Nage, DC #2

Have you ever been to a restaurant and wondered if this was the same restaurant at which you had dined before because your experience was so different? Well, that was my experience at Nage. A few months ago, I ate here on a Meatless Monday and had a pretty bad experience (see my previous review here). Regardless, I had a Groupon that I needed to use so I found myself back only a few months later. This time, my experience was quite the contrary.

I arrived a few minutes earlier than my friend and was seated at a booth. At this particular booth, I had full view of the blackboard of specials, which I wasn't able to see the last time I was here. The specials were all vegetarian in honor of their Meatless Mondays initiative -- they offer vegetarian specials each Monday. I asked my waitress which ones were vegan while I waited. She said that only one entree was vegan, but a few could be veganized and some salads and soups were also vegan.

When my friend arrived, we both placed our drink orders. I decided to try the Oberon Cabernet from Napa Valley, which was very nice. We placed our orders and enjoyed the rosemary bread while we waited. The dining room is fairly small with a small bar in the back. The bright orange hue on the walls makes for a cheery feeling.

Sorry for the bad flash pic!

I stared with the citrus-endive salad. The salad had endive, arugula, crystallized ginger, and hazelnuts. The crystallized ginger was strong, but not too strong and gave the salad an unexpected kick. The spicy vinaigrette complemented it quite well.

For my entree, I chose the corn-crusted tofu. It was served over a BBQ bean cassoulet with oven-dried tomatoes and topped with chayote slaw. This jalapeno rich stew provided a great foundation for the corn-crusted tofu. The chayote slaw was surprisingly good as well.  When I first saw it, I thought the chef was trying to mix too much, but it actually worked very well together.

 I also tried the Riva Rey Tempranillo, which was a light, young wine. I had a great experience at Nage this time around. I would say that it is pretty pricey for what it was as my salad was $8 and my entree was $18, but the food was fairly good. I like that the chef creates different specials each Monday, which really keeps things interesting. The service was great as well.

Nage
1600 Rhode Island Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 448-8005