Exterior & Interior of Table; Table’s menu
One of our favorite meals in Washington, D.C. was at Table. This two-story brick building that has its name painted on its side. The Chef de Cuisine Patrick Robinson leading his crew in an open kitchen split with the dining room. The dining room is streamlined with the long banquette lining along the wall with solid blonde wooden tables and white curved chairs. At the back of the restaurant, there’s a splash of color with bold mosaic.
What drew us to Table is their changing menu of fresh, seasonal dishes and what reads like thoughtful, French-inspired fare.
Our waitress was very friendly and knowledgeable of the food and the beer when my male companion inquired. We settled for pots of warm French Verveine tisane tea that was bright and lemony from the lemon verbena leaves (sourced by Teaism) and a light and hoppy West Coast IPA Double Indian Indian Pale Ale.
We started out with this magnificent foie gras millefeuille ($15). House made foie gras layered with thin slices of serrano ham to play on the savory nutty nuances between the two. The sweet persimmon and bitter frisee provided the refreshing contrasts from the foie gras millefeuille.
The Nantucket bay scallops, saffron raviolo, tiny vegetables, escarole ($14) looked spring-y with the vibrant, light green puree of escarole amongst the bumpy sea of beige, seared sweet scallops and mushrooms. Having the raviolo cut and its saffron broth explode and mixed with the dish’s components, made this dish delicious and tie up all the flavors of sweet, vegetal, and earthy nicely.
The most luxurious dish on the current appetizer menu is the poached farm egg and truffle, beurre blanc served with a thin, nicely grilled toast. This was amazing and decadent soup-like appetizer was delicious and despite how minimalist this seems, it’s the best way to express the nutty, complex black truffle.
On the main courses, we had grilled cobia, pork belly, kaffir-lime sauce, salsify, kumquat ($28), an ode of sea and earth. The grilled flaky, white-fleshed fillets of cobia worked very well with the silky slices of pork belly. The bright green droplets of hauntingly floral, kaffir-lime sauce made it so unique.
The lobster ragout “dedicated to Alain Chapel”, fingerling potatoes, onion bisque ($32) almost tasted like a Cantonese inspired dish to us, despite the fact it’s a nod to one of the fathers of Nouvelle Cuisine. What made us think it’s more Cantonese inspired is the intense flavors of garlic, ginger and spices from the bisque and the relative way of how the lobster was chopped. Whichever way you would define this dish, we enjoyed the intense flavors of the sauce and the proper cooking of the lobster. The potatoes soften the flavors but worked nicely.
Seared venison loin, truffle pomme puree, duck fat roasted carrots ($38) topped with slices of black truffles was very tasty. It’s an upgraded, game version of steak and potatoes.
For dessert, we opted to share ricotta beignets ($8). Fluffy, moist yet delicately crisp beignets flavored with orange blossom honey and sweetened with powdered sugar. It’s a great finish for our excellent dinner.
We loved our meal at Table. Service was professional yet approachable. Food was phenomenal and well thought out. It was certainly entertaining to watch the young chefs cooking at the open kitchen that shares the dining room space. We would definitely come back if we were to revisit D.C.
To view more photos of this dinner, please CLICK HERE or view the gallery below:
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Table
903 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 588-5200
Website