What's the Best Restaurant near National Harbor?

OK, so I am trapped here in National Harbor, staying at the Gaylord National. Here for a conference, so I am solo, sans wife and kids. Typically, we would be with rental car and striking it out on the town, to sample what DC has to offer. However, since I don't have a car, and really don't feel like paying $20 each way in cab fare to Alexandria (already went to dinner at Brabo for a group function yesterday), I ended up just staying local for a couple of the days I was here.

First stop after arrival was Bond 45 - even though there are several posts recommending a search for National Harbor, I found the reviews rather sparse, and the only thing I heard anything good about was Bond 45. I made a reservation, got seated immediately (the place was pretty empty for a Thursday evening), and prepared to be impressed. I have to say the service was only fair for such a pricey restaurant. I started with the caeser salad - a rather ample portion in a big bowl, but for $14 it better have some redeeming factor. The salad was good, good enough that I got the remainder to go (no way I could finish it myself) to save for lunch the following day (in combination with a sandwich). Croutons were crunchy, the romaine was fresh, and the caeser dressing was a good middle ground - not too much on the acidic side, and not too creamy, either. The main course was comprised of a petite filet (8 oz) with accompaniments of parmesan asparagus and a side of sauteed broccoli rabe (not listed on the menu, but available by request). The filet was very good, cooked to my preferred medium rare/medium wellness, very tender, and as one would expect in a steakhouse. But however, no surprises, no wow, but solid steak fare. The asparagus side was somewhat underwhelming; the asparagus quite thick and slightly fibrous, and the parmesan just falling right off when I tried to pick up a piece or two for my plate. Not $12 worth, if you ask me. The sauteed broccoli rabe was better, but strangely there were some thicker broccoli stem pieces mixed in, along with bits of florets as well. Cooked the way I like it, slightly "al dente" but not too snappy. I just couldn't get over the other bits mixed in - rabe is rabe, OK?? The service was only satisfactory, not what I would expect from such a pricey venue. The atmosphere was not as sumptuous as one would expect from a high end steakhouse, either.

So this brought me to today, another night to kill in National Harbor with no transportation, all my colleagues have left, what to do? I toyed with the idea of going back to Bond 45 (since I at least I knew that wasn't going to be horrid) but I decided to give the Old Hickory Steakhouse in the Gaylord Hotel a run for it. I got seated immediately, even though I had called for reservations 5 mins prior. The place was quite packed, as the convention goers had all arrived for the weekend, but I could immediately tell the atmosphere was better - better lighting, great veiws of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, and just better overall ambiance - nicer furniture, better dressed wait staff, more attentive servers. I took my place at a table, solo, ordered my favorite martini, and within minutes, the waiter was already bringing it to me. Somewhat burned from ordering too much food (two sides at Bond 45), I reeled it in a bit and just started with a wedge iceberg salad for starters and a 20oz ribeye for the main course. The salad was quite impressive; a whole half head of iceberg, split into two, just the right amount of bleu cheese dressing, and real just-cooked bacon slivers (still warm!). I couldn't finish the whole thing without worrying if I was going to be able to finish my steak.

The main course arrived, and I was quite impressed. The steak had just the right amount of char/sear, and it was still hot - could hear a bit of sizzle still! I cut into it and it was prepared exactly as I wanted. Steak was excellent, nice subtle crunch from the sear, buttery smooth texture, and great flavor. Unfortunately the cabernet I wanted (by the glass) was out, and I got a rather weak less bold cab as a suggestion. But I really didn't mind because the steak was so good and the wine became secondary (boy, I don't say that very often). I finished it off and couldn't even think about dessert.

I would definitely encourage those traveling to National Harbor to give Old Hickory Steakhouse a try. I would have loved to dine there with my wife, gotten a nice bottle of wine and have a fantastic steak dinner. My experience was still good enough to make it memorable.

Good luck.

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Old Hickory Steakhouse
National Harbor, MD, National Harbor, MD

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2010 Vancouver, BC, Canada Restaurant Reviews by ALEDM

Hey, thanks for the numerous reviews in one post! We just got into Vancouver today and it's always hard to sift through posts to try to find a review that has a variety of different cuisines. We did stop at Shanghai River on the way in, and the XLB did not disappoint - excellent as always.

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Shanghai River Restaurant
7831 Westminster Hwy, Richmond, BC V6X1A4, CA

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Anniversary Dinner in Cannon Beach

I just put in a review of JP's (which had been given good reviews for fine dining) which is in Cannon Beach - I am here with the wife and kids and we really tried hard to find something resembling fine dining here in Cannon Beach. We were not at all impressed with JP's for a fine dining experience - I would have to, by default, recommend Stephanie Inn for dinner - from what I remember the food was decent, and at least the wine selection was broader than what limited offerings JP's has. Unfortunately I can't give you a recent review of Stephanie Inn even though we're still here now - because they have a 12 and over restriction on kids - but at least that should guarantee a quiet meal for you. I am not sure if they are open on Mondays, though, I would give them a call to make reservations anyway.

Check out their website:
http://www.stephanie-inn.com/menu.asp

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Oregon Road Trip (Where to Eat?)

Man, it is so hard to find good food on the Oregon Coast. My wife and I went to JP's last night with high hopes - but the food just couldn't make the grade. We got the clams marinara (since we love clams and there is an abundance of them!) which was a rather small portion for $15, slightly smoky tasting -- (We definitely liked the clams at the Wayfarer with the white wine and garlic sauce better) The salads were nothing special; the vinagrette had caraway seeds mixed into it?! For our main entree, I had the Chicken Cordon Bleu which was a bit rich (just like the salmon mention above by CAB226). My wife had the pasta primavera which strangely had more primavera than pasta. What was really unexpected was the presence of caraway seeds in the dish - completely out of place for primavera, at least in our eyes. The wine selection there is rather limited as well.

We didn't go to Stephanie Inn because our kids don't make the 12 year old cutoff... So far, my favorite restaurant on the Coast is Bay House in Lincoln City - great food, great wine selection, great service with no kid age limitations!

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Jp's At Cannon Beach
PO Box 951, Cannon Beach, OR 97110

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