1789

The legendary 1789 Restaurant, named as one of the "100 Very Best Restaurants" by Washingtonian, is celebrating its 50 years anniversary.  For celebration, they are currently offering a 5 course tasting menu for $50, which if you ask me, it's a steal.  It is a good opportunity to try 1789 without breaking an arm or leg.  The deal only works from Sunday - Thursday, and it's expiring next week, so hurry if you are interested.   

Bordeaux

You always have to pair good French food with a good glass of wine.  Bordeaux has became my favorite French wine ever since my trip to Paris.  It was on the wine menu and I think it was the quickest wine decision I have ever made at a restaurant!

Bread and Butter

An authentic French restaurant should always take their bread very seriously.  We were given three choices of bread and three choices of spread.  Being a hug fan of bread and butter, this could be a meal of its own.  

Chilled Cucumber Soup

This was a complimentary course, more like a treat to clear your taste buds before you dive into the real thing.  It was a chilled cucumber soup with green onions, lime juice, and olive oil.  It was on the sour end with a hint of sweetness from the cucumbers.  It was refreshing.

Beef Crudo Two Ways

On the left side of the plate is a beef tartar with truffle oil; delicious! On the right side, we have a carpaccio with shaved cheese and baby arugula.  The carpaccio was good, I really like the fried garlic slices which really give the carpaccio a good flavor and crunch.

Tomatoes and Burrata

This is a French version of the tomatoes and mozzarella.  My food buddy and I both thought that the Burrata cheese taste like a blend version of mozzarella but with a very soft texture, it's almost like yogurt but yet it's cheese.  After some quick wikipedia, Burrata is made with mozzarella and cream.  Now it all makes sense.  I think I prefer the traditional Italian tomatoes and mozzarella more. One up for the Italians! 

Duck Confit Strudel

This is duck confit stuffed pastry with foie gras cream, topped with cranberries.  I love the pastry, and after all, we are at a famous French restaurant, and it is almost expected for a good French chef to make killer pastry.  The duck confit on the other hand was a little dry, I think if this dish was stuffed with lamb, it might be better dish.

Roasted Pork Ravioli

This was probably one of the weakest dish for me, the roasted pork inside the ravioli was kind of blend.  To their credit, the homemade ravioli was good.

Black and White Tagliatelle with Shrimps

This was my food buddy's dish, and I thought the homemade pasta, shrimp, and flavor of the dish was good.  I like hers better than my ravioli.  However, the English peas were slightly undercook.

Red Snapper with lobster sauce

This was my food buddy's entree.  The red snapper which you can't really see in the picture was seared on the side with the skin. The fish was amazing.  The fish was not overcooked, so it still has a creamy and flaky texture, and the skin was seasoned with salt and seared perfectly which gives it a good crunch.  The lobster sauce came with pieces of lobster, and I don't know who can complain about lobster on your plate.  We were both impress with this entree.

Teres Major

It took another research session to find out what kind of beef cut is Teres Major.  Teres Major is a shoulder muscle, that is one of the most tender and comparable to filet mignon but cheaper. The server suggested to have it served medium rare which is perfect because I only eat my steak medium rare to rare.  The steak came out perfectly medium rare, which I can always rely on the French to do very well, because they don't like their steak overcooked.  I once had a raw steak at a restaurant in Paris and it was delicious! The steak was seasoned very well, and the bordelaise (French red wine sauce) was a good compliment for the dish.  This dish was amazing.  It was at this point of the meal where I finally feel that 1789 was not overrated.
 

Ice Cream Profiteroles

Profieroles or the American version of cream puffs with hazelnut, expresso ice cream with warm bittersweet chocolate poured over at the table.  Now, if there were three things the French do very well, they are definitely their wine, pastry, and DESSERT! I alway say it's much harder to make really good dessert than a main course.  Good dessert requires precise measurements and need to be prepared with delicacy, an extra 1/4 teaspoon of flour or sugar makes a big difference.  But the French are so good with their dessert!  This dish has everything I like in a dessert, hazelnut, coffee, chocolate, ice cream, and it was prepared so well.  I was so full at this point but I still cleaned out the plate and wanted more.  This is hands down, one of the best dessert I have ever had, and it is the strongest dish of the meal.  Can't ask for a better end for the meal.

S'mores

Chocolate cake, graham cracker, with marshmellow ice cream (which you can't see in this picture, it's behind the cracker).  This is your fancy version of s'mores.  I love the homemade marshmallow ice cream, it was unique and interesting.  Overall, I like the profiteroles better than this dish, but this was still a very good dessert.

Overall, it was a delightful meal.  Even though I was expected to be WHOA much more, but there was some memorable dish that 1789 do very well on.  You can't expect any restaurant to make everything on the menu mouth dropping good, but if there are dishes which made an impression and you can't find anyone else to deliver it the way they do, it's a good reason for a return trip.  Maybe this is the reason why 1789 is still one of the best DC dining spot after 50 years in the business.

Merci!