. spicexing.com. Open: lunch and dinner daily. All major credit cards. Entree prices: lunch and dinner $10.95 to $16.95, weekday lunch buffet $8.95, weekend lunch buffet $10.95. Sound check: 65 decibels.


★★★ SUSHI TARO’S OMAKASE SUSHI COUNTER The difference between eating in the handsome main dining room and at the intime, six-seat


chef ’s counter, hidden in the back of this Dupont Circle Japanese restaurant, comes down to a lot of money and rare detail. Put yourself in the hands of chef- owner Nobu Yamazaki for an evening, and not only is the sake poured into cups of your own choosing and the wasabi grated before your eyes, but the lessons flow nonstop: Whole fried river trout is pleasantly bitter because the tiny fish feeds on algae, the master tells us. The fine noodles in a glass bowl of eel, smoked eggplant and clear broth are tinted pale green with tea, he offers. The lid of what looks like a brick is lifted to reveal matchsticks made from dried sea cucumber roe (“Seafood jerky!” cries my pal) and a dip of squid ink, sake and chili pepper. Intriguing. Less luscious: the one-note edamame soup with fried okra and a sardine cake. There are two house-made soy sauces; they come with a small brush for dabbing the sushi, some of the raw fish for which is bought at Tokyo’s famed Isukiji market. “I feel like I’ve been to Japan,” my companion whispers as we reluctantly depart one of the most enchanting meals in the city that doesn’t require a passport. Having just dined on some of the most exquisite food in Washington — and having tucked $400 into the bill holder


for the privilege — I can only nod and sigh. // 1503 17th St. NW; 202-462- 8999; www.sushitaro.com. Open: dinner Monday through Saturday. All major credit cards. Prices: $120 to $160. Sound check: 69 decibels.


★★ TABARD INN The Tabard Inn and I go back decades, but I still feel a flutter in my chest whenever I see its menu. So many enticements! I want to order one of each when the choices include a fat soft-shell crab garnished with juicy grapefruit and napped with a passion-fruit- accented brown butter sauce; seared scallops accompanied by ricotta-filled squash blossoms and a nest of squid- ink pasta jazzed up with preserved lemon; and a mixed grill that lets me savor plump quail, juicy duck sausages and roseate lamb chops, along with haricots verts cooked just right. The nut-crusted halibut might be dry, but you have to applaud the peach relish and plantain chips the fish shows up with. Named after the lodging place in Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” the business dates to 1922, but the kitchen, under executive chef Paul Pelt, is very much of the moment. Packaged in a low ceiling and black-and-while tile floor, the main dining room proves cramped and clattery. I prefer the cozier space upstairs or, better yet, the enclosed garden if the weather allows. The inn’s address, on a quiet, tree-lined street near Dupont Circle, gives it the air of a well-kept secret. The occupied couches in the firelit lounge tell you otherwise: You’d better have a reservation. // 1739 N St. NW; 202-331-8528; www. tabardinn.com Open: breakfast daily, lunch Monday through Friday, dinner daily, weekend brunch. All major credit cards. Entree prices: breakfast $2 to $11, lunch $11 to $17, dinner $23 to $33, brunch $11 to $17. Sound check: 76 decibels.


★★ TAQUERIA LA PLACITA Your senses let you know that you’re in the right place for Mexican. Look around the Hyattsville dining room, dressed with colorful murals; nearly every seat is occupied by someone who appears to have been weaned on tacos.


14 Years in a row


SPECTACULAR SEAFOOD


Creole and Cajun Specialties


3804 Mt. Vernon Avenue Alexandria, VA


703-684-6010 www.rtsrestaurant.net


French Restaurant & Wine Lounge in Friendship Heights


www.lechatnoirrestaurant.com


4907 Wisconsin Avenue, NW 202.244.2044


Restaurant & Crab House 3030 Old Riva RoadAnnapolis, MD 21140410-956-2784


Established 1958 www.mikescr abhouse .com


6 King St., Alexandria 703.548.0600


Authentic Thai Cuisine www.maithai.us


1200 19th St. NW 202.452.6870


THAI COUNTRY COMFORT FOOD Try Our Weekend Thai Dim Sum Menu 11am-3:00pm


5892 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041 (703)671-4222


www.duangrats.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188