The Kitchen at Abeja — Restaurant in Washington

There was a lot of positive about this place and two negatives.

I will start with all the good. I saw in a previous review, a person mentioned that it was hard to find the restaurant due to lack of signage. When we arrived last night, there was ample signage to quickly direct a person to the restaurant. Kudos to you for taking suggestions and rapidly implementing solutions. We arrived 10 minutes early and were quickly greeted and seated. The restaurant is small, providing a more intimate experience. The service and wait staff were wonderful. The five course meal costs $135 per person and the courses were: a palate cleanser sorbet made from one of their wines, some fruit, and fennel seed (*forgot the name of this one), Poached Scallop, Cavatiedda, Smoked Salmon Salad, Elk Loin, and foe dessert, Berry Semifreddo. We also added the cheese plate for an additional $20 which was served after the Elk Loin and before the Berry Semifreddo dessert. We also added one wine pairing for an additional $55. Each dish was perfectly prepared by Chef Mike Easton who is a four-time James Beard Award nominee. The food was fabulous all around and the variety of flavors was an adventure for the taste buds.

Now I want to touch on the two negatives we encountered. The first was the amount of time we had to wait between receiving the smoked salmon salad and thr Elk Loin. The total time we had to wait was approximately 40 minutes between them taking our salad and bringing the Loin. Our pairing for the loin was poured about 5 minutes after the salad was taken and it was difficult not to drink the wine while waiting. The waitress did apologize for the long wait time. The second negative is that when we left, we were not full, we both felt slightly hungry. I feel that the portion sizes were just a bit too small. I understand not wanting to have people leaving uncomfortably stuffed, but when spending over $440 (tax and tip included), I do feel like we should have left feeling a bit full and satisfied. We have done many multi-course dinners and have never left hungry at others.

I do want to finish this with saying that we were overall impressed with the experience. The food tasted amazing and the staff were wonderful. I think you guys have a great thing going, especially after hiring Mike Easton (though I didn't have the opportunity to try your restaurant prior to him joining your time). If there is an improvement on portion sizes, my husband and I will make this a regular place to celebrate our...

Decor and atmosphere invoke a relaxed yet clean and elegant feeling. The grounds were well cared for and organized. The staff, all of them, were exceptional. Evident in their positive, cooperative, and professional excitement to share all Abeja had to offer, we will return again. Our wine tasting was well organized and timely with a beautiful setting inside. There was a bit more noise than we wanted because of the excitement and conversations of the others within the tasting area. There would be value in some extra decor with an acoustic focus to take the experience up a level. The dinner adventure was amazing! It was 5 courses of balanced and elegant flavors with and mix of local flare and innovation. Prawns and sweet corn soup, tortellini, roast quail, and capped with a red wine demi glaze NY strip and morels. Meeting the chef as he visited each table was a pleasure. The two wait staff and hostest were attentive and informed us of the details of each dish while providing enough privacy for personal...

This was truly a magical dinner! We have been fortunate to eat at many amazing establishments and this is in the top ten for certain. The service that we received was impeccable the floor manager (wish I knew her name) was phenomenal. She was funny, relaxed and really cool... The food. WOW. WOW. WOW- I don't like duck and that was one of the courses and it was delicious!!! Just the right size portions so you weren't stuffed but you were making a trip to In N Out afterwards . We didn't do the wine pairing but had a delicious Pinot Noir and they made us feel super special. This was our 15 year anniversary trip! The server poured us some wine to celebrate us which was a super nice touch. The meal was perfection, service divine, vibe on point and everyone was absolutely friendly and lovely. I would love to get to go back and enjoy another meal!!!! Can't wait for...