Obelisk — Restaurant in Washington

To say Obelisk is discreet is a massive understatement. Tucked away in Dupont Circle, the address is really of a large building that houses multiple businesses. Obelisk does not have a super large sign to indicate its presence so keep your eyes peeled. Oh the mystique! Practically speaking, folks should do what I did and just call if you can't find it.

Once you finally arrive, you're seated in a very elegant and quaint medium sized dining room. It has a homey and relaxing feel that along with their color scheme and mini tree, seems to really fit as a concept.

The restaurant offers a tasting menu that has a small number of options. The menu is handwritten, which speaks to the constantly changing dishes. In a nice gesture, I was given one of those menus to take with me, which is great because there's no way I would have remembered everything I had. Speaking of great gestures, the staff was so pleasant and accommodating. They really make customers feel at home, which again fits very well with the décor and concept.

I tried Burrata, Swordfish Belly, Arancini, Salad, Pici with Lamb Ragu, Lobster Soup, Black Bass with Chickpeas, Fennel and Romesco, Cheese Plate, Baba Au Rhum with Pineapples and Whipped Cream and Butterscotch Custard.

Burrata is a cheese that was topped with seasoning and olive oil. It was subtle, creamy and stringy, all of which made for a fun and interesting start to the meal.

The Swordfish belly is like a hybrid play on sashimi and carpaccio. Absolutely delicious! The swordfish, while thinly cut, retained a firm texture, which is also due to it being a fatty fish. It was also very well seasoned, which brought out the natural flavors. The arancini and salad were both tasty dishes but paled in comparison to the swordfish belly.

The Pici with Lamb Ragu was a definite highlight. Pici is like spaghetti except the noodles are thicker. They were perfectly prepared and an excellent pairing with the hearty ragu. Now, I'm no ragu expert, but this was some amazing stuff. The depth and intensity of the flavors was impressive and addicting. The lamb was so tender.

The Lobster soup was an interesting dish. The pairing was more like lobster meets vegetable or minestrone soup. The lobster was very tender and had a hint of sweetness. The broth had a mild tomato-ish flavor but the texture was odd, a bit gelatinous. Tasty soup.

The Black Bass came with other items but there was no doubt what the star was. Such an amazingly prepared fish, it was moist, tender, well seasoned. Although it wasn't the biggest size, somehow it satisfied me. Don't get me wrong though, I'd gladly eat 10 more of it. The chickpeas brought a different flavor and texture to the mix, but was otherwise unspectacular. The romesco was a great pairing with the fish and tasted like cocktail sauce.

The Cheese plate consisted of barilotto, canestrato and raschera. Not bad, especially for those who take their cheese seriously. I've never been one to pay much attention to cheese plates and in fact, would much rather have a more meaningful dish instead. Good palate cleanser though.

The Baba Au Rhum with Pineapples and Whipped Cream dessert is definitely visually appealing. The sweet bread/profiterole is soft and pairs very well with the cream and rum sauce. The pineapples add some texture and acidity. I have to say though, way too much rum going on here. The assertiveness of the rum was a tad bit overwhelming.

On the other hand, the Butterscotch Custard was an exercise in restraint. The custard was mildly flavored, and had just the right balance of being firm yet creamy. The butterscotch also shines through but does not overpower. Great way to end a magnificent meal, along with the small candy plate that was given at the end.

Obelisk is a high quality meal in my opinion both from a quality and pricing standpoint. In DC, where everything tends to be overpriced and underwhelming, that's...

Pretty unspectacular, to me. But who am I? Fair disclosure: I'm a baby boomer and it was my birthday; I'm also a pretty good cook from an Italian family. So, it wasn't worth the price of admission to me, at any rate. They've been serving 5 course (Italian) meals since 1987, but I don't think it's Italians serving it any more. (At any rate, they don't prnounce everything quite right.)

Gaining admission was a bit of a trauma drama: took 7 emails to nail down an undesirably early 5:30pm reservation. I thought I got the last seat in the house, but the front door was still locked at 5:25pm and the restaurant was still less than half full when I left. These people only work 3 days a week--Thu, Fri, & Sat--and you can't reach them directly until you commit to an unrefundable $25/person reservation through their Tock app. Then they answer your emails, even if not the phone. I guess they don't want their 4 days off disturbed by unserious inquirers. (By the way, my $75 credit card reservation was supposed to be applied to my bill, but that didn't happen, so I have to reach out to find out: yet more emails--the trauma drama ain't over).

What about dinner? Well let's start with a glass of white before ordering a bottle of red. Hmmm. That looks like 3 ounces, possibly 4, but a lot less than 6. Elegant maybe, but cheap. Pretty good wine, by the way, but not good enough for $15/glass--should have gone for a half-bottle instead. Wine list of reds is the same as 3 years ago, and still overpriced. Maybe better to bring your own and pay them the $40 corkage fee. To be fair, this time I go for the very cheapest one, Aglianico del Vultue for $65, and it satisfied.

Unlike the pork chop, which was just overcrusted in an unremarkable dry rub of dried mediterranean spices (labled "porchetta"--usual verbal hype on this hand-written menu and at table-side presentation). Although cooked to perfection, first cut yields a quarter inch of fat, then there's the bone, but I don't feel shy of meat because I don't like it well enough to finish it. I don't complain, but when I'm asked why I didn't finish my pork chop (why?), I say why, and the response is more polite than apologetical. (Whatever; why ask why?)

But I'm not hungry because the antipasti were many and various. Trouble is, I'm not going to be impressed by potato frittata, because I make it and it's no big deal. And I'm impressed you found zucchini blossoms hereabouts, but not impressed with what you did with them. The lamb skewers were tasty, if too citrusy, and the bites were good for my baby-boomer controlled-portion diet,but maybe not for the young or the young at heart. Likewise, those 4 bites of cheese were delicious, but maybe don't rise to the description of a "cheese course"?

To be fair, there was plenty of food for my age bracket. But how about for you at $120/person? (Not including the pricey wine -- $75 "paired wines" option [3 oz. pours, or 2 oz.?] would bring you to $200/person.) I'd think twice about that price, unless you don't know the first thing about cooking, and you never eat 5 course dinners, and you make plenty enough money to pay someone else who knows how to do it for you. Then maybe it's an experience maybe worth it to you. Just not to me. (But who am I? After all, the two cousins buying me my birthday dinner were well satisfied.)

I do think the homemade breadsticks are pretty spectacular.

(P.S. Oh, BTW: dining room is a bit soft-shoe, so don't raise your voice.) (P.P.S. If you tell them it's your birthday, you get a candle in...

My husband had fed me well for every special occasion. For his 30th (and since I do finally have a grown up job), it was my turn to return the favor.

I chose Obelisk after learning their tasting menu changes daily. It was a risky choice since i didn't have a clue what would appear on their menu that day. We went in keeping our fingers crossed hoping that they were serving attractive options. And we definitively were not disappointed!

Antipasti - smoked swordfish, grilled stuffed sausage, grilled pepper, fried fish, and burrata. I wasn't a big cheese fan to begin with (I actually asked if I could swap the cheese course for something else) but their burrata was a life changer! Soft, creamy, and light - I ate two whole breadbasket with smear of their scrumptious burrata alone!

Primi - arugula ravioli and spaghetti with clam - both pasta dishes could had been a meal on their own. Definition of perfectly made pasta!

Secondi - bass and quail. My husband enjoyed his bass but didn't think it was too memorable. He wasn't a big fan of the slaw salad pairing. I, on the other hand, picked up my whole quail and attempted to eat every piece of meat off the bone. Tender, juicy - out of the world!

Cheese - I'm so glad they said no to swapping my cheese course. I initially was just going to take a small bite of each but ended up polishing my plate clean! The hazelnut berry jam was the perfect compliment!

Desserts - chocolate chestnut cake and rosa pudding. The cake was nutty and moist but wasn't sweet enough - perhaps should had been paired with some type of ice cream or sweeter cream? My rosa pudding was really runny and didn't have the consistency of a pudding. It was also overwhelmingly sweet - what a contrast to their cake.

Overall - attractive, ever changing menu - perhaps we just came on a bad night for their desserts. Most of the dishes nevertheless were something I would definitely return for more! Service was a bit of a miss - we placed our order prior to the group of 6 next to us but they were served a whole course before us. We sat around for 25 minutes between each course. Our servers were not apologetic and offered no explanation. Ultimately, our 5 course dinner took over 3 hrs. Perhaps it was because we didn't order wine...

4 stars for food, 3 stars for service - Bad service really spoil dining experience! In...