Poplar — Restaurant in Washington

I went to Poplar with my partner and we had a lovely time. We made reservations, which was very easy, and got there on Thursday night. The service was great and helped us navigate the menu to ensure we had a wonderful meal. The oysters were wonderful and, though I usually eat them plain, the housemade cocktail sauce made me want to find more ways to eat it. The aguachil shrimp was so good (pictured) - sweet, tangy, and a little spicy.

I ordered the couscous with garlic scape pesto as something of a test. I make my own garlic scape pesto, in traditional Italian pesto style and technique, from the garlic I grow and is my favorite thing to eat this time of year. I was very happy to see that the pesto was made right and was at least as good as my own.

We were just about getting full when the panna cotta came out (pictured). It was a very good panna cotta and was very interesting. The stem of the "mushroom" was made with candy cap mushrooms, giving it a light and earthy sweetness, that was accentuated by the cherry cap and its cherry sauce.

Throughout, the beverages were excellent - even the non-alcoholic wine we ordered at the end because we are getting old. I'm always a fan of ANXO cider and the wines we had were excellent.

We learned while there that the CIA-trained chef was reluctant to have a restaurant and fall into making the same things all the time, so ultimately settled on cooking only if he could make a new menu each week.

Overall, a wonderful dining experience where the passion for interesting and fresh...

Imagine that a restaurant with an inventive menu, superb (and surprising) ingredients, and a chill vibe got dropped into your local neighborhood — that's Poplar. Our group of four included a vegetarian, a non-lamb eater, and two eat-literally-everything types. Each of us had ample options to choose from off of not one but two menus, the chef's menu and the ever-changing weekly menu. The portion sizes skew smaller, so we ordered plenty from both menus. The experience was like a fancy tasting menu without the pretension and the eye-popping price tag, and with the ability to pick the dishes we wanted and leave off the ones we didn't. Excellent from start to finish, though I wish the panna cotta was a bit sweeter (or maybe that's my sweet tooth talking). The wines were lovely and well priced. Noise level was easy on the ears. Afterward, we visited Everyday Sundae for ice cream down the block, then drifted back to Poplar for a nightcap and some Chaka Khan on the record player....

I wanted to like Poplar so badly. I will have to try it again in the future and possibly update this review. The paella was served cold, the trout was dry, and the service was extremely slow despite the restaurant not being full. Food particles were left on the table between courses and it would have been nice to swap out dishes after each course was complete. With friends and family who work in DC’s service industry this experience was disappointing. However, I imagine they will iron these things out since they...