The Caesar salad had real anchovies, the confit duck spring rolls and were hot and crunchy with a nice dipping sauce. The lobster ravioli was perfect - the lobster was king, the pasta and cream sauce complemented it perfectly! The butternut squash soup was rich and wonderful, house salad was fresh, and flounder and spinach was cooked perfectly. We had the apple beignets for dessert, and they were great! Oh, and the malbec was world class! We walked in with no reservations and they graciously accommodated us, but next time we'll be sure to reserve our spot! read more

Outstanding dinner every time. I've been eating here once or twice a year for eight years and they never disappoint. Outstanding wine selections and perfectly prepared entrees. The duck just melted in your mouth. Can't wait for my next visit. read more

As most people, we had dinner here before a show at the Kennedy Center. Service was excellent, food was as well - with the exception of the lamb chops that we re served mostly raw. They had some of the best Calamari I've ever had, and a pretty good wine list. They have a "Dinner & Show" parking arrangement where you can use their valet packing for $10.00 - beats the heck out of the $40.00 plus you'll pay to park anywhere in Philly or NY! Highly recommended! read more

We arrived late for our reservation due to Washington traffic issues. The staff welcomed us and seated us quickly. We didn't have time for the pre-theater menu which takes 90 minutes, so we ordered off the menu. All four of us ordered something different and everyone totally enjoyed their meal. I had the duck, which was perfectly prepared. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience. After dinner we walked to the Kennedy Center and then walked back to the restaurant after the performance to get our car. What a great find. We will definitely go again! read more

Lovely neighborhood restaurant. Jose and Carlos provided great service. My wife and I had the mushroom soup, Kale Caesar and the seared tuna. All of these met or exceeded our expectations. Looking forward to eating here the next time we are in town. read more

A complete surprise- excellent food & service. Everything was just perfect. It was a great place to spend a few hours. There was no rushing you out the door after the desserts were finished. Please ask for Maria to be your server. I especially enjoyed the steak cooked to perfection along with their Apple fritters. read more

We stayed at the hotel and decided to try their breakfast - Huge mistake! They charged us automatically 20% for service, and we were using the buffet, which means we served ourselves. We actually had also to serve my son who wanted a bagel, and take and prepare it by ourselves, so the waiters didn't even bother to ask if we need any help. Prices are ridiculously high, especially if you consider the fact that the bagels and pastries were at least 3 days old. Very poor buffet, with very few items, and a very expensive price (without considering the the pay that they charged us for the service). Never going to eat there again! read more

Wonderful service, received the perfect amount of attention and privacy. Had the tuna tartare and it was fantastic! Beautiful atmosphere and the perfect post Kennedy Center spot. read more

NEVER GO HERE; I went here for a friends birthday dinner and the service was horrible. We were not seated immediately and once we were, our waitress made two of our guests move seats. (our waitress was too large to maneover between the chair and the wall). She immediatley demanded to see everyones id's although we were all over age and we were not all ordering drinks. The food took forever to come and our waitress was not knowledgable on the menu. A steak that was ordered medium came out raw. After dinner we did not want dessert (we wanted to get out there as soon as possible) yet our waitress brought out a cake and proceeded to charge us for it. At the end of the night we requested to speak with a manager after our waitress failed to take out the 20% gratuity off the bill. She said the gratuity was madatory for parties of 6 or more however only five of us were paying and this information was not provided on the menu. When we pointed this out, she said that it was on the online menu. After searching online, we still did not find the information. There was no manager on duty besides our waitress so we were forced to speak with the hotel staff. All in all, NEVER GO HERE EVER!!!!! read more

I'm confused by the somewhat negative reviews. This place is great. My wife and I came for dinner before a show. The restaurant is small, cozy and comfortable. The bartender was knowledgeable and engaging. The food was terrific, as was the service. The theater menu was diverse and satisfying. We will definitely be back, even if we don't have show tix. read more

I really had high hopes for this restaurant. It is attached to the River Inn and since the hotel is so amazing we decided to splurge one night and take our family out on a meal of a lifetime. We had just come in from a long day, heading up to our room and noticed no one was in the restaurant. We dropped off our souvenirs and headed back downstairs. Once we walked through the door, a woman greeted us at the hostess stand. She gave us the once-over and rudely asked us if we had a reservation. I thought no but there's only one other couple here in this entire restaurant (that should have been my first warning). She begrudgingly sat us at a corner table by the bar, in the back as if to hide us away, so that no other patrons could see us. She bluntly threw the menus in front of us...My husband and myslef and my two young children ages 10 and (one celebrating her birthday) 12. We smiled and decided to kill her with kindness. But it did no good as she came back 15 minutes later with four glasses of water set them down and walked away. She then went to the other side of the counter and with her back to us and just sat there. The manager was walking around and making small talk with the other table. After 25 minutes and looking at the back of our waitresses head she finally got up off her seat and decided to come check on us?? I truly believe she was hoping we would just leave. By this time two more patrons had come to the bar and sat down. There were now four couples in this restaurant and we have not even ordered yet. When she realized we weren't leaving she pulled out her book and asked us what we wanted. I asked for a glass of iced tea to start off with since she hadn't even taken our drink orders yet. Once we placed our orders it took another 10 minutes to get our drinks ,it was unsweet tea and there was sugar packets on the table. I only tell you this because we each used to sugar packets and when she noticed that she made a horribly rude comment about having to put more sugar on the table. When she put our drinks down she not only reached over all of us she put her armpits on me and pushed me aside as she was trying to give my 12 year old her drink. ( after all, we were in a corner )She did this several times when she put silverware down she pushed all of us . The Saving Grace to this entire Fiasco of a meal was the food. It was brought out of the kitchen luckily because our waitress would have left it there as she had gone to sit back again behind the bar. This little old woman comes from behind a door and brings us our food. She made small chit chat with my children which I appreciated because by now they felt embarrassed and like they didn't belong. We thank her loudly for her kindness so our waitress who is sitting 3 feet in front of us on the other side of the bar could hear. Shockingly she didn't even move. The food was phenomenal , and good portions. So I did not finish my entire meal I wanted to save room for dessert. As the waitress came over I asked her if I could please box this up she looked at me and dumped a handful of trash on my plate and showed me and said "now I feel bad" and turned around and walked away. I smiled the biggest smile I could smile and asked her to please not do that to the other food. It was my daughter's birthday and we ordered coffee and dessert and of course when she delivered it ,she threw the plates in front of us while Reaching Across I could smell her deodorant this time and was mortified that anyone could let this woman work in the service industry. It was very obvious she is sleeping with the manager as they made cute little chit chatter the entire evening, when she wasn't sitting behind the bar ignoring us. I'm sure they don't read reviews because I'm sure they don't care but I know people who look on trip advisor and yelp do. Out of all of my reviews it is very rare to give a bad review I try to find the positive in everything.. BUT.. No one deserves this kind of treatment no matter who you are what you're wearing or who you're with. I encourage you not to eat there, not to patronize there, not to even look at the door when you're walking by..They do not deserve the honor, the respect, or the hard-earned money of people who want a special dinner for their little girls birthday. They deserve nothing. P.S. I have never tipped less than 20% on even substandard service but this woman, my husband left 10% and we prayed that it went to the nice woman in the kitchen. read more

The food was fantastic for the price. The menu was relatively limited but varied. The three of us had scallops, shrimp pesto, and a sausage pasta, and all three were very happy. The atmosphere was for an older generation, although the place started to get pretty loud when a few patrons had a few drinks. Service was quick and courteous. I would recommend it for a quick dinner before a show at the Kennedy Center, but not for date. read more

I visit Washington from the west coast about once per year, and I have done this for at least 10 years. Last night was the best food and service I have ever had in DC. The food was delicious and fresh--really good. The wine and bartender excellent. We really had a good time. I'm so glad we decided to eat here. read more

Wouldn't serve at 10:36 On Saturday night, said they were closed. We had walked a while to get there. Just went home.

I chose this place because it looked nice but less expensive than some other choices in the area. It was a mistake. It was way more expensive than I expected and the food was not worth the price. It's a small spot within a hotel. There was one waitress (who never once stopped at our table) and one bartender (nice guy who ended up being our server for the night). It was a pleasant dinner, but over-priced and overall disappointing. read more

We were pleasantly surprised by the meals we had at DISH+drinks. The lamb shank fell off the bone. The gravy complimented it well. The polenta and green beans were tasty. The rib eye steak and gravy with capers was also very good. Service was just right: there when we needed them, but not hovering. They offered an excellent wine selection to pair with the dishes. The pistachio crème brule was one of the best we've tasted. We also enjoyed the intimate setting. It was a pleasure to eat here after a show at the Kennedy Center. read more

I had the worst fish ever here. There was a red snapper special. It was marketed to us by our server as being about 2 inches thick. I was pretty hungry so I was like, yeah sure, why not? I was expecting a soft, moist fish. Instead I got something horribly overcooked and chewy. The only reason why it was so "thick" was because the skin was left on while it was cooked, so it shrunk and caused the fish to curl under. Did I send it back? No, I didn't. I ate what I could and moved on to eating my vegetables, which were decent. After I saw them ruin a fish like that, I really didn't want to see how they could ruin a different main course. But oh wait, I did. My friend got the scallops, and they were a weird combination of overcooked on the outside (i.e. chewy and hard) and decent on the inside (i.e. soft and delicate), while being really overly salty. I think this restaurant has some issues with how they think fish should be cooked. Another person in my party got the wrong dish. They received salmon when they had ordered snapper (good for them, I might add). The server suggested that they could make them a snapper, but that it would take "a long time." There is really no reason that cooking fish should take a long time. Any longer than a few minutes on either side (or less depending on its thickness) will leave it a horrible mess like the one I received. Everyone else in my party seemed to enjoy their meat dishes, and the sides were pretty good, although everything was coated in butter. I had a flourless chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert, which was pretty good as well. I have definitely had much, much better fish at home. The ambiance was fine, the server was sarcastic and funny and kept things interesting, but I would recommend that someone eating here get meat and stay as far away as possible from the fish. For what you pay though, I think there are better restaurants elsewhere in DC that serve similar, though much better, food (see Founding Farmers). read more

Had a great dining experience last night at the Dish restaurant before going to the Chiris Botti concert at the Kennedy Center..! Food was fantastic and the service was perfect....staff was very helpful and friendly..! Cant wait to go back to the Kennedy Center just so we can eat at Dish again..!! read more

OK is the verdict here. I went for dinner with a group of friends. Nice service, pleasant living room considering the location. The food was well-executed but I just found the menu to be odd. Butternut squash soup and duck with lentils on Memorial Day? I had a decent risotto but sweet potatoes and asparagus are just an odd pairing, especially since there is so much nice produce at this season. Desserts were a total throwback to the early nineties, with fruit mousse and flourless chocolate cake. And a warm apple beignet I'm not sure anyone orders when it's 90 outside... read more

Ended up here after first place we stopped was full and suggested we go around the corner. We were very pleasantly surprised. Our salads were good, both main dishes were excellent (scallops w/ risotto & salmon) and the dessert was also excellent (apple cinnamon thingy). Staff was attentive but bot overbearing and very helpful and pleasant. Will definitely go again. read more

Horrible hotel restaurant ambience. Made to wait 10 min for our table in half empty restaurant while maitre d eventually put two tables together. Lighting is atrocious. Food was fine but it's a zero ambiance. And then there was the 4 inch roach that came in around 8pm and was eventually killed by patron after it crawled up her arm around 830 pm. I can't imagine a worse experience - zero stars if available read more

Food and service was great! Very personalized service. Small and cozy but has all the amenities (and none of the noise factor) of a larger restaurant. Unfortunately, parking is quite a challenge in that neighborhood but the neighborhood is an enjoyable walk from the Metro. read more

Delish!! I had heard good things about the restaurant when I booked a room in the hotel but wanted to eat outside to explore the city a bit more. After adding another night to my trip at the last minute and every spot in DC having the usual Friday night wait I wandered down with a book to grab a table. By far the best meal I've had in the city. Absolutely wonderful! I had the Arctic char with julienned vegetables and mashed potatoes and it was one of the best pieces of char I've ever had. Perfectly cooked, crispy skin, nice and moist. The bread in the complimentary bread basket is uh-mazing - so fluffy, fresh and delicious (both the sourdough and the wheat) - I even took a picture and sent it to my bread-a-holic mom to tell her she should be jealous. And she was Prices are a scoch on the high side but not too bad. Definitely worth it. Just be prepared to spend, especially if you're drinking wine or cocktails. read more

Matera Italian Restaurant & Bar - Arctic Char w/ Julienned Vegetables & Mashed Potatoes. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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Wowee! It was tough to find this restaurant after seeing Seinfeld at the Kennedy Center, but sooooo glad we did. This is a small restaurant with nice ambiance. The service was good with suggestions as to what was very good and what was just okay. I had the pan seared scallops over mushroom risotto. My husband had the ahi tuna that was served over salad greens. He's pretty picky about his food and ABSOLUTELY THOUGHT THAT HIS MEAL WAS THE BEST! I, on the other hand, had to disagree....MINE WAS THE BEST! You'll just have to try it for yourself to see who's right. We will definitely be back (perhaps during the day when we can see where we're going.) read more

just an update. i went to dish with a friend, and several days after our lunch (and after i had written the review) she called to tell me that she got food poisoning after our meal! we headed back to work and a few hours later she got really, really sick. BOO! i'm not a doctor (and i don't play one on tv), but my guess is that the culprit was the salmon from dish. be warned! read more

Went on a Wednesday night for dinner. It was great. Food was delicious and our server, Chris, was awesome. Chris was friendly, attentive, and professional - made our dinner a wonderful experience, and we would definitely go back. read more

This place is delicious and amazing. A great choice before a show at the Kennedy Center or just a date night. I had the scallops and they were melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Perfectly cooked and a decent sized portion. I can't wait to come back! read more

The food here is very good. Tonight the waitress was quite cold and boarder line nasty. Too bad. We won't be back.

Sommelier was great.... food was a disappointment. I and three of the people I was with order the halibut special... it was dry. And for $25? The food was underwhelming... and the chef needs help. Also, way under salted... and I am not asking to "taste" salt -- just to round out the tastes. Overall... wouldn't go back. read more

Good service, efficient for a pre-theater dinner, but the food was sub-par. My medium rare steak came out well done on one half, and medium well on the other. I sent it back and asked for medium rare and got something that was nearly raw in the middle, either out of spite or an overabundance of caution. Didn't have time to send it back a second time (and shouldn't have needed to!). My companions' food was forgettable. Won't go back. read more

Service is terrible. I wanted to like my waiter despite him taking forever to come by the first time, then again to take my drink order, then again for my food order, not sure i saw him after that as I had to have another waiter cash me out... but i really couldn't bring myself to like him when he flat out insulted me. Finally came around with menus. After 10 mins of staring at the wine menu before he came back I simply asked if they had a house white. He immediately said "why? Is it the price?" I was pretty stunned someone would just flat pit say that when all I was wanting was for someone else to pick my wine for me. He then made this elaborate "oh I've got you taken care of" display. Wine was ok but i definitely looked at the charge after the ridiculous display he made. It was just one of the listed wines (which was fine... he just couldve said that). Food overall was not bad but acoustics (super loud with only 5 small tables seated), Service, and overall attitude will keep me from ever returning. read more

Visited for weekday lunch. This place has no atmosphere and diner-like food. Not gross but also not at all nice. We were served sliced toast instead of bread to start - not trendy toast, just sliced bread in a basket. The Niçoise salad was overdressed and the tuna wasn't fresh, but it was otherwise fine. My colleague's pasta looked insane but he said the shrimp was good. The major problem with the restaurant though is the crushingly boring ambiance - I never want to go back into that room again ever. read more

I can't say enough about this place. Fabulous service and truly amazing food. I ordered gazpacho and my hubby ordered mushroom soup. We couldn't decide which we loved better. When it was time for entrees, he got steak frites. Steak was perfectly cooked and fries were wonderful. I got tagliatelle with sausage, tomatoes, garlic, basil, white wine. Maybe the best pasta dish I've had in a year. Topped off by perfect dessert. What a goldmine! read more

I almost hate to share this review because I would like for Dish to be relatively undiscovered for my own sake but I feel loyalty to my fellow foodies. You won't read a lot about Dish but it deserves more accolades. It is consistent very good from start to finish. Keith and his colleagues provide as good service and a better atmosphere than many of the more highly acclaimed restaurants. It can get loud due to its small size but it has the feel of a French bistro and so, it's okay. Don't just think of it if you have a Kennedy Center event--try to figure out how to be in Foggy Bottom around dinner time. read more

I would give this restaurant 0 stars if I could. While the food was pretty good, the service we received was absolutely atrocious. Our waitress was unhelpful, condescending, and unwilling to compromise. When we arrived to the restaurant they refused to seat us in an empty restaurant until our (fully ready) table was ready 15 minutes after our reservation time. The waitress also made us move around the table and repositions ourselves in a completely uncomfortable seating arrangement that was not conducive for 6 people. She had no idea what the specials were and mocked the fact that some of our guests were under the age of 21. She added her own gratuity to the check because of our 6 person party, but this policy was not listed anywhere on the menu or on the website. She also charged us a 20% gratuity charge as opposed to a normal 18%. read more

I was not overly impressed by Dish+Drinks. I felt like the wait staff were a bit awkward with guests. Our waiter kept forgetting certain things like wine we ordered and which card to charge. One waitress or runner but a dirty bread basket on my table while she cleaned the table next to me. I was like, "um....we are about to eat and you just put someone else's dirty stuff on our table." The wine was served too warm (my dinner companions had different wines and said the same). The food was just ok. My Caesar was nothing to write home about and my steak had a livery taste and was severely over cooked. The waiter righted it once I said something and brought out a new dish but the steak he brought out looked like they took some sort of frozen meat with grill makes already on it and just heated it up. The only thing I enjoyed were the fries. If you are going for a pre theater dinner I would probably consider somewhere else. read more

The stars are for the food, which was pretty darned good. But the overall experience was quite strange. We had 7:30 reservations on a Saturday night (deliberately behind the Kennedy Center crowd). The waiter, who tripled as waiter, host and busboy, was young and friendly. So far, so good. Even receiving a drink with a family of fruit flies floating in it did not put me off. Fruit flies happen. The strange part came when one in our party (a quiet group of three 50-somethings and one 20-something, whose birthday we were celebrating) asked for a glass of wine to go along with the chocolate dessert and was told the bar was closed. At 9:30 on a Saturday night? At a restaurant that calls itself "Dish PLUS Drinks?" Even stranger was when the manager or owner came over at 9:50 and told us that he was locking the doors. Admittedly, we were the last table (the place had emptied by 8:00), but it wasn't what I expected, particularly since the only hours I could find posted on the Internet said 5:00 - 11:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. I guess the staff wanted to go home early. That's not the way to run a restaurant in my opinion, and I won't go back. The food's good, but not worth putting up with that kind of treatment. read more

Restaurant is pretty small which I liked and the bar was inside the dining area which made it cozy. Four of us had dinner at about 6pm. I thought the service was good although everything we ordered from the wine list was not available... the waiter made decent suggestions for alternatives which was helpful. The one thing that struck me is that the name of the restaurant is "Dish and Drinks" but there was no cocktail menu and when I asked if there was one, the hostess gave a brusque "NO." as though she had to respond to this question over and over. Appetizers were decent - not anything unusual or spectacular, but well prepared and tasty. Food was also well prepared and tasty but nothing extraordinary. I had beet salad to start and the mussels, my friends had the scallops, steak, and pork chop. All nicely done, except my mussels were soooo salty and cold... still tasty enough. I think this restaurant has the potential to be one of those great hidden secret restaurants if they would add a cocktail menu and keep the menus up to date. read more

Anniversary dinner before going to see The Lion King (Two thumbs up on that). For $10 we parked for dinner and the show. Our reservation was early 5 PM. The location was nice, the decor was comfortable, slightly European. We waited at the hostess stand for about 3 minutes before anyone came to seat us, it seemed like we surprised them that we were there at 5 for our 5 o'clock reservation. We had the choice of seats and sat next to the window. The music was loud, but consisted of new music. The menu was paper and kind of beat up. The selection was OK, not great. The waitress was nice. The scotch was a generous pour! We had an appetizer salad and the gumbo. Both really nice and a generous portion. My wife had the Mussels and I had the Penne w/vodka sauce and chicken. Portions were generous, the food was good (my chicken was a little dry). The event that brought the experience down was when an older couple asked for the music to be turned down a little (there were only three tables seated in the entire restaurant and the music was a little loud). The waitress conveyed the request to the bar tender who replied "No, its not changing, this is how its staying!" Not quite the response I was expecting from a service provider. It wasn't like the bar was hopping with college kids who were grooving and buying drinks with the beat! That turned me off slightly to Dish. The food was good, but the atmosphere left me wanting. 3 stars. read more

This review is WAY overdue. I was here back in the fall when I was trying to find a place to sit at the bar and read while I was waiting for my husband to get off work in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood. Ended up chatting with Keith for awhile at the bar and was having such a good time that my husband and I ended up staying for dinner and then drinks. I have low expectations for places I wander into off the street with no forethought in the District, but there was no need - everything was fantastic. The mood and decor of the restaurant is cozy but chic, the staff is as friendly or unobstrusive as you want them to be, the food was excellent - perfectly cooked, carefully and not overly seasoned, and reasonably priced, and Keith is a true old school bartender. He's not going to fall all over himself trying to cater to your every need or impress you; you'll probably never even realize you have one - and there's a difference. You can get anything you'd want from any other the myriad of other cocktail bars in the District, but in an environment that's blissfully free of scenester BS that pervades so many DC bars and restaurants. Looking forward to going back soon. Oh - I'd be seriously remiss if I didn't add a kudos for the beer selection - only a few drafts on tap, but clearly very carefully chosen and different than what you can find elsewhere. read more