The Lafayette — Restaurant in Washington

Vastly and impressively DISAPPOINTED!! Filet Sole, as the most expensive entre on the menu ($95) was Red Lobster grade! The only bread items were raisin bread or sourdough! When I requested plain French bread, and they brought Texas toast...and it even was a poor imitation of that! I requested souffle while placing the initial order, knowing it should take time to make, and the waiter only found out at the end of our meal, that the chef could not make it! Undoubtedly, the waiter completely forgot to order it, and then requested the chef too late. The waiter barely understood English such that he would get 50% of our requests correct! For instance, we requested a specific sequence of our order, and, while he outwardly indicated that he understood, he got it all wrong and brought all the dishes out at once. The wine never got poured on time, such that I finally just grabbed the bottle from the bucket and served ourselves. There were many more little failures in food and service that even Waffle House staff would not commit, and which are unforgivable in a restaurant that used to be first class dining experience. This restaurant needs a complete shakedown, starting with the chef! Ah, for the days 10+ years ago when Charu still was there. I fear the management might be powerless to make the needed changes, either due to finances or due to the employees being able to run the show? So sorry we even bothered to even make advanced reservations for a purely devastating experience. We will never come back, unless there are well-published reviews by...

My new fiancée and I celebrated our engagement here just last night, and we had a wonderful evening at the restaurant. After being out and about in DC all day, The Lafayette offered us a soft and elegant retreat from the busy sidewalks of the day. The dining room has a warm coziness to it that allows one to easily feel comfortable in a more formal dining setting. The service was welcoming and well executed as we progressed through the evening. The restaurant manager and our server went out of their way to read a suprise congratulatory message and pop a lovely bottle of champagne that my parents called ahead to set up for us. The food was splendid in every bite of the evening. Every dish displayed the care and knowledge of the chef in its presentation and taste. The execution of everything was top notch as well as timely, but the real star of the evening was our dessert. Her soufflé and my créme brûlée were both excellent! My créme brûlée tasted as if an espresso shot was mixed the perfect amount of caramel cream with a toasty after taste. Her soufflé had such a light and fluffy texture but such a rich, creamy, and warm taste. Overall, I am just thankful to the Lafayette for providing my fiancée and I a lovely evening that we will hopefully...

If you would like to have an experience that you will remember for a long time then dinner at The Lafayette is a must. Right from making a take reservation (and yes that is highly recommended) to the meal is guaranteed to spoil you.

The hotel is totally worth checking out - right by the White House, and the beautiful decoration inside make the experience that much better.

From the moment you drop your car off at the valet thru to checking it with the maître d’ and the entire meal, you are treated like royalty.

They have an extensive wine list and quite a few good wines from USA - CA, etc. I have generally not seen such an extensive list of wines made in USA at an upscale restaurant - like everything French is good and anything US made is bad!

Needless to say, the food here is excellent. I had the Corn Bisque soup for appetizer and Rack of Lamb for man course. The lamb was cooked to perfection - medium rare for me. Meat was tender and full of flavor.

I was surprised that the final check was reasonable and less than what I had expected it to be (tho miles away from a McD budget).

This place should be on the top of the list if you want an awesome, upscale dining experience at an...