Rasika Penn Quarter

2012 Fall Dining Guide
By Tom Sietsema
Washington Post Magazine
Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012

When visiting food critics solicit suggestions for where to eat, no matter what hot spot has just ignited in Washington, Rasika tops my list. “There's nothing like this in" New York/Chicago/San Francisco/Houston, my fellow mouths-for-hire all say after tasting the handiwork of chef Vikram Sunderam. His fan of mussels, rich with coconut milk and sharp with ginger, makes me question Belgian bivalve supremacy, and his smoky paneer shashlik is the best marriage of cottage cheese and bell pepper I've ever had anywhere -- India included. Randomly pick a dish -- black cod marinated in honey and dill, potato-like colocassia root baked into a cake with goat cheese and sauced with pomegranate molasses -- and it's likely to become your fresh favorite here. While Rasika's cooking is the principal draw, service in the orange-and-gold dining room is spot-on, and whatever lands in your glass is apt to have you seeing stars, too. This fan could rave on, but you get the point: The best Indian restaurant in the country is in our back yard.