Pascual — Restaurant in Washington

Our experience was mostly highs with a few low points. For anyone who remembers Kenny's BBQ (miss those collards!) the transformation of the diminutive corner on busy Maryland Ave is remarkable. They managed to create a space that is functional, comfortable, and efficient, if a bit loud. The patio outside will be amazing on nice spring days.

The food and cocktail menu has something for everyone with unique twists and turns that take even standard dishes, like the chips and guac, to a whole new level. I love the bon-chon like presentation of the salsa and other bits with the guac and fried tortillas. As a sauce lover, the habanero was a standout, rich, spicy and layered. The salsa macha, generally a favorite of mine, lacked the body and deep smokiness of dried chiles and other flavors and was just more oily and indistinct than what I'd expect from the style. But between the two of us, there was nothing left of that dish.

Most of the rest of the meal was pleasant. We loved the simplicity of the tuna dish with strawberries and the verdent spring mole dish replete with fresh peas and subtle veggie-forward elements.

The first thing that fell way short for me was the Taco Al Pastor. I have lived in LA for ages and spent a lot of time in Mexico. In both places tacos are a religion and there are certain elements of classic taco styles that you can definitely bend and elevate, but have to be present.

The classic pastor style taco is marinated in rich and mildly spicy adobo sauce and stacked on a spit where the flavors infuse over hours. The spit is then set up against a "trompo" that kisses the edges of the spindled meet with flame, cooking the marinated meat as well as creating a two-part texture that is soft with crunchy edges. The result is shaved porky wonderfulness with a deep smoky flavor from both the cooking and bits of sauce that infused the meat. Many times a bit of pineapple, which complements the unctuous meat with a bit of sweetness and acid, will be on the same spindle and come off with a bit of char that puts the flavor combinations over the edge. The pinnacle of the traditional style also involves a fresh-made tortilla, which has its own nuance and can be a deeply political topic. The ideal tortilla is just the right size and thickness to hold everything together while imparting a fresh masa flavor and firm but velvety texture.

Pascual's Al Pastor was chunks of grilled pork smothered in a lot of inoffensive sauce with a few chunks of fresh pineapple dropped on the ends. The tortilla - same ones they fry up for the guac dish - had a nice masa flavor and good texture, but was to thin to stand up to all that saucey load, so it quickly turned into a fork affair. Meh.

My other (even deeper) disappointment was the michelada - the unofficial official cocktail of Los Angeles. It's so engrained in the culture that many stores offer a "just-add-beer" styrofoam cup complete with tajin rim and a little cup-o-noodles-like dry spice packet to mix up with the drink. Delightful! - in a "I have exactly 2 dollars how can I maximize my beverage enjoyment" sort of way. For true connoisseurs, you can spend around $8 at local breweries or upscale restaurants to try their craft michelada variations.

A good michelada is just tomato juice, Worcestershire, lime, and hot sauce - and only enough of those to add some body, piquant flavor, and just a little bit of danger to your basic Mexican lager. Lots of ways to play with the recipe - often times with tamari or other umami flavors blended in.

When I saw Pascual's michelada at $16 I imagined all sorts of things that must be in the mix to drive up the cost and complexity of what is usually the cheapest drink on the menu. Instead I got a tiny glass with half a can of lager and a mix whose only distinct flavor was pineapple. Between the size, cost, and utter lack of character I was so deeply disappointed that I only drank about a third of it. It wasn't undrinkable, but for me it was just a can lager beer mixed with deep disappointment - and I...

Our waitress was terrible tonight and it was a shame because the food at Pascual is so excellent that the only thing coming between them and a Michelin star is their service. They definitively have better-tasting good than other Michelin restaurants in DC but their service tonight was a bit insulting.

Our waitress made a few serious mistakes, along with several little ones. The big ones were: we ordered a steak and not only did she never ask us how we wanted it cooked, it came out tepid and medium. Medium is fine as a default IF it’s the case that Pascual makes all of their steaks the same way since they pair it with mole but IF that’s what Pascual does, that’s something that needs to be communicated when people order the steak. We like our steaks rare or medium rare. Not medium and definitely not barely above room temperature. We tried to get our waitress back and say something like, “hey, just FYI, we like our steak rare or medium rare,” but we didn’t remember that she never asked until our small plates were cleared and by then, she didn't come by our table again until after the steak came out. That was quite disappointing given that the steak is their most expensive dish.

Our waitress made several little other mistakes too like never filling our water back up, trying to upsell a bottle of wine when we clearly only wanted a glass (it’s a Monday), etc. She also didn’t ask us if we wanted dessert and just plopped the dessert menus down in front of us and walked away. When she came back and we told her we were okay, she snatched the menus off the table quite aggressively. We had felt a level of passive aggressiveness throughout the meal and that snatch-y moment made it clear that we weren’t imagining it. Not sure if we offended her somehow or if she was just having a bad day. Very odd.

Anyway, come on Pascual! Your flavors are too good. The flavors deserve a Michelin star but not if bringing tepid steaks out at some default level of rareness because your passive aggressive staff forgot to ask is what’s going on at your...

We were looking forward to Pascual, especially with the reviews which mentioned the owner(s)/chef(s) having worked at Pujol, one of our favorite restaurants in the world.

That may have set the stage unfairly for Pascual. It is a pleasant restaurant, but with nothing particularly special about the ambiance. Service was not particularly good. It wasn't bad or rude, it just wavered between indifferent and simply unpracticed...staff seemed untrained to varying degrees. Dishes were sometimes presented with little more than a toss on the table and a muttered reminder of what the dish was...

The food was fine, with some things better, and others definitely disappointing. The al pastor tacos were no better than what you get at some of DC's Mexican stalwarts (Habanero, Mescalero) - which are tasty so this isn't a knock... it's just that they should be - if the reviews are credible - so much more.

Let's get religious for a moment. Is there ever a reason for tortillas to be served cold? Seriously if I did this in my in-law's home I suspect a chancla would be winging my way in short order. Don't serve cold tortillas. Especially if they are homemade.

The lamb barbacoa was interesting - a worthwhile dish. Not amazing, but good job.

A moment on the wine list. Do better if you are selling moderately upscale food. Mexico has some interesting - if not epic - wines to share... and you should have them. Moreover, your staff should know how to describe your wines (whatever you have) in terms of shared experiences... is something like a Bordeaux or more like a Barbaresco? And please... go light on the wines from California (says the guy from California).

All of this would have been fine for a meal around $250 or less. But spending your evening with Pascual will put you back some $400. That's hardly truly expensive...but somehow when so many things fall short it just doesn't add up for me.

I wanted it to be better and I wish it was. And...it can be, with focus. Hope...