Ris

RIS=YUM!

Last night we tried Ris...contemporary American with a comfort food twist. This restaurant had been much anticipated by the restaurant world, and we were excited to see what it was all about.

First thing--don't let the decor fool you. Sadly, the inside of the restaurant looks pretty much like every other hotel restaurant. Ick. The menus were pretty, but that's about it. Tables for two were a bit cramped, and the water glasses were that gross tinted glass that makes them look dirty.

But more importantly, on to the food (sorry, no pictures this time...Pat didn't want us to look like schmoes taking pictures of our meals at a nice restaurant). The bread and starters were the weak point of the meal. French bread came out warm but a little smushed in the slicing, and pretty ordinary. I honestly don't think it was necessary at all. We had two apps. Octopus salad came with greens, lemony feta, tomatoes, croutons, a vinaigrette and a puddle of yogurt sauce. Pros -- octopus was pretty yummy, nice and crispy at the edges and not too chewy. The whole salad came together really well, and Pat, who is not a feta fan, raved about the feta. Cons: I wish the octopus and salad proportions had been reversed...four bitty pieces is a little stingy for a $12 app. I think the croutons looked a little amateur, kind like the kind you would find at a Ruby Tuesday's salad bar. And the yogurt, while good, was totally unnecessary. Other app was a ricotta gnudi with spinach, tomato sauce and thin slices of crispy pancetta. It was much like a deconstructed lasagna. Decent, but not a star. I especially did not like the big chunks of salt they used to season the dish.

The entrees came significantly later, which was okay because we were waiting for the loud party next to us to leave so we could properly enjoy our meals! Pat got a pan-seared branzino with rapini, a little pile of olive relish, with tomato vinaigrette and a square of polenta. Delicious, well seasoned and cooked. I won, though. I got the Carolina grouper, which was perfectly cooked, on a bed of sauteed and buttery mushrooms, onions, preserved lemon. The menu said there was shrimp, too, but I found only one. Also on the plate was rice, which I again thought was unnecessary, and the BEST fried green tomato I have ever had. It was so good, I made a point to tell the chef personally when she came by at the end of the night and she seemed genuinely tickled! She also said that she had just put that dish on the menu the night before (and surprisingly had not had a chance to taste it herself yet), and it would be there for the rest of the summer. So. I recommend that you try to get to Ris before the end of the summer. Trust me. The grouper is so worth it.

Of course we had dessert, because we are gluttons. Or at least I'm a glutton and Pat is not good at resisting peer pressure (or at least, me! ;) ). We went with the butterscotch pudding with chantilly cream and cocoa crisps...the waiter said chef had tried to take it off the menu and they "went viral" to save it, it was so good. It did not disappoint. Creamy and fluffy, and not too sweet. And awesome with the crisps, which pretty much tasted exactly like cocoa crispies in wafer form.

Overall verdict: 3.25/4 stars. Definitely worth a visit. There were a few other apps we would have liked to try that may have been more successful. But honestly, we'd go back for the grouper alone.

Chez Manelle

Last night we decided to try out Chez Manelle. It's this totally unassuming little restaurant in Clarendon, smushed between an Italian sandwich place and a mixed martial arts studio. Honestly, we probably would not have given it a second look had it not showed up in Washingtonian's Cheap Eats this year, and noted to be the only Tunisian restaurant in the area. Tunisian! How exotic!

To be equally honest, we probably won't give it a second look. Things started off well...I saw that there was no booze on the menu, so I called to ask if they allowed BYO. The owner was incredibly sweet, and informed me that they just got their liquor license last week, so they now have beer and wine.

The service was good...it's basically family run. Mom and tween daughter were attentive without being overbearing. The food, however, was mostly under-seasoned and underwhelming. :(

We started with the omek houria, a grated carrot, olive oil, and garlic dip, and the baba ganoush. Both needed some salt and would have probably been stellar with a few more spices! For dipping we got Mlawi bread, which is kind of like a savory crepe. The ones that had been cooked well were pretty yum, but a few were still a bit raw.











We shared two entrees. One was a vegetarian Lablabi (the website says Tunisian chick peas stew, served over croutons of bread and topped with spices and an egg...but I think it had some tuna in it too) that you mix tableside. Again, could have used some salt, but not bad and super-filling. The Kaftaji was the winner of the night--a chopped onion and tomato stewy-type dish with a fried egg, surrounded by french fries and topped with merguez, delicious fat finger-sized sausages of lamb and beef. My only complaint is that I wish the fries were a little crispier!

We each had some okay wine, nothing fantastic but nothing offensive: a merlot, a dry white from Santorini, and a sangiovese from Chianti.


So...not disappointed we went. It was an experience, foods we had never had before, and we certainly did NOT leave hungry! But probably not a repeat...unless maybe I bring my own spice rack. ;)