minibar — Restaurant in Washington

I write this as someone who has dined at 1 to 3 Michelin star restaurants all across the world. This was by far the most disappointing Michelin restaurant I have ever been to. Both the service and food did not live up to 2-star standards, let alone 1 star, particularly considering the price. I would not recommend anyone dine here.

Regarding the service:

Our waiters forgot to get our drink orders, and I had to ask to order drinks 2 courses into the main dinner (after several snacks up front). This was a function of a disorganized wait staff, with my party being passed us off to multiple wait staff throughout the dining experience. I wouldn’t care if this was a regular dining establishment, but at a 2-star exorbitantly priced restaurant, that’s a huge error. Part of the 2/3 Michelin star experience is to have incredibly choreographed service. I routinely get better drink service at cheap, run of the mill restaurants! With the amount of wait staff they had, this should have been noted when our 6 person party all was without drinks while the other diners all had their drinks before the meal started.

I was the first to arrive, and when I was escorted into the bar/waiting/snack area, they couldn’t figure out what party I was in and where to sit me, so my host needed to be rescued by another staff member who knew what was going on. Also, no one explained to me this was a snack/staging area before the meal, so I was at a loss for what was happening. Some but not all people in my party were informed by staff, so I learned from them. Again, more disorganization.

In general, the wait staff, from the most junior to senior members, looked harried and nervous during the dinner, seeming to do many team huddles and with several staff members being pulled away to be talked to by more senior members. Again, just not the seamless, smooth, comfortable, confident service I am used to at Michelin restaurants.

I thought there were excessively long delays between courses and to start the meal.

Regarding the food:

My main issue is I was hungry throughout the meal and still hungry at the end. I don’t need to feel stuffed, but I should feel sated, and I wasn’t close to that. I’m a small guy. My friend who came showed me pictures from his experience at minibar a couple years ago, and the courses looked much more substantial.

I get we’re paying for the quantity of staff, quality of ingredients, and the skill of the chefs. But it’s hard for me to see how the price we paid was commensurate with what was served. Especially with the service being subpar.

There were many very flavorful and enjoyable dishes, and the chefs seemed very skilled and did a nice job plating. But nothing was particularly knock-out, and this was not enough to make up for the other issues I’ve noted.

Atmosphere:

In the bar area, we were seated at a booth that had several areas of ripped upholstery (not purposeful). The baseboards at the floor were also very stained and scuffed. It all stood out to me like a sore thumb, particularly given the bright and well lit vibe of the bar. I would never care about this otherwise, but when you’re paying $350 (excluding drinks) for a 2-star restaurant, you expect impeccability all around, and it set my expectations low from the start in combination with the bungled seating.

There was an odd rattle/hum in the main dining area, possibly related to a fan/vent, that took away from the atmosphere and made it difficult to hear presentation of the food. Also generally due to the music, it was difficult to hear the chefs explain the courses. I am a young person without age related hearing loss. Again, wouldn’t care otherwise but we’re talking about what’s supposed to be an elite dining establishment.

Overall, as I said, it was very disappointing, and sadly will be one of my most memorable dining experiences given the incongruence between expectations and what...

Me and a Friend decided to try minibar after hearing that Chef Jose Andres and Chef Albert Raurich will be hosting a blowout dinner around $1,000 per person without tax or tip. We arrived and were greeted with a welcome cocktail which featured fresh sorbet on top. This was amazing. The next was a welcome Bikini sandwich with cheese and truffle on top. This too was also amazing. To finish we were given a mango wafer cracker with caviar creme fraiche, this too was also out of this world amazing. However, this is where the amazement unfortunately stopped. Upon hearing that chef Albert will not be co hosting anymore made me a bit upset after having come here for both chefs. The next course of a "wind dried" oyster with oyster consume was absolutely disgusting. The oyster tasted like a bloody fisherman's boat in my mouth which left pieces of cured oyster stuck in my teeth. This unfortunately spoiled my palette as well as my friends. Next course of a bed of sushi rice topped with caviar I found very boring and un creative for a dinner of such caliber. The following dish of white asparagus with a caramel sauce on top I felt that the chefs were thinking too hard, the sweet flavors of the caramel I feel didn't work well with a pickled asparagus. The next dish was a fish carpaccio in the shape of a rose, sprayed with rose water and an accompanying piece of sushi rice drenched in balsamic vinegar. Way too acidic and the fish had this odd coating when you put it in your mouth almost like it was covered in candle wax. Another unenjoyable dish. Next dish of potato salad with hokkaido uni was very creamy, decadent and tasty. The next course of a squid covered in squid ink was not enjoyable at all. No taste, no flavor, just a squid covered in ink. The next course of fried fig with honey I also found un creative, bland and lacking in flavor. The course after this which was chicken pho was decent. The cilantro overpowered the dish. Tasted very earthy and basic. The next dish of pigeon with cherries was great, possessed a variety of flavors, bird was cooked perfect and no complaints. The next dish of mango salad with pork was also a winner between me and my friend. The pork was juicy, seasoned and flavorful. The mango salad was tangy and delicious. The restaurant also tried to serve us Japanese Sake in a wine glass... My friend took deep offense to this as this is no way to drink sake. Disrespectful to the tradition. Requested sake glasses immediately. For a dinner costing almost $1500, the minibar team unfortunately missed the mark. I am not the least bit picky, I have been to minibar before and enjoyed the regular menu. I hope that in the future, the staff and chefs really taste and test these dishes. I got the vibe that some of these chefs were too scared to say no to some of...

Gloriously posh and creative, minibar is a lovely experience, BUT something is missing that would rank it as my top fine dining destination. Do not get me wrong, I am glad I went, and if you are a food enthusiast with the cash to spare, it is worth a trip at least once. However, I would not necessarily go back to minibar when there are so many other highly rated restaurants in the DC area to try. Many of the snack sized dishes are innovative, fun AND delicious. My fav was the Beet Pizzelle with Ostera Caviar - perfect combo of earthy, crisp, salty, and creamy that explored both texture and flavor. The use of an alpine cheese that I could eat buckets of was also appreciated in several of the snacks. But overuse of white truffle frankly clouded a few dishes that would have been perfectly fine without the cloying shavings. Don’t get me wrong, I like me some truffle, but in the Unagi Salmorejo, it took away from the ocean-y brine of the sea urchin. I think truffle gets overused in a lot of fine dining settings as an expensive “wow” factor - this was definitely the case with minibar. The gelatinous “beans” of concentrated flavor were used several times, and while at first I was really impressed, it started to get old. The “Gigante Bean” was my least favorite snack, as it overplayed the novelty of the wiggly bean of concentrated flavor and basically are out tasting like a weird blob of bacon fat. In comparison, the following snack of Panceta Iberico and Ostera Caviar nailed the flavor combo of pork fat and salt in a more traditional presentation. Food aside, the service is fantastic. The orchestration of presenting dishes was spot on, not too performance-y, just the right amount of elegant presentation to augment the dishes. The staff is all young, attractive, and have great skin. Seriously, what toner do you all use? Capping off the evening at barmini is fun and more social that the intimate setting of minibar. It’s worth going light on the drinks during dinner so you can end the evening with one of the many delectable drinks at barmini. If anything, I would probably seek to go to barmini again...