This past Sunday night was my first time dining at Kellari. My friend Lisa asked me to join her for the Restaurant Week dinner, but unfortunately had to cancel. Luckily, my friend Jenn was able to come. At 6 pm the dining room was mostly empty, but people started trickling in by the time we were half-way done with dinner. Known for their fresh seafood, Kellari had an ice display with several varieties of fish and lobster: impressive! {Unfortunately, this is the only photograph that came out decent from the dinner. Sorry.}
Both Jenn and I decided to try out Kellari’s Restaurant Week menu. After making our choices, the waiter brought us freshly grilled bread, chunks of hard cheese, olives and hummus: a great way to start our experience.
For the appetizer I ordered Calamari- Grilled squid with olive oil and lemon emulsion. First, I was shocked by how large the portion was, and in fact took more than a half of it home. The calamari had a lovely grilled flavor and grilled marks, and were tender. The chef, however, used a bit too much salt. Jenn ordered Spanakopita- Fillo pies filled with spinach, leeks and feta cheese. The dough was flaky, but the filling was slightly underseasoned. Our waiter came over to see if we were enjoying our meal and if everything “was wonderful.” He asked us the same question throughout the meal.
For my entrée I ordered Paidakia- Grilled lamb chops with oregano potatoes. The lamb was cooked perfectly to my specification—medium rare. Again, the portion was very generous, but my potatoes were incredibly salty. Perhaps I should have sent them back. Jenn absolutely loved her choice: Chilean Sea Bass- Wrapped in grape leaves and slowly baked, served over Gigantes beans. The white fleshy fish melted in your mouth, and the white beans were a nice change on a typical side of mashed potatoes or rice.
We decided to share dessert and ordered Sokolata- Warm chocolate flourless cake with hazelnut gelato and Yiaourti meli- Goat’s milk yogurt with sour cherries and toasted walnuts. The presentation was gorgeous for both desserts. I think the chocolate flourless cake was my favorite part of the meal: it was not overly sweet and contained a center of gooey chocolate goodness. The yogurt dessert was slightly disappointing. Instead of being sour, the cherries were candied. Also, Jenn did not think there was enough honey syrup to contrast the sourness of the yogurt.
Will I go back to Kellari? Unlikely. There are many other restaurants I haven’t tried in the city, and they would hold precedent.
7 comments:
How disappointing! I love Greek food, but it sounds like this experience really was only so-so. Good thing you ended on a good note with that flourless chocolate cake!
I think it sounds like you enjoyed your meal. Did you?
Sorry to hear about your disappointing experience. Everything on the menu sounded good, maybe they will read your post and work out the kinks.
Too bad that their chef apparently has an issue in the seasoning department; I would say one of the most important things in a good meal! Too salty or too unseasoned and it just doesn't do it for me..
I've heard about this place but of course there are so many restaurants to try like you say and we don't go out locally that much. Sounds like Kellari was ok, but didn't totally live up to your expectations.
A question for you - have you eaten at Nora yet?
Sounds disappointing overall but I love that one photo you got! :)
Interesting. My experience at Kellari just two days earlier was stellar! I ordered differently, except for dessert, and my dishes were awesome: grilled octopus, black cod and the yogurt with cherries. After my meal there, I've been telling people that if they like seafood, Kellari was where they should go in DC.
Alina.
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