The Hamilton: Washington, DC, USA
The next couple of posts will highlight my last few meals in our Nation’s Capital before I headed back to Atlanta. This place was by far my favorite. I had set up a dinner for an Atlanta-reunion with PRo as the lone ND friend. She had suggested a few restaurants but we all voted on the Hamilton. I had found out that they had a sushi-happy hour on Tuesdays and so another friend and I met up earlier to take full use of their 50% off sushi and rolls. For sushi happy hour we had the following:
- The Hamilton Roll
- Spicy Dragon Roll
- Yellowtail sushi
- Smoked Salmon sushi
- Braised Eel (unagi) nigiri
- Blue crab sushi
spicy dragon roll
The Hamilton Roll
Selected Sushi
PROS
- individual sushi was great: fresh and not too heavy
- good proportion of fish to rice
- cheap cheap cheap, especially for DC!
- braised eel was especially tasty
- rolls were pretty good, but I couldn’t say they floored me in taste or flavor. Standard or average for fusion rolls.
CONS
- takes awhile to come out if you get there somewhat late: apparently a lot of people come to the Hamilton for sushi happy hour so if you can get your entire order in at once, it helps curb the hunger.
yellowtail and salmon
braised eel nigiri (unagi)
blue crab sushi
Overall a sushi summary as follows:
- selected sushi: ***.75 (3.75) stars
- fusion rolls: ***.5 (3.5) stars
After the rest of our party arrived, we headed to the back of the restaurant for…dinner. Yes. Yes, I ate for about three hours consecutively that night. It was expensive as hell, but it was also amazing. I think I gained about 3lbs of weight just from this day alone. One of my friends J is all about the ordering-of-many-and-the-finishing-of-none. That is, he’s all about sharing and tasting many dishes. To give him credit, he can throw down if he really wanted to. The things we tried for dinner included:
- seared octopus appetizer
- roasted beet with bufala mozzarella
- gnochetti with early fern
- hazelnut cream puffs
Seared Octopus Appetizer
PROS
- perfectly done. It’s really difficult to cook octopus properly. A lot of the time, a bad restaurant will overcook it, and what you end up doing is chewing a piece of tough ocean-tasting rubber and wondering at what exact moment your teeth will pierce through or break from wear.
- good flavors in the sauce.
- definitely able to share for the table
CONS
- I can’t really say that there are any that stand out.
seared octopus
Roasted beet with bufala mozzarella and toast: this was by far my most favorite dish that we ordered. I wanted something light, and also, bufala mozzarella is my favorite type of mozzarella.
PROS
- also great for sharing
- perfect combination of flavors: the creaminess of the bufala goes well with the sweetness of the roast beets over the slightly decadent buttered toast.
beet bufala and toast
CONS
- none other than I could use another plate of it for dinner!
Gnochetti
PROS
- gnochetti are perfectly sized for people with smaller mouths or who like smaller bites. It’s slightly bigger than boba (tapioca pearls).
- gnochetti was cooked perfectly: not overcooked, not under. It had just the right chewiness.
CONS
- the sauce was fairly acidic, as in, it almost tasted more like lemon juice or vinegar was added to it. The goat cheese did not help much
- not that great for sharing unless you plan on sharing other dishes and doing happy-hour beforehand.
gnochetti
Hazelnut cream puffs
PROS
- well done, not too burnt on the bottom
- I like hazelnut and so I approve of the flavor. It’s a nice change from the standard cream puffs.
CONS
- the puff itself was not “puffy” but was rather heavy. I prefer a lighter, fluffier pastry.
hazelnut cream puffs
All in all, a summary of our dinner portion at the Hamilton is as follows:
- seared octopus: ***.75 (3.75 stars)
- roasted beets with bufala mozzarella and toasts: **** (4 stars)
- gnochetti: ***.5 (3.5 stars)
- hazelnut cream puffs *** (3 stars)
You can find them just a few blocks from the Metro Center subway stop on the red-line. I probably would not go in torn jeans as this is a somewhat nice establishment but they wouldn’t turn you away unless you were really bumming it in sweat pants.
600 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20005
(202) 787-1000
Definitely check them out. I had one of the best eats in DC at this establishment and highly recommend it! Happy eating!
R/g
Rammiegirl 2.0 