D.C. Wrap-Up

A few more reviews from the D.C. trip:

First off, I stayed in the St. Regis. This is a 5-star member of the Starwood Hotels group. I won't go on too much about the hotel. I was on a business trip and this hotel was one I NEVER would've even considered on my own (all chintz and colonial - not a speck of modern design anywhere). All I can say is that even if this hotel stays with the same pomp & circumstance decor, they still need a MAJOR renovation. Everything seemed a bit tattered and run-down, not living up to the St. Regis name. I will say on a positive note the staff/service there was great (except for the concierge - see below) and the location (near the White House) couldn't be beat.

Dinner Thursday night was at Charlie Palmer Steak for a group of about 20. We had a small private room in the back. I really liked the decor of both the private room and the main dining room - very modern, light and airy - not your typical dark stuffy steakhouse feel. We ordered off of a prix-fixe - I went for the butter braised 2-pd Maine lobster with citrus segments and baby fennel - DELICIOUS. The other choice was the rib-eye steak, which I heard was a great cut of meat but was a bit bland. The sides at Palmer's are what really count. The homemade shoestring fries and whipped mashed were perfect. The goat cheese mac-n-cheese is a MUST. I had the hazelnut pyramid for desert which definitely could've been passed over, however those who had the trio of creme brulee loved it and finished every last bite. Service at top-notch for a group which can always be a bit difficult to accomplish.

After dinner a bunch of us went searching for karaoke and were directed by our concierge to go to Cafe Japone. I should've known better than to take advice from someone who couldn't answer ANY questions about what the trendy/hip bars were but that's another whole story for a later time. Anway, Cafe Japone was ALMOST the worst karaoke bar I've ever been to. Since the upstairs (where the karaoke is) was full (it only holds about 40 people and there was a table full of college kids that filled up almost the whole place), we were told to wait downstairs (an early-80's style pastel rooms with white curtains everywhere - HIDEOUSLY 80's Miami) with no guarantee of getting in. Finally after a few rounds of Sapporos we were able to bribe our waitress to get us upstairs pass the surly door boy. When my turn to sing finally arrived, I started into my typical Killers "All These Things I've Done" when I realized you could barely hear the music or your own voice. As a karaoke snob I couldn't sing under those horrific conditions so I just gave up mid-song and went and sat back down frustrated. Our server tried to attribute it to "noise issues" with the neighborhood. Whatev. My group had fun and screamed the songs anway. I hope this really isn't the only karaoke place in D.C. (which is what the concierge had told us) - if that's the case I feel for the any karaoke divas that may exist in the Capitol.

Had lunch in Dupont Circle on Friday at Lauriol Plaza who tout themselves as having the best Mexican (and Latin) food in D.C. If that's the case, D.C. needs to import a Mexican chef! The space is large and was PACKED for a Friday lunchtime. I'll attribute it to the weather being the best of the year so far and the fact that the prices are reasonable. The space is great. Very large, 4 floors. We ate on the upstairs roof patio. There are a few different levels inside the restaurant and a sidewalk cafe. For food, we tried the guacamole (don't get excited - it WASN'T prepared tableside) which was nothing to write home about, the picadillo (nowhere near as good as the Lady Spence's), the chicken tacos (virtually flavorless) and chicken fajitas (I didn't try those). The margaritas (both frozen and on the rocks) were week and way too sweet. Oh, and the service was marginal at best. Overall, I'd say this place can definitely be by-passed, unless you are craving very average Mexican food and want to eat outside.

Overall, I hadn't been to D.C. in about 10 years and really liked it a lot. There are lots of places we passed or that I read about that I'd like to go back and try. The quick Acela trip makes it easy for a quick summer weekend getaway.