Rasika West – yum!

Photo taken from Rasika West FB page

K- I was meeting a friend of mine that I hadn’t seen for a very long time who was flying into DC for a business trip. I suggested we meet at Rasika West as it was nearby to where I was and where he was staying.

I got there early so I sat at the bar. I ordered a Kaminee, which consisted of Pimms, chili gin, lime juice, ginger syrup and cucumber. The chili gin gave a nice kick to the drink and overall the drink wasn’t too sweet. I also munched on some spiced popcorn that they have at the bar rather than the usual boring nuts or chips.

When my friend arrived we went to the dining room – I couldn’t handle the bar anymore as there was a girl there who sounded like one of the Kardashians – to have dinner.  The dining room is exquisitely decorated and can get a bit noisy when it starts filling up, especially since the tables are a little close to each other.

Photo taken from Urban Spoon.

When the waiter came to take our order he was very informative but not overly so. He answered our questions and offered to help with the menu if needed.The menu had a nice choice of vegetarian options. There were also other choices for non-vegetarians such as fish and chicken entrees.

My only question was although it’s not on the menu, could I have palak paneer. He said “yes,” which made me very happy as it’s my favourite; sadly as it is my favourite, I have a tendency not to explore other dishes. I have vowed to change that next time I go to an Indian restaurant but that wasn’t going to be the night. I also ordered garlic naan and basmati rice. My friend ordered the shrimp pepper masala.

My dinner was fabulous, so much so that I ate all of it, which left no room for dessert. But I enjoyed every bite of it!

I’m looking forward to going back and trying something new – maybe the paneer mattar, malai palak or vegetable biryani. Yum!

Rasika West

1190 New Hampshire Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20037
Entrance on New Hampshire Avenue & M Street.
Valet parking is available at Dinner only.
See map

Tel: 202.466.2500

Vegging out at Ben’s

K- I went to Ben’s for the first time for lunch with a couple of colleagues. I’d never gone as I’m not a big fan of chili dogs, half-smokes, etc. as I’m not really a meat eater. However, my colleague assured me that Ben’s does have veggie chili and veggie dogs!! So, off I went to join them for lunch at Ben’s Chili Bowl.

The place is really cute – let me reword as my colleagues (both guys and huge fans of the restaurant) said that I cannot say that it is “cute” but they are fine with “groovy” and nostalgic. Who uses the word groovy? Anyway, it is very retro, 1950s-looking, with photos of all of the celebrities, politicians, etc. that have come to the restaurant.

I had a bowl of chili with cheese and onion (unfortunately they were out of the veggie dogs) a side of fries and a lemonade. My colleagues had a chili dog, half-smoke, fries and a piece of lemon cake. The veggie chili had a nice spicy flavour to it – it pretty much tasted the same as “regular” chili, at least from what I remember. The fries were good too – not a bit greasy. I heard the lemon cake was tasty but didn’t get to try it myself – I was too full and hadn’t finished my chili and fries when my colleague was half-way through his piece of cake! 

The atmosphere of the place was cozy and friendly. The restaurant was very busy but everything went smoothly from ordering to having the food brought out. I even got to meet Ms. Virginia Ali (she and her husband started Ben’s Chili Bowl) who chatted with us for awhile and started clearing our table even though she was obviously dressed up for something else. If you’ve not met her she’s a very lovely and gracious woman.

Overall, it’s a great place to have lunch, catch up with friends and have a good time without the formalities. Long live Ben’sl!!

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Ben’s Chili Bowl

1213 U Street NW Washington

1-U Street Metro | 202-667-0909