Opaline Bar and Brasserie — Restaurant in Washington

I took my parents here for brunch on Christmas. They were visiting from North Carolina. I chose Opaline because I thought we would have a relaxing Christmas meal there.

Our experience started out great until we ordered our dinner entrees. It took over 30 minutes to receive our food after placing our order. When we asked our server, Abderrahim, why our food was taking so long to arrive. We also brought to his attention that other guests who came into the restaurant well after we arrived, received their food before we did. The excuse he gave us was that the other table ordered more “courses” than we did. Of course, we were outraged at Abderrahim‘s response. When he offered to go back to the kitchen to check on our order, he did not come back to our table to provide an update until after we received our food. He never asked us if our food was satisfactory. Marlos, the bartender, ended up going back to the kitchen to find out when our food would be delivered to our table. The reason we were even interacting with Marlos was because we requested that my Mom’s second chocolate martini be remade because it was much worse than the first one she ordered. I will say that Marlos was very accommodating and made every attempt to ensure we were satisfied with our experience. Hence, why I am giving my review 2 stars. He was very pleasant. Abderrahim’s should have been the one to ensure our concerns were addressed not the bartender.

After we started eating our meal, Abderrahim informed us twice that the manager would soon arrive at our table to speak with us about the long wait time. He also informed us that they would be bringing out complimentary desserts of which we were not asked what we wanted. The manager, who did not tell us his name, finally came to our table as we were closing out our bill. When he came to our table, we could barely understand him as he was speaking through his mask. His apologies were very disingenuous. We could definitely tell that he was dreading the conversation because of his demeanor and the fact that it took him a long time to come to our table to address our concerns.

When we finally received our food, my Opaline Smashed Burger was not hot, and the bun was crispy, as if it sat in the oven for a long time. Quite frankly, our experience put a damper on our Christmas holiday. Surely, preparing a hamburger is not difficult.

We have never experienced this type of service. Given that the Sofitel Hotel is a top-notch, international brand, we expected far more than what we received.

I emailed Cece Jones, Food and Beverage Manager and who called me a few days before Christmas to ensure we had a copy of all the menus, to share our experience. As of this post, we have not received a response from her. I emailed her on December 27, 2022. Needless to say, I will not be going back. For the price, quality of the food, and service, I do not recommend...

We thought it was great for breakfast. I can't tell you about lunch or dinner. All I know is that we enjoyed our mornings at Opaline while staying at the Sofitel.

The breakfast café is to the right of the doorway as you enter the hotel. It's nicely decorated in the colors of Provence. The yellow mosaic tile pops with the blue paint on the walls. It's very pretty. The windows and view of the outdoor tables make it feel authentic. Service was great!

The French Press coffee was the first to arrive. We always look forward to coffee at any Sofitel. It's always an amazing experience. I was told it's a special blend of the Lavazza brand. I'd make it myself, but I don't have the time or patience to use this type of coffee maker.

The breakfast menu is limited. Keep in mind that it is a hotel restaurant. The prices are comparable to other 5 star hotel restaurants. You do pay more for something substantial such as the Croque Madame and Opaline Breakfast. We enjoyed both of these breakfast offerings. So much so, that my husband ordered the same Opaline Breakfast 2 days in a row. The Croque Madame was so cheesy and crispy. It's a gruyère lover's dream. I'm still dreaming about it. The egg on top was cooked perfectly as well. The salad looked simple, but it was so tasty and fresh. It's the perfect brunch dish. I couldn't eat it all because it was so rich for an early in the morning meal. With that said, I wish I had ordered it again the next day. The Continental Breakfast was good, but the pastries left a lot to be desired. I did like the fresh butter croissant and the blueberry muffin. The chocolate croissant and pain au raisin were very forgettable. I didn't say anything about it to our server. To be honest, I wasn't as hungry that morning.

Would we go back? Absolutely! I haven't had a Croque Monsieur/Madame like this in a very long time. Even the mornay sauce on the sandwich was very good. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It was...

Service is poor, Food is excellent. Inside was decorated very nicely and it’s clean. Outside dining area however was messy and unorganized. We had reservations for 4 at 6pm on a Saturday. Restaurant was less than 50% full including outside dining but we had to wait 20min to be seated outside. STRIKE 1. We waited at the bar to be seated and ordered drinks. Drink menu had no choices for mocktails or non-alcoholic beers. Bartender did say however they could make any mocktail so a virgin Mojito was ordered. Right as we got our drinks our table was ready so I paid for the drinks and was shocked that the Virgin Mojito was $14. STRIKE 2. Once seated it was 35minutes before we had a server come to the table even after we requested one from other staff members after 20 minutes. STRIKE 3. Menu selection was nice but could use more than choices for vegetarians. We had French onion soup, escargot, opaline burgers, and the muscles. Presentation & taste of all the FOOD WAS EXCELLENT. We had actually ordered coffee & even reminded the server twice until it was finally served. STRIKE 4. We could not help noticing tables around us experiencing service issues as well. They were not busy so not sure if it’s lack of training or just perhaps They can’t get quality staff members so they simply hire whoever they can. We were just visiting so we won’t be back. If I was local I would not cross them off my list however I would be more prepared what to expect. BOTTOM LINE 1st - Check the menu before you go to make sure there’s something for everyone in your party. 2nd - If you have non-drinkers in your party try to negotiate a price for a mocktail before ordering and perhaps they would make it more reasonably priced. 3rd - As long as you’re not in a hurry and Prepared for lack of service you will still go away happy because the food...