Rasika

Rasika was chosen for Valentines day date night. I do not enjoy driving into the District of Columbia because of the traffic, lack of inexpensive parking. However, the food and service more than made up for the DC challenges. For Valentines day, there was a special menu , no placard. Absolutely wonderful. If you are in the DC area and enjoy Indian food, this is the place to stop into. We had reservations so upon arrival we were.peomptly seated. Prior to the appetizer we were given a small pre appetizer if you will Quite tasty, a bit of heat However it was totoned down with the sauce ..yogurt based. My favorite was the fried spinach...could have made a meal of that alone. The meal was paired with different wines with each course with the last glass being a bubbly. ...

Overall disappointing, though dessert made up for it (for the most part). We came here for dinner on a weeknight. We had a reservation and were promptly seated. Overall ambiance was nice and the service was great/attentive. Only service complaint was their butchering of the pronunciation of some of the dishes We had high expectations for the food based on the reviews and friends recommendations. We ordered palak chaat, mint chicken masala, paneer apricot kofta, sweet potato bharta, garlic naan and laccha parantha. Overall the food was ok, but disappointing given the expectation. The mint chicken masala had an unexpected spiciness. The naan and paratha portions were stingy (1 full piece for $6?) The rose rasmalai dessert saved the day. 10/10, would definitely recommend. Overall probably wouldn't come back

I've been pining to go to Rasika since I saw the Sweet Potato Samosas on a TV program a few years back and finally had the opportunity to go before visiting family in DC Thanksgiving week. We headed there directly from the airport, a reservation in hand and excited!It was everything we'd hoped for in terms of service, food quality and atmosphere. The place was packed around 6pm on a Wednesday...we were a little early for our reservation but they seated us right away.Our server was knowledgeable, friendly, and took very good care of us.The three of us (my wife and a teenager) all get the Vegetarian Tasting Menu which was a significant amount of food for the three of us. Everything was really good and beautifully presented. We especially liked the assortment of naan and the Dal sampler. (Especially especially the Dal Makhani.) Everyone got their own servings of each kind of Dal so we weren't all dipping into the same serving containers which was nice.The Sweet Potato Samosas were worth the trip to D.C. on their own.The dessert platter that came out as part of the tasting menu was out of control good and really gorgeous.There's so much more to try, especially for us vegetarians...we would definitely (DEFINITELY) come back and order more of what we had and some of the other (many) vegetarian options available.We were well fed and taken care of here.

Had a good dinner at Rasika - i would'nt say anything was so good that i was drooling (except maybe the date pudding was pretty unique) but everything was good. I do have to say that Rasika is an institution when it comes to dc but by now there are a lot more innovative or tastier restaurants around that rasika's food just does not come upto par (or at least what we ordered and ate). The mixed grill was good and so was the paneer shashlik (i liked the unique take on shashlik). The lamb kathi roll was a-ok and the date and toffee pudding was the star of the show. The palak chaat was yum but i have had comparable chaat at IndAroma as well, which is a casual indian eatery in NOVA. All in all, i can see why diners return to rasika due to its prestige and long-standing reputation in dc but maybe its time to add a bit of a spin to the menu and make it more innovative.

From the same people as Bindaas (allegedly according to their emails) comes Rasika. The Penn Quarter location was a short meander from Ford's Theater after A Christmas Carol and this was a meal well chosen. I can see why it's so highly rated. Cost is perfect for what you get and super reasonable for DC; the flavors are DIVINE and service is excellent. You cannot go wrong here. I'd list what our group got, but just listen to your heart. And, if you have a really good spice tolerance, I don't, get the Chicken Green Masala.

Wow this place is incredible. High-end Indian restaurant. The food is so flavorful. I loved the black cod. Nice sized portion of fish, cooked perfectly. Not spicy. I also really enjoyed the warm black rice pudding - it was delectable. My dining partners also thoroughly enjoyed their meals, the eggplant and duck makhani being stand out favorites. Service was top notch. Definitely recommend reservations as this seems like a hot spot. Food tips: Black Cod, Warm Black Rice Pudding.

Managed to get last minute dinner reservations for a Sunday night, and the place was relatively busy around 8 pm. I did not read the fine print which said that they don't allow kids under the age of 8, so we were seated in their outside seating area, by their not so polite hostesses who need a class or two in hospitality or basic customer service. This was our only bad experience, which was turned around completely by our excellent waiter - Gustavo! We got straight to ordering which included Paneer Shashlik, Spicy Reshmi Kebab, and Ragda Pattice - all of which were really good. Our mains included their Chicken Biryani ($22) which was pretty basic. The chicken was extremely dry, and taste-wise was nothing spectacular.Gustavo went above and beyond to ensure we had a good time and was very friendly. We got a delicious dessert on the house as a sorry from Gustavo - which wasn't needed by much appreciated. Docking 1 star just for the bad experience we had during check-in. We felt there was a better way to handle it.

It would be very hard (in my opinion) not to love this place.Our service was impeccable! So kind, knowledgeable, attentive - and knew all about allergies and dietary restrictions (with a GF/Celiac menu!!!). Ambiance is obviously gorgeous, classy, and very clean. The food is absolutely delicious, as were our cocktails (very well made). I wish I lived a little bit closer so I could do take out - lol, but I'll just have to come out for an in person dinner which I absolutely will! Can't wait to return!

From Obama, to friends local to the area, to food influencers, Rasika is mentioned as one of the most notable Washington DC restaurants. So when we were in DC, we knew that's where we would go for dinner with some old friends. Not knowing what to expect when we got to the restaurant, I was surprised to find that there were white tablecloths and was a little nervous that we were not dressed up enough for the white tablecloth experience after coming straight from a full day of walking around museums. But, I sensed no judgement from the hostess. Nevertheless, the food we tried:1. Palak Chaat (5/5)The unforgettable and highlight dish of the night was this "salad". The Palak Chaat is fried spinach, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, with a yogurt, tamarind, date chutney. This had so many contrasting flavors and textures and they all worked spectacularly together - sweet and sour, crispy yet soft. This is a reorder for sure.2. Sweet Potato Samosa (3/5)These samosas differs from the traditional samosa, in that the dough is phyllo dough and it is presented like pouches. This dish comes with 3 pouches, each generously filled with a warm sweet potato filling and atop a cranberry chutney. Personally, I like the regular samosas more but it was nice to try this.3. Tandoori Chicken Tikka (4/5)Chicken Tikka Masala is for the most part, always delicious. Rasika's version was good as well, but nothing stood out more than others I have had.4. Shrimp Kerala Curry (4/5)This shrimp curry was thinner in texture than other curries and the shrimp were large. My partner ordered this since it had lentils. Flavors were good, but we both preferred the chicken tikka.We ordered naan and rice to pair with our dishes and those were good. Overall, great service, cozy interior, and great food.

After 10 years moving out of DC, I was in town and brought my mom here for dinner. I've loved this place when I was in DC and so happy the quality and taste of food had not changed. Everything was as delicious as I remembered and was so excited to share this experience with my mom. My favorites are still the crispy spinach and red snapper. They also gave us a surprise gulab jamun since it was my mom's birthday! We had an exceptional waiter who was very accommodating and attentive. So glad to be able to come back and enjoy this place as I remembered it!