the end of january has come abruptly. what happened? it's been a month since new years? hunh?

there is a restaurant in the hotel george, which is about 2 blocks from where i work. cavin and i went to bistro bis during the first (and only, thus far) restaurant week we've gone to. i remember it being really cramped, and the food was good, but nothing super-spectacular. i guess decent french bistro cooking.

since that first time we went, i've gone to bistro bis for breakfast a couple of times. they have excellent coffee that doesn't give me stomach aches, flaky croissants you would find in any parisian bakery, and, despite its capitol hill location, an upscale, yet non-demeaning atmosphere.

cavin and i have been talking about going back for a while, and it wasn't until this past wednesday that we made good on our whim.

at the last minute, i made a reservation for lunch about 30 minutes before our time, and we headed over there. the place was full. it was actually full of suits and army people, having a midweek lunch out of the office.

while cavin and i discussed our living plans for 2007-2008, we dined on some yummy things. i ordered the frisee salad (frisee lettuce with bacon lardons, croutons and sherry vinaigrette) and the steak frites bernaise. cavin ordered the jambon terrine persille (ham terrine) and the saint pierre et palovrdes (john dory fish).

i can't speak for cavin's dishes, but my frisee salad was dressed with the proper amount of vinaigrette, and the bacon lardons provided an extra saltiness to an otherwise plain salad with croutons. my steak (sirloin) was perfectly cooked (medium rare) and the bernaise added a nice acidic touch to the steak. the frites were pretty tasty as well.

i'm not sure if cavin had too high expectations for lunch, because he thought it was good, but short of outstanding. while i have to agree that lunch wasn't spectacular, i still thought it was decent french bistro fare. we spent about $75 (before tip) which was kind of pricey for lunch, but i wasn't really that surprised when the bill came out.

i wish that other decent restaurants would open up in my work neighborhood. sometimes it's nice to have options for lunch outings (besides all the crappy restaurants in union station). i guess for now i'll keep bistro bis on the list, and if i want other options, i'll just have to travel to cavin's work neighborhood and try out the places near there.

bistro bis
15 e street, nw (hotel george)
washington, dc 20001
202.661.2700

Labels: beef, french fries, restaurant, seafood