Late night nirvana

Recently I went to Northern VA/DC to visit some friends. There was a LOT of good eating going on during this trip. My first night there, my lovely friends took me to a late night dinner at Rasika. I was so excited for this because I don't really follow the national restaurant scene too closely but I have actually read rave reviews of this place in various places. Tasting menu? Of course!


The first dish was a salad of deep fried spinach with a lemony dressing. The spinach was salty and crispy and somehow fresh.

This may have been the highlight.

The next dish was a bowl of mussels in a spicy green curry. mmmmmm

I am always amazed at the complexity of Indian sauces. They are so delicious, so rich, so satisfying and flavorful.

The next dish was a duo of lamb sausages and a grilled shrimp. These were served with a coriander sauce that was again, as expected, delicious.

The lemon was really needed on both the sausage and the shrimp--it added a delicious brightness to the plate.


After these dishes, I was getting pretty full to be honest. Oh, wait...THIS was the highlight. A lovely piece of cod that I think must have been poached in olive oil. WOW.

The fish was crispy, flaky, light; for as bland as it looks in this photo, the flavor jumped out and slapped you in the face--mysterious, rich, sweet, not "fishy" as cod can be (and I actually like). It may have been the most perfectly cooked piece of fish I've ever eaten.

The "main courses" were served family style. There was a dish called butter chicken (the sauce was good but the chicken was a little dry I thought), some sort of mushroom dish (that tasted like dishwater), a lamb dish (I should have written these down) and a couple different kinds of bread, that were both delicious. Coriander abounded in most of these dishes as well, and though only the mushrooms were "bad", the whole course was a letdown after the perfect fish.

If we weren't full enough, there was a dessert course. As you would expect, lots of cardamom here.

From left to right; an Indian "donut" heavily syruped, an apple fritter breaded and deep fried, cardamom ice cream, and in the front, what I can only describe as a flourless carrot cake with a cardamom sauce.  The ice cream was the hit here, everything else seemed to taste similar, be a little doughy, a little soggy, a little heavy after 5 courses.


Overall, I would definitely recommend Rasika. It is obvious that they put love and maximum effort into each dish. However, skip dessert, go for a walk around the city, and get something sweet later in the night.