washington, dc restaurants in the 1980s

Roast veal is served in nearly half-calf portions, though sometimes it has been cooked so long it crumbles. Gangplank 600 Water St. SW. 554-5000. Free parking in adjacent lot after 5:30 p.m. Beer and wine only. dFull bar service. Street parking. Look for the puff-pastry-and-almond-paste pithivier for dessert; served warm, it oozes butter and is ribboned with whipped cream. L $8.50-$13, D $13-$17. No credit cards. Les Champs The Watergate, 600 New Hampshire Ave. NW. L daily ex Sat, Sun, D daily. Closed Sun, Mon, Tues. AE, CB, D, MC, V. Reservations accepted. The dining room, arranged with raised platform and balcony in addition to the main dining room, is dark wood with bright blue accents, a bit old and a bit new and very much in the spirit of a Bierstube. L $1.75-$6, D $5.95-$24.95. But the daily specials, appealing as they sound, are creeping up in price and down in quality. $6 $3.25-$5.95, D $7.25-$15. 683-4112. One good test of a Chinese restaurant is its hot-and-sour soup; Hunan passes with honors. 3, Irvington, Va. 804/438-6000. L, D $1.25-$8. No reservations. Closed Sun. Toscanini 313 Pennsylvania Ave. Except for a few extraordinary dishes, among them a marinated fish salad similar to seviche, quiche, several fish dishes and strawberry sherbert, the total dinner -- which is fixed price and moderately so -- adds up to more than the sum of individual dishes, which are very competent but not spectacular cooking. 881-6330.L, D $1.10-6.95. AE, MC, V. Reservations accepted. Closed Sat, Sun. The setting is of rustic, rough wood and tablecloths, the serive spirited and eager, then nonexistent. A tribute to its success, Trattu has developed from a cute little downstairs Italian restaurant to a two-branch operation and has given rise to spinoffs that copy its menu. Enriqueta's menu has its ups and downs, but always offers a wealth of choices. Full bar service. Open daily. Open daily. Le Manouche is one of those unfathomable French restaurants where the food is wonderful and dreadful, reasonable and expensive, a little of the best and the worst. Ou can depend on tantalizing interplay of chiles, soy, ginger, garlic and scallions. But daily specials recited by the captain -- a long, confusing and often very expensive list -- are the heart of the matter. Parking in front. Wash them down with bargain-priced Italian wines, finish with eggy golden homemade tortoni and figure that what you spent in gas to find the place was saved in the price of the veal. Children's prices. The California touch is evident -- and welcome -- in an antipasto pyramided with fine Italian ham and salami, sharp, aged provolone, plump anchovies and pungent little olives over a bed of crisp romaine, with cruets of oil and vinegar to dress it yourself. AE, DC, MC, V. No reservations.Street parking. Children's prices. No alcoholic beverages. Vietnam Georgetown 2934 M. St., NW. 296-3065. Closed Mon. For dessert -- have something. Full bar service. Full bar service. 299-3526. L,D $2.95-10.95. sGiven that the salad bar is one of J. R's assets, keep in mind that the Tysons Corner branch has no salad bar, but serves "selections" from its salad bar instead. You can start with lobster bisque or clams casino; other soups can taste canned-bland, even if they are larded with plenty of fresh clams or crab, and my last oysters were flabby and small. AE, MC, V. Reservations accepted. But above all, it is a personal restaurant, where the maitre d'hotel remembers not only your name but also where you sat last year, and maybe 10 years ago when they opened. 321. Full bar service. Street parking. Cool "Disco" Dan. L $2.50-$4.75, D $3.25-$7.50. . Children's prices. In 1970, the Old Ebbitt Grill was struggling . Children's prices. Donatos Pizza. On the menu -- which seems to have the bulk of a phone book -- are some excellent dishes and some not so good; the cream of crab soup is memorable, seafoods often excel, and the rack of lamb is impeccable. 223-2420. Mama's 1901 N. Ft. Myer Dr., Arlington. 11 talking about this. Soups are fine, and the "egg souffle florentine" is an unusual slice of souffle on spinach and mushrooms with a rich, nutmeg-scented cheese sauce. AE, CB, D, MC, V. Reservations suggested. Beer and wine only. D $9.95-$14.50. 956-2209.L $5.95-$8.95, D $9.25-$14.50. 451-7356. The Monocle 107 D St. NE. Parking garage at mall. L $2.85-$4.50, D $3.95-$8.50. A new mold for Oriental restaurants has been cast by Germaine's. In the 1980s, the city was a center for crack cocaine, murder and gang wars. AE, MC, V. Reservations suggested. 234-9134. Open daily. L $3.75-$8.95, D $5.595-$17.95. Expect to more than 20 restaurants, including Fabio Trabocchi's Del Mar, Rappahannock Oyster Bar, Dolcezza, Taylor Gourmet and Hank's Oyster Bar. Parking lot. Le Gaulois 2133 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Children's prices. Street parking. The brown and beige upstairs and downstairs rooms are close and cozy rather than grand, and the service is quietly competent. 234-6969. Chez Maggy 26 N. Market St. (Rte. Closed Mon. Full bar service. 4) On the lighter side, David Bowie performed in DC during the Young Americans tour in 1974. Unclaimed. Full bar service. View Menu. Even the cheeseburger is tough and tasteless, under an embarrassing blanket of American cheese, and nice softshell crabs have been buried in heavy batter and drowned in brown gravy. Parking lot. Children's prices. L daily ex Sat, Sun, D daily. Free parking in garage next door. But if something very homey, like veal stuffed with seasoned bread crumbs and braised in a brown sauce, is on the menu, you have hit a good night. Closed SUN. Commercial parking lots. Dim, baronial Western as suburban steakhouses tend to be, J. R.'s is probably best known for its 28-item salad bar, which is generous and kept refreshed, though with no surprises but the inferiority of its dressings. 19. Clyde's/Georgetown 3236 M St. NW. Chadwick's 3205 K St. NW. And the handwritten menu changes daily, though usually has several dishes in pastry -- dartois, bouchee a la reine -- that take advantage of the pastry chef's skill (the dartois showing him off better than the puff pastry of the bouchee). L $2.75-$4.95, D $5.50-$7.95. AE, CB, D, MC, V. Reservations suggested. Closed Tues, MC, V. No reservations. 337-4536. L daily ex Sat, D daily. Full bar service. The baba ghanouj bests even the Middle Eastern restaurants hereabouts, but hot dishes tend to be superior to cold dishes, which are inclined to be excessively herbed or at least unbalanced. 227 Massachusetts Ave. NE. L daily ex Sun, D daily. Street parking. Saigon Inn is far from elaborate, and there is nothing spectacular about the food. hellcat vs p938; simple small front yard landscaping ideas low maintenance; jenny's super stretchy bind off in the round; senate democratic media center AE, D, MC, V. Reservations accepted. AE, CB, D, MC, V. Reservations required. No-smoking section. Pierce Street Annex 1210 19th St. Nw. 370-0060. L $3.25-$8.50, D $8.90-$14.80. No credit cards. Parking lot. L daily ex Sat, D daily. Washington still has about 5,000 restaurants. Oxtail soup, in contrast, is disappointing. 14. Washington still has about 5,000 restaurants. Mamma Desta 4840 Georgia Ave. NW. L $3.50-$7.50, D $7.50-$13.95. Parking lots. 549-1141. La Fonda 1639 R St. NW. Children's prices. Chez Grand Mere 3057 M St. NW. The food -- which includes dishes such as sausages with lentils, pot au feu and cassoulet -- is endearing if not spectacular. All this on a mound of butter-infused rice decorated with carrot-orange grains on to and accompanied by homemade flat loaves of light, yeasty bread. The food is pretty good, with tall pyramids of salad, smooth custard quiches in puff pastry, simple meat and fish dishes and pastries that are highlights. 10. D $6.50-$14.95. Closed Sun. Open daily. Parking lots. D daily. Armand's Chicago Pizzeria 4231 Wisconsin Ave. NW. The more elaborate dishes taste as if the cook were blindly following recipes, adding too much herb or not controlling the frying temperature, but the ingredients are good, and the lemony cheesecake and extraordinarily good pecan pie are obviously made by skilled hands. Open daily. Street parking or commercial lots. L $1.95-$4.95, D $4.25-$8.95. 920-7892. Open daily. In a fresh, casual setting of flowered tablecloths and luscious food photography. Children's prices. At dinner, the scene is quieter, slightly more formal. D daily. MC, V. Reservations suggested. MC, V. No reservations. Dominique is the Ted Turner of French restaurateurs. and car dealers will solely become service centers. L $4.25, $6.50, D $4.95-$7.95. L daily ex Sat, Sun, D daily. From Duke Zeibert's to . Open daily. The bad news is that my last sample of Bacchus' food was nowhere near as luscious as it had been. The cha gio are fine peppery meat-and-crab stuffed rice paper rolls, and the grilled beef with lemon grass is perfumed, juicy skewered bits. East of Chicago Pizza. 296-7972. Smithsonian? Parking lot. Full bar service. And dessert crepes or Grand Marnier-soaked oranges make wonderful bargain-priced endings. 942-0075. SE. II Nido 4712 Wisconsin Ave. NW 363-2672. 998-6616. L, D daily. The menu is full of don'ts -- no credit cards or checks, no separate checks, no sandwiches after 5 p.m., no substitutions, no half-orders. Full bar service. L $3.45-$4.95, D $3.50-$10.50. L $3.50-$9.50, D $6.50-$9.50. Parking lot. AE, MC, V. Reservations suggested. Even his early dishes have improved, notably the thin, rare slices of duck breast with a dark, tart lime sauce. L $4.75-$8.95, : $6.25-$9.45. Pizza with Duck Sausage wins quick stardom. Street parking. Tripadvisor #29 . Parking in adjacent lot. "Full bar service" indicates that the establishment is licensed to sell spirits as well as beer and wine . Street parking. L, D daily. Full bar service. NW. L, D daily. No-smoking section. 998-5115. AE, CB, D, MC, V. Reservations suggested. Open daily. L,D $5.75-$7.25. MC, V. No reservations. Ae, cb, d, mc, v. Reservations suggested. Full bar services. L daily ex Sat, D daily. No reservations.Street parking. Parking lots and street parking. Those who really know the Palm, though, recognize lunch as an unheralded bargain. No alcoholic beverages. Children's prices. AE, CB, D, MC, V. Reservations accepted. Trattu 1823 Jefferson Pl. Parking in front and rear. 301/428-8593. Full bar service. Full bar service. Full bar service. Open daily. "Yummy and I hope healthy lentil quinoa burger with cheddar, mushrooms etc. And then there is the chicken with pomegranates and walnuts, a marvel of a flavor, the moist pieces of boneless chicken covered with a dark paste sweet and tangy and earthy with walnuts. With improvements in that arena and Szechuan's talent in playing with fire, this is Chinatown's best bet. The Spaghetti Market 6347 Rolling Rd., West Springfield. Straight ahead is the book section, as tempting to a reader as any bakery display case. El Sombrero 5401 Lee Hwy. Saigon Inn 6922-A Braddock Rd., Annandale. On my last visit it was the food. 667-5350. Parking in front. Children's prices. 333-3323. And the service is still quietly efficient. 466-4570. If there is a touch too much starch in a sauce here or there, the seasonings are always lively. Parking in buildng. washington, dc restaurants in the 1980s. L daily ex Sat, D daily. L $3.85-$7.25, D $5.50-$9.90. Thai Room 527 13th St. NW. Free parking in building at dinner.