Eventide

Let's start with the good:

The dining room is stunning. It's blue and black, pretty but funky (though not too funky) at the same time. The piping hot biscuits that came out first were DELIGHTFUL. Flaky and buttery and lovely. A delicious amouse bouche from the chef just as pleasing--mushroom risotto fritters on perfect little spoons with a touch of Dijon-y-ish (maybe?) sauce. And as an appetizer we shared the uber-delicious rabbit cannelloni. The rabbit was so flavorful and tender, and it was the perfect appetizer. I joked that I wanted it to be my meal, but I'm sure if I ate too much of it myself the richness would be overpowering.





The not so awesome: The dinner menu is pretty small. For example, I don't dig the texture of steak or lamb (unless it's ground), and I don't eat pork or much shellfish. As a result, my options were spring vegetable risotto, roasted chicken, and salmon. Of course, we ate salmon for dinner the night before at home, so I was left with Token Vegetarian Option and chicken. I was assured by my super friendly and helpful server that the chicken is "really good" so I got it. It's not the best roasted chicken I've ever had. Let's be honest, only one place can claim that! BUT, the stuffing was really really good, and I ate it all. To be honest, it's a bummer to eat $24 chicken that's just ok, when the Palena chicken is $13 and more than twice as good--it just seems wrong! J had the lamb. He says it was really good. If only that were enough...





So dinner had its ups and downs, but brunch at Eventide was a complete disappointment. They have a fabulous rooftop seating area, though, so if ambiance and decor made a meal, this place would have it! J enjoyed the bison sausage omelet--it was tasty, I tried it. The portion wasn't unreasonably small, but it was markedly smaller than what we've seen for brunch elsewhere in the area (Boulevard Woodgrill, Harry's, 3 Bar & Grill). Maybe we were just sore because the yummy biscuits from dinner were conspicuously missing, making us long for the basket that R3 provided with their brunch. Those amazing biscuits were great at dinner, but they seemed even more appropriate at brunch. Alas...

My frittata was room temperature. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be or not, to be honest. I generally like food HOT unless it's leftovers straight from the fridge and still cold, so it was sort of a bummer. Kinda like cold chicken on a salad--Bummer City. The "frittatta" tasted more like a quiche. It was edible, but not very good.



The roof was a nice place to sit, but the service was nowhere near as attentive, even though there were only two other tables seated for brunch upstairs at the same time as us. Brunch prices are significantly different than dinner (which is a little too costly for frequent returns), and you almost don't feel like you are at the same restaurant. I can't believe they have $8 brunch entrees and nothing less than $23 for dinner. It's sort of surprising. I would have been just as happy, or maybe happier, having brunch at the Silver Diner down the street.

And just a notice to every brunch establishment in the DC area that doesn't adhere to this already: You must offer iced coffee. And it must be delicious. It is way way way too hot (especially recently in August) for people to be sitting on your patio or roofdeck drinking hot coffee. Please don't look at us like we're crazy when we ask for iced coffee--we swear it's normal where we're from.

Eventide
3165 Wilson Blvd
Metro: Orange Line to Clarendon