|
|
|
Park Hyatt Hotel, 1201 24th St. NW
(202) 955-3899
Hours of Operation and Prices
Breakfast: M-Sat 6:30-11, Sun 6:30-10:30; Entrees: $9-$14
Lunch: M-Sat 11-2:30; Entrees: $13-$18.50
Dinner: Daily 5:30-10:30; Entrees: $18.50-$24
Pre-Theater: Daily 5:30-6:45, $25
Brunch: Sun 11-2:30, $31
Afternoon tea: Th-Sun 3-5, $16-$19
Other Information
• Credit Cards: All major
• Reservations: Recommended
• Dress: Casual
• Parking: Complimentary valet all day
• Nearest Metro: Foggy Bottom
• Entertainment: Dancing Sat 7-11, pianist at teas and brunch
• Handicapped accessible
|
Its terrace is shielded by bushes and trees, sunken from street level so it's out of the path of fumes. Its outdoor tables are covered by pale canvas umbrellas to let in light but buffer the heat. Its landscaping includes not just decorative greenery and flowers but also an herb garden. And its corner is dominated by a huge, tiered, iron fountain that muffles the cacophony of city traffic and cools the air. Dining outdoors at Melrose is uncommonly pleasant. Indoors it glistens with marble and brass - less charming but eminently comfortable.
Seafood is chef Brian McBride's specialty, accounting for more than half the menu. Lunch appetizers are soups or salads, the likes of a
Thai squid salad, tart with lemon and fragrant with lemon grass, sharpened by shallots. Dinner appetizers are largely seafood: soft-shell crab, elegant Petrossian smoked salmon, shrimp in house-made ravioli or a remarkable preserved tuna - rubbed with salt and spices and cured for 36 hours. Most cleverly, among the lunch entrees, superb Maine scallops have their sweetness emphasized by being threaded on skewers of sugar cane - an adaptation from the Vietnamese grilled shrimp paste. At dinner the lightest - and most Asian-inspired - entree is steamed black bass, in an unnecessarily sweet but vibrantly seasoned broth. Even better is Dover sole, which McBride surrounds with roasted peppers and morels and lays on a bed of mƒche. Nevertheless, the sleepers on this menu are the pastas: bran pasta with swordfish, arugula pesto and red pepper coulis or angel hair pasta with mascarpone and lobster. For dessert, seasonal fruits are used to advantage - plums show up in a homey crisp, lime in a frozen mousse, berries and mangoes in an airy napoleon. The high prices remind you this is hotel dining, but the personal service has the enthusiasm of a restaurant where the proprietor is closer to home.
|
