Word of Mouth: Nicaro

Reviewed by Todd Kliman

Nicaro

8229 Georgia Ave.
Silver Spring/Takoma Park, MD 20910
Phone: 301-588-2867

Cuisines:
American, Modern

Opening Hours:

Wheelchair Accessible:
Yes

Nearby Metro Stops:
Silver Spring

Price Range:
Moderate

Dress:
Upscale Casual

Noise Level:
Intimate

Reservations:
Recommended

Special Features:
Weekend Brunch

Website:
Click here to open in new window.

Best Dishes
Sea scallops with squid-ink pasta; seafood-chicken andouille “gumbo” with rockfish and sweet mussels; rockfish with snow peas and porcini vinaigrette.

Price Details:
Dinner starters, $7 to $11; main courses, $18 to $28.


 

Reader's Rating:
4 out of 5

From Kliman Online's "Word of Mouth"

Nicaro is by far the most promising of the [Silver Spring newcomers], with a menu of strong, rooted flavors that owe everything to conscientious shopping (mostly local) and a reliance on craftsmanship in the kitchen. Pedro Matomoros, the chef and owner, developed his approach at the influential Tabard Inn, where he manned the stoves for seven years before leaving early last year to open a place of his own. As they were at the Tabard, the terrines and rilletes are both handmade, as are the pastas (available -- nice touch -- in half-portions), and the oysters are well-sourced.

A plate of coriander-crusted lamb chops with lamb sausage is excellent, a textbook example of how earthy, rooted flavors can be made elegant and sophisticated. Even better: the butternut squash soup, with ribbons of fresh, toasted coconut and a final garnish of micro-cilantro. Insistently spicy, wonderfully fragrant, it eats like one of the best curries you'll ever eat. No lie: I was seriously tempted to ask for a bowl of rice. Given the indisputably downtown prices, this sparely appointed, storefront twofer (a restaurant on one side, a spacious bar on the other) may come as a letdown to some. But although it lacks the sumptuousness of deeper-pocketed places, it does not lack for sophistication and warmth, thanks to a smart waitstaff and thoughtful touches throughout. The focus, though, is on the plate -- not unlike its scaled-back neighbor, Ray's the Classics, just around the corner.

-December 11, 2007 

Reader ReviewsWrite your own review
 
Excellent At last!
takpak — February 28, 2009 11:35 AM
At last, a true "date night" restaurant besides Jackie's in downtown SS, and an upscale business lunch possibility as well. It's quiet at lunch folks! The food is ambitious and often excellent. The soups are complex and exotic. The bread pudding is More ...
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Average Bellow the night away
lmack — February 11, 2009 2:51 PM
Don't know how the Washingtonian registers an "intimate" sound level, but the only intimacy offered at this painfully noisy restaurant is the view of your companion's tonsils as they attempt to out-yell the table next to you.

The food is modern, More ...
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