| Address | 101 Constitution Ave., Washington, DC 20001 |
|---|---|
| Phone | (202) 547-8100 |
| Fax | (202) 547-6607 |
| Website | http://www.charliepalmer.com/Properties/CPSteak/DC/ |
We took advantage of Charlie Palmer's corkage policy - no fee for domestic wines, for up to two bottles per table.
The menu was balanced, including the expected aged steak entres, and some interesting fish and seafood. Service was prompt and attentive. Our water glasses and bread plates were never empty. The restaurant is an attractive dining space, with lots of windows and room between tables.
This place rates return visits, and that's easy. It's near metro (Union Station) and reservations may be made through OpenTable.com.
It is restaurant week, my sister and I had the pre-set menu for $30pp. The selection was nice but not quite what you expected from this type of restaurant. My sister had the shrimp which she had to pay $9 extra, and salmon for the entree which was quite good. I had octopus which I would not order again, it wasn't not the octopus you have in mind, it was fried and dry. For entree I had beef which was mediocre...from a place known for its steak. Restaurant week is supposed to provide the opportunity for restaurant to showcase their food. Well, if I really had to pay full price for that type of steak, I'd rather go to Outback for fraction of the price. Though, I must say the service was excellent and the ambiance is nice.
Charlie Palmer is one of my favorite spots for a decadent lunch. The decor is very muted with the sound of running water in the background and retro '70s fine dining decor. Tables are well spaced so you don't feel crowded (or rushed) and it is easy to hear each other during your meal. The food is delicious (and priced that way)! My suggestion is to go with their fixed price lunch for only $20. The spinach salad with crispy pancettta and a four minute egg is divine, the hanger steak is very flavorful, and finish off with the butterscotch custard and you won't be dissapointed. As for the sides - the pommes frittes are worth the extra calories, arriving hot, crispy, and perfectly seasoned in a paper cone at your table. Skip the ketchup and go straight for the horseradish dipping sauce (yum). My only complaint is the service is a little too ever present, but this is certainly better than the alternative! This is such a great value for the money (the fixed price lunch) that it makes me wish more restaurants downtown offered this option throughout the year and not just during Restaurant Week.
We brought three old bottles of wine with us. Two American wines per table were not subject to a corkage fee. The third bottle incurred a $25 corkage fee. The wines were decanted and served when we asked for them. They also brought the wine bottles to the table (all but the last one). I would have preferred it if they had opened and decanted all the bottles at the table. We also ordered a white wine to drink with starters.
The restaurant specializes in American food and wines. The menu and the wines list were full of interesting choices. The roasted beet appetizer was puzzling. It had four or five chunks of beets, each about the size of a quarter, a dollop of goat cheese and some dressed greens. The steaks were prepared exactly as ordered. They were large; but still manageable.
Overall, the ambiance, service and food produced a very pleasant dining experience.
A large party in the separate event room impacted our service (45 minutes or so for food, although drinks were always available) but the staff repeatedly apologized and offered us freebies to compensate. I was expecting a super-memorable steak experience, but got one that was merely "really good". I ordered my rib-eye black and blue and didn't get enough black; my friend ordered medium and got what I would have wanted. The sides are all delicious, we had fingerling potatoes, spinach--of course!, cauliflower au gratin and hen of the woods mushrooms. The atmo is a function of the beautiful restaurant's capitol dome-view location. One friend complained that the dining room is noisy, which it is, noisy but beautiful.
Mmm… Charlie Palmer (of Aureole and Metrazur in NYC) has a steakhouse in DC. It’s official- He can do no wrong.
Delicious food, good company, great service- all in a beautiful, airy restaurant.
Last night was definitely the high point of the week for my tummy. Shrimp seviche, garlicky broccoli rabe, artichoke soup… it was all delicious and a lot more than just steak!
Especially dessert- sharing is the best of both worlds! One was fresh berries and crème fraiche, the other a hazelnut/praline/chocolate pastry. Welcome to the District Charlie.
Having worked on Capitol Hill, I always wanted to check out Charlie Palmer Steak, which opened with much fanfare some months ago in a vast, attractive space that's easily within walking distance from Union Station. With its sleek decor and its fresh, "nouvelle" outlook on American steak cuisine, Charlie Palmer promised to breathe new life into the staid and all-too-clubby Hill dining scene.
And your daddy's steakhouse this is not. Charlie Palmer's spacious and tasteful interior features flowing streams and stunning views of the Capitol dome. While striking at first glance, to many this may be something of a distraction, seemingly more suitable to a lobby in a boutique hotel or the executive lounge at Dulles. But I found it rather refreshing.
Seating was prompt, and the service friendly and attentive if not borderline intrusive. (Conversation was frequently interrupted to ask if "everything's okay.") The wine list is exhaustive and can be overwhelming: a thick tome of more than 100 domestic-only vintages. With the aid of the sommelier, who couldn't have been any less confident about her suggestions, we settled on a bottle of adequate Washington State cabernet.
My friend and I went to Charlie Palmer with the Restaurant Week menu in mind, and between the two of us we were able to sample all four of the prix fixe dishes on offer. The Sunchoke Soup, also featured on the regular dinner menu at $9, was wilting, served too cold and its potato crouton garnish soggy. My friend's beet salad came handsomely presented, appearing crisp and seeming to satisfy.
For the main course, I ordered the hanger steak, $29 on the regular dinner menu, which arrived more throughly cooked than the medium rare I requested. And though not a premium cut, hanger steak need not be as bleak or unmemorable. Hardly was there a hint of tenderness in the meat, and the beef's natural flavor was overpowered by copious amounts of rather dissonant sweet marinade. The mushroom risotto, on which the steak was served, did nothing to complement but instead detracted from the meat's flavor. Under these unfortunate conditions, the steak could no longer be the main attraction; instead it was relegated to a supporting role, elbowed aside by the more robust mushroom risotto. For meat-lovers, such culinary intransigence can never be tolerated.
My friend selected the roasted chicken, $19 on the regular menu, which was served with mushrooms and potato gnocchi. She claimed it was "good" but appeared uninterested after taking a couple of bites. She politely declined when the server suggested we take the leftovers to go.
Dessert was a more engaging affair. Unexpectedly permitted to choose from any item off the regular menu, we opted for the cheesecake and the Chocolate Hazelnut Pyramid, listed at $7 each. A New York traditionalist when it comes to cheesecake, I found Charlie Palmer's variation, while visually appealing, leaving something amiss. Served with cream and berry compote, the texture of the cheesecake itself was a tad fluffy, more appropriate to a Spanish tortilla than the silky indulgence that massages the palate.
My friend seemed to enjoy her interactive chocolate selection, which came on a tray dressed in a light pastry "pyramid" with ice cream and pralines served on the side.
In all, we were content with our Charlie Palmer experience. The staff was helpful, the lofty atmosphere suggestive of a bold departure from stuffy, traditional notions about restaurant steak-eating. But the food, while ambitious, was not yet up to snuff for a Class A establishment with prices to match. A welcome entry to the DC restaurant scene, I will return another day hopeful that a more masculine cut of beef, such as the porterhouse for two at $72, will better satisfy.
Charlie Palmer's steak is the kind of restaurant you want to go to when you want to 'dine'. This is not somewhere to go if you are in a hurry. If you want to enjoy an evening of dining this is the place!
