Some people go to Washington, D.C. specifically to eat because the city has some of the best restaurants in the world. Even the hotels, known elsewhere for mediocre fare, have great restaurants with chefs of renown who have items on their menus to please your palate.
Lafayette Room
This restaurant is in the Hay-Adams Hotel where you are able to view the White House. While you cannot go wrong by going to the Lafayette Room for Sunday brunch, the true test of a gourmet restaurant is what it has on the dinner menu, and this restaurant passes with flying colors. Start your meal with an appetizer such as Black and Blue Ahi Tuna with sweet mango and a spicy Japanese radish salad, or Texas coast shrimp and black garlic ravioli with saut ed shrimp and artichokes. Segue to an entree like roasted Georges Bank scallops with fennel and topped with orange Pernod butter or grilled Niman Ranch beef filet of Short Rib with braised root vegetables.
Michel Richard Citronelle
Citronelle is in the Latham Hotel, where some congressional people and other dignitaries dine. Chef Michel Richard has put together a creative menu and the 8,000-bottle wine cellar is one of the best in the city. You can choose dishes from the tasting menu for $150 per person, as of January, 2011, and they include dorade royale with fingerling potatoes and Asian-style duck with spring rolls and potato fried rice among several others. Sit at the Chef's Table and be prepared to spend as much as $275 per person.
Ici Urban Bistro
Ici Urban Bistro is in a Swiss Hotel, Sofitel Lafayette Square on 15th Street, so it's not a typical French restaurant. Only seasonal ingredients are used and its menu is very contemporary. Start your meal with Chesapeake Lump Crab Duo with jumbo lump crab and an avocado salad as well as crisp crab with a sweet pepper spring roll or Fois Gras Terraine consisting of Hudson Valley foie gras, a Virginia Braeburn apple gel e and chips, and served with a mâche salad. For your entree, try roasted halibut with toasted gingerbread crust and accompanied by zucchini tagliatelle with white wine and pepper emulsion or Veal Tenderloin with York orchard apples, wilted Vates kale, and oyster mushrooms in Cardamom jus.
CityZen
There's no question who's in charge of CityZen in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. It's Ric Ziebold who's chef de cuisine and a James Beard Award winner. The menu is modern American through and through, but chef Zeibold interjects some foreign dishes on it like valk shank served with potato gnocchi. Start with an appetizer such as Confit Of Moulard Duck Foie Gras served with cranberry stew, Star Anise scented pain perdu and crystallized orange. For your entree, order one of several dishes like pan seared Maine Diver scallops with braised Cardoons, Spanish capers, Piquillo peppers and Castillo de Tabernas olive oil. Top off your meal with the restaurant's version of a banana split which is roasted banana fritters with creme brul e ice cream and mocha coulis.
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