January 19, 2008

Restaurant Week ~ How I Love Thee! Let me count the ways...Visit #1: Ruth's Chris

1. Ruth's Chris Steak House in Dupont Circle: For $30.08, we got a four-course (ok maybe 3.5 course) steak dinner. It started with their Steak House Salad, a fresh salad with mixed lettuces, cherry tomatoes and garlic croutons. It comes with fresh onion too but I asked for it without. With a choice of several dressings, I went with the creamy lemon basil. The lemon and basil combination sounded delicious, but, well, it was very creamy - a little too creamy for my taste. It was clearly made fresh in the kitchen and I could taste the egg (which isn't necessarily a good thing). Out of four entrees we both chose the Petit Filet (medium rare) because if you go to Ruth's Chris, you should eat a steak. End of story. It came served on an extremely hot plate, it was cooked perfectly inside, and it had a buttery and rich consistency. You can choose a side dish as well, so we ordered one Mashed Potatoes, "with a hint of roasted garlic," and one Sauteed Mushrooms. Both excellent choices, with the potatoes being creamy but not too whipped, and not too garlicky, and the mushrooms being very fresh and served whole. At the end, a choice of several desserts. We ordered one Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce (don't forget, Ruth's Chris is a New Orleans restaurant), and one flourless Chocolate Cake. Definitely order the Bread Pudding. Please get it! It's delicious! The chocolate cake was good too, but the Bread Pudding was the star.

Excellent service, excellent value, and really interesting (yet slightly weird) decor.

Bathrooms - located way in the back, you have to walk very close to other diners to get there, which was a little uncomfortable, at least for me. I almost locked myself in a stall, not realizing immediately that you have to pull the little latch before sliding it back to the right to unlock it. The trash can was overflowing with towels (it was the end of the night, but for $85 for a Porterhouse for 2, someone could empty the trash in this place), and the toilet paper was so thin (again, I expected better) that it took 5 minutes just to remove about 10 squares, which incidentally equal about one square of regular TP.

Not sure I would return since meat is not my favorite, but I'm so glad I went here during Restaurant Week, and so are my iron levels ;)

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