Opaline

I have been to Opaline multiple times. Maybe 3 to be exact. It's ones of my favorite places to eat. I also love the cocktails. Every single I have come I'm greeted to kindly and seated pretty fast. I even did a staycation at the hotel they are housed in and ordered room service was amazing! But back to the food! Opaline has really good options and the service is always great. It's a quaint, nicely decorated restaurant nestled in Sofitel. The ambiance is actually pretty relaxing. They have not had anything I didn't like there! If you like French cuisine you will enjoy Opaline!

The Scarlet Vetter says.....we were in Washington DC walking around and we decided to look for a place to get warm and get a quick bite to eat. This looked inviting.....bright and airy with nice available tables and no one was waiting. The menu seemed to have some good diverse choices. We were seated right away. However, it took 25 minutes for any server to approach our table although many walked by serving other tables. Then another table came and left after 15 minutes of no one approaching them. Finally, we were asked what we wanted to order from the menus. Yet we had no menus in our hands. Big fail. Finally menus arrived. Then someone came to take our order. We ordered the French Onion Soup, a Ceasar salad, a bread basket, an unsweetened iced tea and a diet Pepsi. The server did not write anything down, which should have set off a couple of warning bells. But she whisked herself away in a seemingly industrious manner and so we thought things were looking up. We were now hopeful for at least our drinks to arrive before the next ice age. However many more minutes passed with no drinks. Then our server came back to confirm our drink orders as she forgot what we had ordered. Uh-oh. Finally the drinks arrived. We were 38 minutes into this experience at this point. Drinks finally arrived. 25 minutes later our soup, salad and rolls arrived. The food was delicious, but I wondered if it was made more so by the fact we were so ravenous. The bill arrived with a pre-added 18% gratuity. That was annoying since the word "TIP" is supposed to be short for "To Insure Promptness. One star for this experience!

We thought it was great for breakfast. I can't tell you about lunch or dinner. All I know is that we enjoyed our mornings at Opaline while staying at the Sofitel.The breakfast café is to the right of the doorway as you enter the hotel. It's nicely decorated in the colors of Provence. The yellow mosaic tile pops with the blue paint on the walls. It's very pretty. The windows and view of the outdoor tables make it feel authentic. Service was great!The French Press coffee was the first to arrive. We always look forward to coffee at any Sofitel. It's always an amazing experience. I was told it's a special blend of the Lavazza brand. I'd make it myself, but I don't have the time or patience to use this type of coffee maker.The breakfast menu is limited. Keep in mind that it is a hotel restaurant. The prices are comparable to other 5 star hotel restaurants. You do pay more for something substantial such as the Croque Madame and Opaline Breakfast. We enjoyed both of these breakfast offerings. So much so, that my husband ordered the same Opaline Breakfast 2 days in a row. The Croque Madame was so cheesy and crispy. It's a gruyère lover's dream. I'm still dreaming about it. The egg on top was cooked perfectly as well. The salad looked simple, but it was so tasty and fresh. It's the perfect brunch dish. I couldn't eat it all because it was so rich for an early in the morning meal. With that said, I wish I had ordered it again the next day. The Continental Breakfast was good, but the pastries left a lot to be desired. I did like the fresh butter croissant and the blueberry muffin. The chocolate croissant and pain au raisin were very forgettable. I didn't say anything about it to our server. To be honest, I wasn't as hungry that morning.Would we go back? Absolutely! I haven't had a Croque Monsieur/Madame like this in a very long time. Even the mornay sauce on the sandwich was very good. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It was that wonderful.

OVERALL: great afternoon teaFOOD: Opaline catered a private sunday afternoon tea. At each table they provided 2-3 3 Tiered trays one with desserts, another with quiches, and another with a mixture of sandwiches and other finger foods. They also provided deviled eggs and constantly refilled our tea. We got a custom chocolate on our table for each guest. SERVICE: Service was great. The team was very efficient and kind. Always diligently coming back with food and tea and checking in as needed. VENUE: the tea room was the Sofitel. The walls were a beautiful blue color and adorned with gold finishes. The venue had long drapes on the windows and it very much felt like a traditional British tea venue. The only thing I noted was that there wasn't enough hangers for us to check in our coats at the entrance.

Don't come here for afternoon tea. If I could give this place 0 stars I would. We ended up leaving with most of our food uneaten and my stomach started to hurt. The only thing this place has going for it is that the aesthetic are nice. There's nice decorations and lights. The food however was terrible. We went for afternoon tea on a Saturday- the theme is little prince which was really cute and we were super excited for the selections and the theme. I wanna preface this by saying that I am very accustomed to afternoon/high tea and have been to the best spots in England. This was the only afternoon tea spot with available reservations on a Saturday last minute and there is definitely a reason for that. Considering the price is exorbitantly high at $78 per person, we had high expectations. The scones were okay- they were on the sweeter side which isn't typical but not the worst. The accompaniment however was not great. One was way too sweet and the cream had a very weird aftertaste. The sandwiches were open face and very dry!!! The smoked salmon was okay but very dry. We did not even bother trying the other sandwiches as they did not look appealing. Desserts were aesthetic and on theme but not tasty. The apple cheesecake had a gummy frosting that made it inedible and I only tried a small bite of the cupcake-the cake was ok but the frosting was that same gummy consistency as the cheesecake. The cookie was ok as it had a decent flavor. The tea itself was good- we tried the peach ginger and the orange pekoe. I also ordered the hot chocolate and it tasted like watered down Swiss miss. Very disappointing. All in all it was such a terrible experience- we paid the bill and were out of there in less than 20min. We tried speaking to the manager and he didn't want to help at all and spoke to me in a very condescending tone when I expressed that I did not enjoy the menu- mind you 90% of the tower of food was uneaten and I feel like the manager could've done more to alleviate the experience. I don't typically even bother doing that but at that price point this type of service is unacceptable and disappointing. I've attached photos showing how our tower looked when we were leaving, we left all the food behind after paying as it wasn't worth taking when we knew we weren't going to eat something we didn't like.

The atmosphere and opaline is absolutely wonderful. It is calm, peaceful. And quiet coming here was like stepping back into time. Being able to sit down with high tea with my partner and enjoy absolutely delectable, pastries, and desserts, and a cup of absolutely delectable tea while talking, and stepping away from the hustle and bustle of life, was absolutely to die for , the staff was wonderful and observing my allergy, and provided me an alternative menu to ensure that I stayed safe and did not have a reaction during my time. There is an absolute must do if you're visiting DC.

I've always wanted to try Opaline DC when visiting Washington, and today I did. And guess what, "I wasn't disappointed". Reservations are probably a good idea for weekends or holidays, but today there wasn't an issue as we got in immediately. The staff were super friendly and very attentive. Breakfast choices included:- freshly squeezed OJ- Eggs Benedict - Smoked Salmon Everything Bagel- Strawberry French Toast- Avocado Toast

I came here for an event and had a good dinner here. The food and drinks were great. I enjoyed the steak and cocktails. The cheesecake dessert was a good way to end the meal. I also liked the ambiance of the restaurant and the chic decor.

Opaline is on the first floor of a hotel. When you enter, you go left for dinner. It looked like there was another side on the right, maybe for breakfast? Anyway, we were meeting a friend for dinner and drinks. We got cocktails and they were well made-though a little pricy-like $22 each. I enjoyed the last whisperer with the egg white foam, though thought it could have been garnished a little better for that price. For dinner I really enjoyed the pappardelle. I found it hard to select an option because so many looked good, though the bolognese was flavorful and the burrata was perfect. For my second cocktail I had the Michelle Obama and loved the color contrast with the white bouquet centerpiece. Service was prompt, though also took my first cocktail away when I still had a sip left. The decor was cute French bistro. It was a Sunday night though I was a little surprised at how quiet this place was! I'd love to come back for another cocktail and dinner.

Opaline is located within the Sofitel Hotel. The ambience is calm and reminded me a scene taken from one of those vintage European bistros. For a moment, it reminded me a bit of one of those backdrops from the Velvet series( I know is a Spanish series). What trigger that memory was some of the art deco elements present around the bar and tables. The service, it was busy but I felt awkward not because I was in a tea in the afternoon going alone but maybe is because it was busy. I did not get my water refilled until I left. Yet, I was able to try some of the teas which I let the refilling my water as urgent to not at a priority... I made sure to only eat the savoury stuff first and then leave the sweet stuff to last. The Organic Kyoto Cherry Blossom was delicious, I suggest to drink it with the sweetest ginger food providers then I tried the Sencha. If you like green tea and heavily grass scent in your tea then go for this one. I was not a fan of but it was worth my try. Lastly, I tried the orange pekore. I should had order this one for the savoury foods. This tea in the afternoon, the vibe is casual. Not your type of place to wear your sweatpants or any type of athleisure. Is more of a casual athmosphere where some dark denim, a white shirt or blouse with some black ballerinas in warmer weather can work. I am using some other tea rooms I have attended in the past this one leans a bit more in the casual and light hearted side. The food, I got a call from Kevin the day before. He asked me for dietary restrictions and allergies. I appreciated that! My serving was completely vegetarian. I was a bit worried by looking at the menu that I would have to only eat the sweet stuff and nothing savoury. To my surprise, I had vegetarian sandwiches and some yummy deviled eggs and quiche! I could have had an entire serving of just that and would be happy! Then the ending, I was given on the house a serving of crème brûlée as part of my birthday celebration. Now, there is something I would had love to have seen, somewhere to hang the coats on winter time. The place is small and moving around removing coats while trying not to disturb the other's person experience, it can be improved for the future. Oh... I had a hard time eating that sheep merengue... it was too cute to be eaten.