Rooster & Owl — Restaurant in Washington

Dined here yesterday for my anniversary and my experience was not great

Me and my girl friend were on a mission to try the whole menu because we thought that would be fun and worthwhile. All of the starter courses were pretty good, and our favorites were the everything beets and the “cacio e pepe”. Both were unique twists. The crudo and steak tartare were also good but it didn’t feel as creative as the other 2 dishes, but again tastes great. For the second course, we received the shrimp toast and pot roast. The shrimp toast was amazing and by far the best dish out of everything. Super unique, flavorful and perfect in every way. The pot roast felt like a deconstructed pho/banh mi with the carbs being potato, very creative. Also I forgot to mention that you’ll start with your experience with a pineapple bun bread starter and that was amazing.

Now this is where everything went downhill. Our waiters switched mid-service, which is fine but we expressed and emphasized that we would like to try the whole menu. However we were sad to hear that they already had last-call for the second courses and we were not notified of that and I really wanted to try the gnocchi so that was disappointing. Now what really sucked about the entire experience was the main entree course. The chicken dish was tasty and fun with the separate cheese dish on the side but the striped bass was way too oversalted. Actually a lot of the dishes here are super well seasoned, which is usually good but they’re dancing a fine line between something that is well seasoned and over-salted, and therefore tastes horrible. And the striped bass was definitely the latter. This also brings up the question of should you season things well? For example, the crudo was well seasoned with the sauce/oil it was in, but you cannot taste the fish at all. So is the fish the star of the dish? Or is it just a vessel for the sauce? Are we highlighting ingredients? Or a taste profile. Anyway, because of the over salted striped bass, it sort of ruined the rest of the meal for us. Or, was everything else also over salted? We couldn’t tell because our taste palates were thrown off. Everything tasted really salty and we were gulping a lot of water so let’s assume yes. If that is the case then everything else was just salty: the shortrib and the squash pasta. I’m not entirely sure if I like the vision of using congee as the base for the short ribs as congee dishes are usually light but this one was quite heavy (and salty). The pickled onions also threw me off, I understand adding acid to a dish can cut through the fattiness of the short ribs, but the short rib was kind of dry and everything was over salted so it just tasted like a mess. The squash pasta was probably the entree I enjoyed the most but clearly the bar isn’t high. It was good, salty like most pastas are so it was acceptable. It was quite creamy and the flavors of the sage (I think?) paired well.

For the desserts we got everything as well (due to our mission to complete the entire menu). The best thing was the chocolate mousse, and the olive oil cake was alright. The pavlova was pretty but tasted bleh. The outside was like hard styrofoam but sweet and the inside was a cream with a lemony sauce on the bottom. Creative but the taste wasn’t there with the weird texture. But again, why add salt. Why. I don’t know the other dessert we got but I can tell u that it was very forgettable and not great as well.

The ambiance was fine, it’s a very tight restaurant so you’re in close proximity to other diners. The setting is more laid back and casual. Sad I never got a kitchen tour, would’ve been nice. But what an...

We had a great time at Rooster & Owl last night. Ginger was our server, and she was excellent. The service overall was phenomenal. They have a well-trained team; everyone was very attentive. Our water glasses were never empty, everything was well-timed, and even the more junior food runners knew every detail about each dish.

We were a group of four and decided to order everything on the menu—plus a few extras of dishes we wanted to double up on—and split everything. They encourage sharing, but the dishes are small, so we often only got a bite of each. This is great if you're open to that concept and prefer a culinary exploration over a traditional meal. My husband isn't the biggest fan of sharing, so he’d probably opt not to share next time. You can also add on as many extra dishes as you'd like for only $15 each which is actually a great deal. With the full four course menu costing $125, they're essentially discounting each additional dish by 50%. Personally, I would have had a hard time choosing just one dish from each course, and I was often surprised by which ones ended up being my favorites as they weren’t necessarily what I’d typically order.

My favorites from each course were: First: Smashed cucumbers with crab Second: White asparagus, fried haddock Third: Lamb, pea ravioli Dessert: Chocolate tart, pistachio olive oil cake

The cocktails were also excellent. I did the wine pairing and really appreciated Ginger’s expert and detailed explanations for each wine. The amount of wine served was more than I expected. Two of the four courses came with two wines due to the variety of dishes we ordered, so I ended up with six wines in total. Most were three oz pours, but the first was practically a full glass. Some of the wines were more interesting than others. I found it funny that the red was a Sangiovese. They went with all Italian wines, and while I respect the Sangiovese, it’s not the most exciting choice. Still, between the quantity and quality, I thought the wine pairing was a fair deal and they all worked well.

The ambiance of the restaurant is warm and welcoming—not stuffy at all. I've been to Michelin-starred restaurants that cost much more, felt far more formal, and yet served dishes that weren’t nearly as interesting. All in all, Rooster & Owl strikes a fantastic balance between quality and cost, delivering a unique dining experience that both refined palates and more casual...

The food was good, but overall, it was not a great experience due to the rushed service and every single one of our requests was met with the response of "no."

When I arrived, I noticed plates were coming out one after another with no breaks in between. People were in and out, and I overheard that it was a celebratory evening for some of the guests. I felt bad seeing people rushed through their meals on their birthdays and anniversaries.

I don't like rushing through my food, so I requested a 10-minute pause between dishes. The server said this wouldn’t be possible because our reservation was only for 90 minutes. I explained that with a 10-minute pause between courses, it would only take 40 minutes, leaving us with an additional 50 minutes to enjoy the small plates. She gave me a displeased look and reluctantly spaced out the dishes a bit, but it wasn’t the 10 minutes we had requested. So, we decided to take our time and tried to hold onto our plates. It was a struggle. they constantly circled around, trying to take them away every two minutes. During the 75 minutes we were there, I saw many people who arrived after us leave before us. The host also kept circling our table, giving us disapproving looks, as if they wanted us to leave even though we had been seated for less than an hour. I've never experienced a fine dining meal like this—it was so uncomfortable and unpleasant.

Other instances of being told "no" included when we asked if we could order dessert after our savory courses to see what our palate was craving. We were told this wasn’t possible, despite the dessert being a pre-made piece of cake.

When I wanted to buy my boyfriend a nice glass of bourbon on a separate tab so that I could pay for it, I was initially told no.

I also asked for a dessert cocktail, but they said they didn’t have any and offered no alternative suggestions and walked away.

Being rushed and constantly hearing "no" made the experience subpar, and we would not return. I wonder if they are striving for a second Michelin star because I’ve never encountered service like this at a two-star restaurant. I feel that one-star restaurants can sometimes be gimmicky, but this level of service and rushed pace felt beneath even a one-star standard.

Lastly, we ended up eating dinner again about an hour and half later because the portion sizes were not satisfying. I usually eat small portions and even...