From January 2006 100 Very Best Restaurants

THE SCENE. The Penn Quarter outlet of this national chain, done up like a '30s-style cruise ship, is as lively and jumping as its boogie-woogie soundtrack. The oyster bar stays packed after happy hour, and although there are plenty of tables for 12 crammed with lawyers cutting loose, the smaller leather banquettes--and the sidecars and sea breezes--make intimacy easy.

WHAT YOU'LL LOVE. Any given day you might find Icelandic char, a thick cut of Shetland salmon, and at least a dozen kinds of oysters. And chef-in-charge Rob Clink does the fresh catches proud with his French- and Asian-inspired daily specials. Portions are titanic--tall towers of shellfish, "colossal" crab cocktails, mountains of flaming baked Alaska--but the friendly servers are happy to pack leftovers to go.

WHAT YOU WON'T. It verges on overpriced--surf-and-turf is $79.95--and there's a corporate feel that won't appeal to some.