Full bar service. L daily ex Sat, D daily. Closed Sun. Street parking. A restaurant more significant for what it didn't do than what it did. 667-5350. The rice may be replaced with couscous or manioc. Imperial Garden Tysons Corner Shopping Center. Harvey's also serves excellent drinks, and has a wine list both extensive and educational, heavily weighed towards California, though the cellar does not live up to the list. Parking lots nearby. Orient Express 10560 Main St., Fairfax. Open daily. AE, DC, MC, V. No reservations.Street parking. While not meant to draw diners for a gastronomic evening, the Kennedy Center's Roof Terrace restaurant is doing a better-than-ever job of serving theatergoers quickly and decorously. Da Vinci's kitchen is capable of producing Italian food as good as any in town, but alongside the two signs at the front door warning that proper dress is required, diners should tack up their own, noting that proper service is also requested. L daily ex Sat, Sun, D daily. Fio's The Woodner, 3636 16th St. NW. Reservations accepted for 10 or more only. Open daily. By Phyllis C. Richman Assisted Carole Sugarman; Phyllis C. Richman is restaurant critic of The Washington Post. AE, V. Reservations required. Aluisi 9867 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls, Va. 759-4921. The cooking is simple and homey, with restrained use of the red pepper that is the principal spice. Charcoal-grilled bits of meat are also scintillating. 244-7666. The Salle du Bois and Colony might have been swell, but probably the most exclusive restaurant in the city in the 1950s was the Rive Gauche, located at 1310 Wisconsin Avenue NW in Georgetown. Jun 3, 2015. And the prices have climbed so that a hamburger (accompanied though it may be by excellent potatoes and unusual salads can cost nearly $6. D (fixed price) $25, $30, $40 or $60. 436 11th St NW Harrington Hotel. A mild introduction to Ethiopian fire, Axum's food is not the best among local Ethiopian restaurants, but the reasonable prices and gracious room add points. Parking in rear. Although the name suggests the restaurant's specialization in seafood, there are meats on the menu. Full bar service. Reseravations suggested. It takes a zeal for devising and revising recipes and cooking methods to come up with basil-scented pasta doughs and pasta sauces rich and complex. Its food, though, is an afterthought. But dishes that are meant to be robust -- chicken cacciatore, braciole, herbed roast veal -- are as good as Washington has to offer. Full bar service. AE, MC, V. Reservations accepted. 333-1100. Entering through the kitchen and lunch counter, you are met by wonderful smells of unusual spices and charcoal-grilling. The dining room is delightful when the tall windows are opened on a fall day. In an era that values light eating, Ikado's high prices for small portions detract little from its agreeability. Alexander's Three 1500 Wilson Blvd. Middle courses are a mixed bag, though at one day's lunch the crab cakes were stellar, and served with crisp stir-fried vegestables. But nobody is keeping a careful eye on the ingredients, for the scallops have been bitterly fishy, the pork dark and strong. Old South Mountain Inn Boonesboro, Md. Private party contact. Closed Mon. Full bar service. The restaurant serves light snacks and full dinners, in quiet leisure or late night disco. Daily specials have included surprises like Moroccan chicken-egg-almond pie in filo dough. AE, MC, V. Reservations suggested. AE, CB, D, MV, V. Reservations required. This is a French restaurant that establishes Washington in the big leagues. Full bar service. 19. If what you care about is the cooking, the amenities on the plate rather than in the dining room, join the crowds at Le Gaulois.The central feature of this over crowded restaurant is the full page of daily specials, nearly two dozen main courses, offering at reasonable prices such dishes as duch with tropical fruits, veal with chanterelles, salmon in a pastry crust with champagne sauce. The Prime Rib 2020 K St. NW. The Warehouse 214 King St., Alexandria. L $2-$2.75, D $3-$7. Street parking. Full bar service. Musicians and belly dancers entetain in the evenings, but not loudly enough to rule out conversation. No reservations. Gino's Hamburgers was a fast-food restaurant chain founded in Baltimore, Maryland by Baltimore Colts defensive end Gino Marchetti and running back Alan Ameche, along with their close friends Joe Campanella and Louis Fischer, in 1957.A new group of restaurants under the Gino's name, involving some of the principals of the original chain, was started in 2010. But I found no dish that meets any desire. One is mainly attracted by the prices, many of them unusually reasonable. Parking in front. Where the chicken on spiced rice was previously moist, succulent, delightfully perfumed, this time it was dried out and dull. La Ruche of Georgetown 1039 31st St., NW. L $2.25-$3.50, D $2.75-$4.25. 528-4300. 659-4447. Shooter McGee's 5239 Duke St., Alexandria. The Sherry Cafe 2116 F St. NW. Mamma Desta's restaurant is an experience. 333-4810. Closed Sun. Valet parking. And though the menu still offers only main courses, no appetizers or desserts, you can drink everything from imported German beer to homemade honey wine in individual jugs, and even Perrier or Sprite. But two other major cuisines have contributed restaurants that deserve to be at the top of anyone's dining list. And for dessert, fry a citrus souffle or ripe fresh fruits in whipped cream rather than a less competent pastry. L daily ex Sat, D daily. Open daily. L $3.50-$9.50, D $4-$12. Parking adjacent lot.Full bar service. El Tio Pepe 2809 M St. NW. Worse were main dishes -- over salted, over cooked, soupy, their vegetables slimy from excess heat, the meats and seafoods skimpy. Vincenzo is a purist's Italian seafood restaurant, serving only seafood and almost always fresh seafood. Szechuan & Hunan 1776 E. Jefferson St., Rockville. Closed Sat, Sun. AE, MC, V. One hour free parking, Washington; mall parking lot, Falls Church. The menu has remained small and interesting -- with oysters poached in orange butter and scallops or chicken livers served in boats of croissant or brioche as appetizers, and one-person souffles available for dessert -- and a mimeographed (thank goodness) list of appealing daily specials is included. Trader Vic's. The Polynesian-themed restaurant was in Seattle's Washington Plaza Hotel (now the Westin) and capitalized on the tiki-fad of the 1950s and 1960s. L, D $2.50-$4.50. The Sunset does not get so intense as to peel its own potatoes or bake its own pies, but it serves homemade food, up to a point. Cafe Lafayette 105 N. Alfred St., Alexandria. L daily ex Sat, Sun, D daily, Closed Sun. Publick House 3218 M St., NW. The metaphorosis of the Atlantic actually began in the late 1970s, when the building's then-owner, Paul Parsons, who made his money mostly renting out office space at rock-bottom prices that started at . 544-2338. The brownies, the chocolate chip cookies (from the Capitol Hill branch's carryout market), the macadamia nut roll, the chicken and green bean and seafood salads would win on any first ballot. Occoquan Inn 301 Mill St., Occoquan, 703/491-1888. D $5.95-$12.50.D daily. I know this is a needle in a haystack situation, but here goes.. Hunan of Capitol Hill 201 D St. NE. Closed Sun. French restaurants in the middle range -- those with good food that make no attempt at grand cuisine and are modest in price -- are a shifting scene, one year satisfying and another year indiffent. House of Chinese Gourmet 1485 Rockville Pike., Rockville. Jean-Louis alone has settled Washington more firmly in the list of cities for serious eating, even drawing respectful attention from the culinary Olympus -- France. O'Donnell's 8301 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda. All known restaurants which opened before 1980 and remained opened when this website was founded (Apr 15, 2005) are included. L, D daily. Closed Sun. Full bar service. Street parking or nearby lots. Closed Tues. DC, MC, V. No reservations. Pueblo Joe's looks like the kind of place you would like to go while on vacation. Children's prices. Even the expresso is as good as you are likely to make at home. No-smoking section. Siam Inn 11407 Amherst Ave., Wheaton. Full bar service. The flowered tablecloths, green-stemmed wine glasses, folk art and pottery on the walls reinforce the magical quality. L $3.95-$11.95, D $9.95-$15.95. 589-6868. Charlies Georgetown 3223 K St. NW. 783-4133. F. Scott's 1232 36th St. NW. The corned beef is the best this side of Baltimore, and the roast beef and turkey revive the worth of those delicatessen meats. L $3.95-$5.50, D $5.25-$9.95. Children's meals. The few wines also are extremely good values. La Scala serves down-to-earth Italian food at prices to match, but it is real cooking of real food, with real Italian sensibility. MC, V. Reservations accepted. AE, CB, D, MC, V. Reservations required. L daily ex Sun, D daily. Like a small museum of Japanese arts, Samurai Sushiko covers its menus in luscious silks and its bench cushions in stunning geometric fabrics. The French UndergroundThe Gentry (Cap. Some of its dishes are excessively rich and heavy, buy many are pure treasure: remarkable stuffed clams; supreme chocolate espresso cheesecake; unique thin noodles with tomato-tinged clam and mussel sauce; extraordinary fish hot with fresh herbs or cold with a homemade garlic mayonnaise. Full bar service. L daily ex Sat, D daily. L, D daily. Ae, cb, d, mc, v. Reservations suggested.Parking lot. Valet parking for dinner only. 654-2575. Boulud, who had briefly worked in D.C. before establishing his empire in New York, opened a branch of his DBGB Kitchen and Bar brasserie in Washington three years ago. 365-2425. Full bar service. This highly personable and vaguely unkempt French restaurant is back to its old level of inconsistency, with bouillabaisse of exceptional flavor but with dry and mushy seafoods, choucroute well balanced in flavor but its meats ariid and chewy. Roast veal is served in nearly half-calf portions, though sometimes it has been cooked so long it crumbles. Beyond that are light main dishes -- quiches, eggs, salads, and a couple of undistinguished vegetable and fish casseroles. Full bar service. L $2.25-$4.50, D $5.50-$9.50. Closed Sun. 548-0076. The salmon mousse with green peppercorns is suave and spicy, a pleasant light main course. And the staf does sing a rousing version of "Happy Birthday." 933-3687. 549-4010. L, Ddaily. Full bar service. No-smoking section. Full bar service. Tiled and sunny, it is certainly pretty. AE, MC, V. Reservations suggested. Black Rose 1101 17th St. NW. Pasta sauces have nothing subtle about them, and veal scallopine are overdosed with sweet marsala or lemon. 547-9626. Alpine 4770 Lee Hwy. The variety of house wines and beers complement the menu, and desserts, especially the chocolate walnut cake, are worth the splurge. Characters on the walls and characters serving the food, green and white checked tablecloths, those set the hale and hearty scene. E.J. 340-6880. Parking in rear. L $3.75-$5.75, D $5.25-$8.95. With it, have fried potato skins. 20 reviews. Guitar music in the evening turns El Caribe into a festival. And the least interesting is at the end -- the ubiquitous carrot cake. Gusti's 1837 M St. NW. L daily ex Sat, Sun, D daily. L daily ex Sat, D daily ex Sun. You just think you have seen salad bars unless you have tried Zachary's. "Their clam chowder is amazing and the OEG Burger is great for lunch.". Mc, V. Reservations suggested. Parking in adjacent lot. AE, D, MC, V. Reservations suggested. Start with fried samosas or pakoras to dip into tart, aromatic tamarind chutney. . Trout or red snapper are afloat in nutty clarified butter with almonds, mushrooms, onions, ripe tomatoes and coconut milk, garnished with crisp green broccoli.Neither meats nor vegetables are overcooked. Captain White's 8123 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring. Closed Sun. 265-1600.L $5.25-$9.95, D $11.95-$15.95. Children's meals. Fish of this quality does not come cheap, but the expense will be bearable if you concentrate on local seafoods and order them simply broiled or fried.Besides good food, the nautical whimsies are good-natured and the waitresses are the wonderful tough-and-cheerful sort that, if they were not so young, would rival Boston's Durgin Park waitress wonders. Chadwick's 3205 K St. NW. The Fishery 5511 Connecticut Ave. NW.363-2144. The pizza -- white or red -- is crusty, chewy, as good as any south of Baltimore. 532-9290. Full bar service. Certainly order peppery Szechuan dishes. Only about a half-dozen main courses are available, half of them fish or seafood and generally reliable. Full bar service. Washington, DC townhomes for rent; Falls Church townhomes for rent; Waldorf . 1982 Having introduced nouvelle cuisine at Ma Maison in Los Angeles, Chef Wolfgang Puck presents "California cuisine" to patrons of his new chic-casual Sunset Strip restaurant, Spago. L, D daily. L $2.50-$7, D $6.50-$15. 1980s BOSTON SEAFOOD COMPANY Restaurant Menu - Washington DC & St Louis | Collectibles, Paper, Menus | eBay! But its prices have lagged behind inflation, so now it must be considered moderate. And some fan favoriteslike Burger Chef, G.D. Ritzy's, and Howard Johnson'sfell by the wayside. Clyde's food is more famous than good. Genesis of South Bay. AE, MC, V. No reservations.Parking lot. No-smoking section. This is a restaurant where every dinner can turn into an impromptu banquet. Kingbird serves a lavish breakfast spread, and is the ideal pre . The third-year blues have hit La Fourchette. Even the traditional sauces -- dark, resonant mole and smooth, piquant salsa verde -- are unusually good. Next, a fish filet or whole broiled flounder, either plain or with good lump crabmeat. Part of the magic may be having to reserve two weeks to the day in advance, the reconfirming the day before and the long drive down a winding wooded road, but there is no doubt that L'Auberge Chez Francois is a special place when you get there. Romeo & Juliet 2020 K St. NW. The more inventive a dish, the less likely its success. Valet parking. Beer and wine only. It still has nearly half a dozen Ethiopian restaurants but none from Scandinavia. June 14, 2022. Sir Walter Raleigh Inn Check local phone directories for locations. L $1.50-$3.50, D $5.50-$6.95. 244-5933. and have played host to former presidents, foreign dignitaries, and a wealth of other impactful figures. Full bar service. Parking lots next door and across the street. And, just as clothes may make the woman, Pueblo Joe's makes Washington's best-dressed restaurant list. Full bar service. It sounds exactly like Tom Sariss Orleans House. He boldly seasons with red and black pepper, profusely sprinkles olive oil and lemon. You might wish there were more than three shrimp, but you must admit they are good. Mc, v. Reservations accepted. No credit cards. L daily ex Sat, Sun, D daily. 363-8900. Scads of money and effort went into designing this lush multi-level saloon of sincere wood and polished brass. Reservations accepted. L $3.25-$6.35, D $15. Indulge in the Best Restaurants in D.C. And most of the oven cooking or simmering -- stuffed vegetables, baked kibbe, wet couscous -- is overcooked and no better than average. Sometimes the food is excellent, as with a spicy rillette or very fresh fish. Open daily. Chesapeake Bay Seafood Houses Check local phone directories for locations. Lombardy Cafe 2019 I St. NW. a mug of beer, a cup of too-sweet but fairly good chili fill out a meal that is nofrills and priced accordingly. 638-6503. Parking in front. Full bar service. L $4.95-$6.75, D $8.25- $13.50. Hogate's 9th St. and Maine Ave. SW. 484-6300. Commercial parking lots. L daily ex Sat, Sun, D daily. As a child I remember saying oh we are eating at the White House (because of the columns??). Full bar service. Full bar service. For dessert -- have something. D daily. Extreme Pizza. Children's prices. Full bar service. It remains intact after fears of losing the chef to the tug of France, this brilliant little restaurant hidden under the Watergate. Among main dishes, the crab imperial is historically and currently excellent, and dishes with hollandaise or bearnaise sauces fare well. Aux Beaux Champs 2800 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. The search for the great unpretentious steak house goes on, but leaves J. R.'s behind. Few places on Capitol Hill, and fewer of Washington's Chinese restauurants, are so serene. 659-2388. In warm weather the tables spill over to an outdoor cafe. L daily ex Sat, D daily. N reservations. Free parking in adjacent lot at dinner. Parking in shopping center lot. There are plenty of pictures online if you google, so you can see if they match your memories. L $2.95-$6.95, D $6.50-$11.95. Children's prices. Parking lot. MC, V. No reservations. Full bar service. L daily, D daily ex Sat. Pueblo Joe's 4200 Wisconsin Ave., NW. With so many good new restaurants, it is obvious why some old favorites have missed being reviewed this year. 2. Full bar service. Mc, v. Reservations suggested. The menu is full of don'ts -- no credit cards or checks, no separate checks, no sandwiches after 5 p.m., no substitutions, no half-orders. SE. 948-1775. The Prime Rib looks like the last of the supper clubs, even at lunch, when the silk-shaded table lamps are lit, the Lucite-topped grand piano playing despite the bustling workaday world outside. L, D daily. Full bar service. D, MC, V. Reservations suggested. Children's prices. The prices stayed so low for so long that something had to give. L daily ex Sat, Sun, D daily. Street parking. Full bar service. Closed Sun. Children's meals. MC, V. Reservations required for parties of five or more. L daily ex Sat, D daily. AE, MC, V. No reservations. Now there are tablecloths, but otherwise the fanciest fixture at Los Planes de Renderos is the tape deck on the bar, playing Latin music. 820-5775. Indside, the dessert table and cheese trays are iordinately enticing. AE, MC V. Reservations suggested. 340-8596. New York City. L daily ex Sat, Sun, D daily. Full bar service. 3, Irvington, Va. 804/438-6000. Commercial parking lots. Taverna Cretekou 818 King St., Alexandria. On occasion, the rack of lamb or crabmeat rise to bygone dignity, but other than a nicely smoked, still moist cold trout, recent investigation has fund more to mourn than to celebrate. No-smoking section. The dining rooms are ample but still of intimate scale. I know this is a needle in a haystack situation, but here goes.. Nora is full of clatter, its service rough-edged and harried. Valet parking. 751-9266. 338-4484. The restaurant has trout tanks and lobster tanks, offers limousine service and produces an annual Bastille Day race and festival. 893-6366. SE. Rive Gauche seems to be taking a deep breath and meeting the challenge again. L daily ex Sat, D daily. AE, CB, D MC, V. Reservations suggested. Children's prices. 333-5440. L daily ex Sun, D daily. L $2.95-$5.95, D $7.50-$12.50. Thai Hut 2404 University Blvd. Best Seafood Restaurants in Washington, DC. Once a small storefront eating place, Caffe Italiano has expanded to three rooms on two floors decorated with Impressionist paintings and mirrors, white candles on the tablecloths and black vests on the waiters. Full bar service. There are lapses, in particular the acid marinated trout and weighty quenelles. Tiki Bars. Street parking. Samurai Sushiko 2309 Wisconsin Ave., NW. Parking garage. The Hunan lamb and beef offer a brilliant interplay of pepper, vinegar and soy with a touch of sweetness that is uniquely Hunanese. Reservations suggested for lunch, required for dinner. 683-4112. Full bar service. Make Restaurant Reservations. tWaiters are familiar with the food, knowing which fresh herbs are used with which sauce, and keep a watchful eye on your table from a distance. Clyde's is a series of attractive stage sets for playing out the Georgetown breakfast, the Georgetown brunch, the George-after-dark. Parking in front and rear. L $5.75-$12.50, D $10.25-$21. Wash them down with bargain-priced Italian wines, finish with eggy golden homemade tortoni and figure that what you spent in gas to find the place was saved in the price of the veal. Full bar service. Full bar service. AE, CB, D, MC, V. Reservations suggested. Embrace music at the 14th Annual D.C. Record Fair L daily ex Sat, D daily. 667-3040. 797-7640. Closed Sun.AE, MC, V. Reservations requested. The variety is appealing, from hors d'oeuvre plates that are fresh vegetable salads and tiny bits of pate, sardines and the like, to moist bluefish in nantua sauce to cassoulet or just a rib eye steak with french fries. But it is a restaurant where they smile a lot while they blunder. Every couple of years, it seems, La Fonda comes up with a redecoration scheme; this year's is tile. Intrigue 824 New Hampshire Ave. NW. 686-5500. The history of restaurants in the Nation's Capital. L $4.40-$8.20, D $7.40-$18. L, D $4.50-$6.50. But it is now furnished with basket tables from Ethiopia and folk art on the walls, along with the original booths. L $2.25-$3.95, D $4.25-$7.95. The rates are rough and homey, soups fragrant, main dishes bold with garlic and shallots. Full bar service. Soups are fine, and the "egg souffle florentine" is an unusual slice of souffle on spinach and mushrooms with a rich, nutmeg-scented cheese sauce. D $9.95-$14.95. Ae, d, mc, v. Reservations suggested. L daily ex Sat, D daily. D daily. It takes an owner on the premises, watching both the kitchen and the door, and caring supremely whether each diner enjoys the meal. And dessert crepes or Grand Marnier-soaked oranges make wonderful bargain-priced endings. L $3.25-$4.95, D $3.95-$6.95. Open daily. Parking lot. September 21, 1980. NW. The hummos special, topped with ground beef and almonds, was not a prettily arranged or as tangy. Full bar service. Full bar service. 337-3030 L $2.50-$7, D $4.50-$10.95. L $2.45-$4.50, D $3.75-$8.95. AE, MC, V. Reservations suggested. AE, D, MC, V. Reservations suggested. 942-0075. Open daily. View Menu. It has until now been consistently excellent; I hope its third year blues are short-lived. It has quietly and gradually become a fine restaurant, its cuisine stably settled among those French restaurants just below La Pavillon, Le Lion d'Or and Jean-Louis, keeping company with Jean-Pierre, Le Bagatelle, Dominique's and Rive Gauche on its good days. Fuji 3299 M St. NW. If small increments can be said to raise Washington's dining level, add to them that the Szechuan has a new carpet. L, D daily. Apple Tree 1220 19th St. NW. 965-1789. The chef bakes his own excellant Italian bread. Full bar service. AE, CB, D, MC, V. Reservations suggested. SE. No reservations. washington, dc restaurants in the 1980s. Full bar service. 956-2209.L $5.95-$8.95, D $9.25-$14.50. The softshell crabs earlier in the season were as good as anywhere twice the price. Far from the spaghetti-and-meatballs image, this pasta house serves homemade egg noodles with cream, mushrooms, prosciutto and peas and linguine with crab or clams. II Nido 4712 Wisconsin Ave. NW 363-2672. Marianna's 1806 King St., Alexandria. L daily ex Sat, Sun, D daily. No mousse in town is as light as Le Pavillon's chicken liver mousse with lobster, truffles and red and green peppers. Street parking. Full bar service. In 1970, the Old Ebbitt Grill was struggling . Full bar service. But if something very homey, like veal stuffed with seasoned bread crumbs and braised in a brown sauce, is on the menu, you have hit a good night. Parking garage. The spot was known for serving . Blackie's House of Beef 1217 22nd St. NW. The House of Hunan is an exceptional addition to Washington's hundreds of Chinese restaurants, and Vincenzo's, once the kinks are ironed out, is aiming for the top among Italian restaurants. Full bar service. Children's prices. Despite the menu's spiel about its carefully selected and naturally aged beef, the meat on the plate is just ordinary, the roast beef average in tenderness and flavor, overcooked; and the house specialty of marinated sirloin tough and vinegary, though properly seared and cooked rare. L $3.10-$4.90, D $3.10-$8.95. That's it, the best -- unless you substitute for the roast beef a crusty rare sirloin or whatever seasonal fish is available, preferably stuffed with Dungeness crab. Start with shrimp tempura, however, and ask if there are stir-fried crabs available. Despite the new-found sophistication, the food is still pleasant, rough homestyle food and the kitchen remains as slow as it was when the restaurant was half its present size. Their very names -- fish dipped in boiling water with spices, smoked lobster, pelican's nest -- are evocative. 33, Urbanna, Va. 804/758-2397. 882-2955. The vegetables, served family style, are sometimes in hunks so large that diners have to cut them up in order to give everyone a share. Rather, it is siimple cooking with a deft touch to the sauces and special care in homey details. In all, Harvey's seems tired in the face of energetic new seafood restaruants in town. Look for big changes this year in Le Pavillon, at least in the design of the room. "Children's prices" indicates that restaurants serve smaller portions of regular entrees at reduced rates or have a seperate children's menu. L $2.25-$5.95, D $6.50-$12.95. L, D $6.75-$14.75. Open daily. L daily. Children's prices. L daily ex Sat, D daily. AE, CB, D, MC, V. Reservations accepted. Valet parking for dinner only. With costs of everything rising more rapidly than menus can be reprinted, the profit margin is narrowing. Tiny lamps reflect in the polished bare wood floor. L, D $1.50-$12.50. No smoking section. Parking in shopping center lot. But the daily specials, appealing as they sound, are creeping up in price and down in quality. Smithsonian? Parking in rear. . L daily ex Sat, D daily. garage. L $3.95-$7.50, D $11.50-$14.95. Closed Mon. Full bar service. The ideal meal at Joe and Mo's is all beef: tartar steak (share a portion as an appetizer) and roast beef, the fullest flavored prime rib in town, more than an inch thick, tender, moist and juicy, permeated with rosemary, basil and garlic. Swensen's 1990 K St. NW. You might wonder how this can be considered a decent restaurant, unless you were clever enough to order shrimp de jonghe, jumbo shrimp firm and moist, in a garlic and shallot flecked butter sauce. Parking in rear. The service is dignified. Mamma Desta 4840 Georgia Ave. NW. Children's prices. Full bar service. 301/432-6155. The quiches have been soggy and the spinach long wilted. 546-4488. Street parking. Parking in adjacent lot. 175. Choices still tend to be interesting -- stuffed veal breast, meat-and-fruit stuffed peppers with walnut cream, Cornish hens with herbed cream cheese -- but, except for the two fried cheese dishes that have been mainstays of the restaurant from the beginning, the dishes are full of errors: fine herbed soup with clams that taste canned, batter-fried fish vegetables that retain too much grease, blue cheese puff pastry that is overwhelmed by the blue cheese, pastries that sound luscious but are too dry and over-sweet. 232-6684. Full bar service. Reservations accepted. 794-8818. Particularly intriguing is camphor-and-tea-smoked duck, moist and meaty with no fat and with a crisp laquered skin, tasting of smoke and earthy herbs. Barring my encounters with indifferent appetizers and luncheon specials that were steamtable mush, the food is fine. Overambition shows in the crude rabbits pate en croute; on the standing menu, you are safest ordering the poached oysters as appetizer, perhaps the tangy beef sauteed with vinegar as main course.