Can someone please summarize the top 5-7 restaurants in this neighborhood for me?
My sister and her boyfriend are coming in from out of town and want to get a reservation for this Friday (early evening). Thanks.
There is likely to be a lot of disagreement on the top 5-7 restaurants in the Chinatown area, but I'll throw out my favorites in no particular order:
Brasserie Beck: Belgian food; great Belgian beer list; good wine list; very, very good food.
Acadiana: High-end New Orleans food (as someone who lived in NOLA, it does a VERY good job of keeping true to NOLA cusine); It's not hip, but it's nice and the food is really good.
Graffiato: Mike Isabella's Italian spot; very good food (would highly recommend the tasting menu so you get a bit of everything); very trendy and can be very loud and crowded; may be tough to get a reservation at this point.
Zaytinya - Mediteranean small plates; most of the food is very good; a very popular spot.
Source - Some of the best food in DC; if they still have the Chinese tasting menu it is a must (one of the best meals I've ever had); it is very pricey.
Rasika - High-end Indian; I've only been once so I'm not the best authority on it, but I remember it being good; it gets incredible reviews and most people absolutely rave about it. A reservation may be tough to get at this point.
Oyamel - Mexican small plates; there is some disagreement on this one, but I really enjoy it every time I go; the food is different from generic Mexican and some things are incredibly good; they have a great ceviche bar and good drinks.
Ping Pong Dim Sum - Fun spot that serves dumplings, pork buns and other Chinese small plate dim sum; not fancy but I think it's really good; not too expensive.
Againn - a stretch to call it Chinatown, but it's got a great bar and really good food; they pride themselves on their scotch selection, which is very good.
So that's 9 rather than 5-7, and I'm sure I'm missing some crucial places. Some people will likely say PS7 which has gotten a lot of discussion on this thread, and while it's good I think I'd personally prefer any of the above. Some may say Rosa Mexicana for fancy Mexican, but I prefer Oyamel; I just find it more interesting. There are a ton of other restaurants in the neighborhood, but you can't go wrong with any of the above in my experience.