Got there just as lunch service was ending. A friend recommended it based on the palak chaat which was one of the best things I've ever eaten. They may have rushed the other 2 items though - the beet goat cheese tikki and the crab cake. They were a little misshapen and not very crispy, although tasty. The entrees sounded intriguing and I would definitely go back for dinner.
Rasika is not your local Indian restaurant. The ambiance, the warmth, intelligence and good humor of the waitstaff, the new Indian cuisine (with a proper representation of traditional stand-bys), the small plates that allow for proper grazing and the underlying vitality of Rasika in all respects made for a delightful experience. And, of course, one must start the meal with Palak Chaat, crispy spinach with a tad of sweet yogurt, tamarind and chutney…nothing like it! Our experience was a welcome change of pace.
We went with the dinner sampler, and were not disappointed. The Palak Chaat is one of the signature dishes of DC, although the lentils might have been our favorite dish. You won't leave hungry.
Great service, delicious food. Our server, Chaitanya, was personable and had good knowledge of the food. He explained flavor profiles and made recommendations to help us decide which dishes to order. He was very kind to help us celebrate our friend’s birthday. I will say the Chai tea at the end was not spicy, as i usually prefer.
Very clean restaurant and looks very pretty; nice design and ambiance. Clean restrooms. Pleasant staff who attended to our table a good amount of times. The paneer achari was good but a little grainy aftertaste. The garlic naan was too dry. The lamb was good but slightly overcooked, the chicken tikka masala was good but I have had better. And the palak chaat was delicious!
I got laid-over unexpectedly in D.C. one night. It was cold out and I was coming from a warm climate and had no colder weather gear, but this place was right across the street from the hotel. So I went here. I love Indian food. Got the Chicken Tikka and some Naan bread for $32. I hadn’t eaten in almost 24 hours and was starving. When I got it back to my room, to my surprise, the entrée was only six or seven small bites of chicken! No rice or anything else. (I assumed it came with rice, as Indian always does) Was not very filling and I went to bed hungry because it was late and too cold to go back out walking around. Felt kind of ripped off for what I got. It was good, but more like an appetizer than an entree. Ambience is very nice. kind of fancy. Staff was great. But probably the smallest entrée I’ve ever ordered in a restaurant.? That’s probably why I don’t usually eat at higher-end places in gentrified areas like this area of D.C. However, TripAdvisor was showing this as midrange. $32 for six small pieces of chicken and piece of Naan bread was a bit much for what you get. I was hoping for a meal, but only got just a taste.
We had a wonderful dinner at Rasika with nice outdoor seating options. Everything we ordered was very good. Our favorite dishes: Palak Chaat (crispy baby spinach, sweet yogurt, tamarind and date chutney - extraordinarily delicious!) and Cauliflower Bezule.
Haven't been to this Rasika for a while now. This time had an opportunity to go there for lunch prior to visiting the Hirshhorn, which is just a few blocks away, much closer than I expected. They have an outdoor tented area but it being an extremely windy day the inside is by far more preferable, although it was pretty crowded with just about every table taken around 1 pm. We had a table at the front windowed part of the dining room which had much more light than in the back. Had two small veggies - spinach and okra, a lamb entree, mango shrimp app, and two kinds of naans and it was plenty for two people. Presentation and service were both excellent although the food while dependably good was not quite as outstanding as expected (granted my favorite is still the Rasika West End location). Overall, there's no question this is a perfect place to bring out of town visitors while visiting the museums.
Rasika was amazing! We got in to sit at the bar on Saturday night, the bartender was lovely and helped us make selections from the menu. We had a crispy spinach and yogurt dish to start that was phenomenal (I think it was the Palak Chaat). I had garlic naan and the the East Indian lamb, words cant describe how delicious it was! One of the best meals I have had in a very long time, go to Rasika!
The star dish here is the palak chaat appetizer. Also had the chicken pista korma which was an interesting novelty but not amazing and the lamb curry which tasted like your normal well prepared lamb vindaloo. The truffle naan was good though the truffle flavor is very subtle. The apple jalebi with cardamom ice cream was very good and I'd choose it over the date and toffee pudding.