Top 5 DC restaurants worth your lunch hour

K- C and I are both traveling this week but we didn’t want to leave you “post-less.” So here is a quick list of restaurants that are worth leaving your office for and spending around an hour for lunch, especially since many of these places offer the same type of menu for dinner as lunch but at a more affordable price. Some of these places we’ve reviewed on the blog and others I’ve been to and are on the list to be revisited and reviewed.

1. Mari Vanna, 1141 Connecticut Ave NW –

Grandma’s house?

A great place to get a taste of Russia and looks like it could be your grandma’s living room. You could have a nice bowl of Borsch, a vegetable ragout and Kiev cake. Who knows, you might see Alex Ovechkin at the next table! To check out our review click “here.”

2. Estadio, 1520 14th St NW

It’s been awhile since we’ve been to Estadio but we continue to hear great things about it. There have also been a few celebrity sitings.  It’s a wonderful place to escape to for the best sauteed kale I’ve ever eaten, a deliciously warm soup and heavenly calamari. Our review: here.

3. Brasserie Beck, 1101 K St NW

My mouth just starts watering when I think of the mussels at this delightful restaurant. They do have other items for lunch such as steak and frites if you aren’t into mussels but I find it very difficult to try something else. Our review here.

4. Rasika West End,  1190 New Hampshire Ave

We’ve not reviewed Rasika West End yet, but I’ve been a couple of times. The first time the service was very slow but it seems to be picking up a bit. I brought a friend with me who has recently begun a foray into Indian food. She loved it! The restaurant itself has a very nice, modern interior and the food – I usually have palak paneer – is good.

5. Fiola, 601 Pennsylvania Ave

Fiola is a bit on the expensive side however it was ranked #4 in Washingtonian’s 100 Very Best Restaurants 2013 and Bon Appetit named it one of America’s “Best New Restaurants” in 2012. The food and service is fantastic. It’s one of the few places I will go to for Italian food.

#Estadio = again

K – Recently we went to Estadio for lunch. I wasn’t sure what to expect as restaurants in DC can have a lot of hype and turn out to be just “meh” and expensive. Estadio turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I loved the interior – it was cozy with a Spanish feel to it. The food on the menu sounded delicious and it was bit difficult to decide what to order.  I started with the butternut squash soup, vanilla cream & toasted pepitas soup for myself and we shared the small plates of Rhode Island calamari a la plancha with salsa verde; sautéed red kale with garlic, sherry & chili flakes; crispy Brussel sprouts with carmelized onions, pine nuts & currants and I ended with the Catalan lemon & almond tart.

I won’t go into the details of how the food tasted, I’ll just say that all of it tasted fabulous. As for service, it was a bit slow but good nonetheless. I would certainly go back again, which is saying a lot – at least for me.

C – I absolutely loved this place. It’s on the other side of Logan Circle, away from the hustle and bustle of K Street — the perfect place for two great friends to meet, chat and eat. The atmosphere is very hip yet relaxing and casual at the same time. I also started with the butternut squash soup and I kind of wanted to lick the bowl when my spoon stopped working. The Brussels sprouts were to die for. (I never thought I’d say that about Brussels sprouts). And who knew I liked kale? I finished with the manchego cheesecake with quince jam and pistachio granola along with, ehem, half of K’s desert — both equally delectable in their own ways. The only think I wasn’t too keen on were the roasted baby chorizos with potato crisps. I’d go again, as well.

http://estadio-dc.com/