Lunch at SEI in DC

I've heard many great things about SEI, and finally decided to try it out last week for lunch. My two lunch companions were Quinn and Jenn C. First of all, the restaurant is gorgeous! The attention to the detail is spectacular, and the use of bright red color as splashes in the midst of white is brilliant. Yes, I was quite impressed.

I asked for a table nearest to the window because both Quinn and I had our cameras ready for taking pictures of food. That's what we food bloggers do :)

For my first course, I ordered Spicy Tuna spicy miso pickles scallion. First, I was rather impressed by the portion size. Also, the presentation was very pretty. And once I took a bite, I really liked the spiciness of tuna and the fact that it did not overpower the entire dish. I could not decide which photo I liked best, so I'm including both of them.

For the main course I ordered Short Ribs wasabi potatoes miso demi. Lately I've been a great fan of wasabi mashed potatoes. I've also had them at dinner at ZenTan. These were fluffy, but the wasabi wasn't perfectly distributed. After some bites I thought I would cry: you know what happens when you have too much wasabi. The meat was tender and well flavored. Unfortunately, the carrots were slightly undercooked.

And then there was dessert! Chocolate Fondant Tahitian vanilla ice cream cherry jam. I did not realize I was ordering a cake after reading the name of the dessert on the menu. But I wasn't disappointed. This was a warm dense chocolate cake served with ice cream. Again, the presentation was very impressive.

I really enjoyed the food, the atmosphere and of course my dining companions!