Washingtonian’s Best of Washington party returned to the National Building Museum last night with a Wild West theme. Guests in cowboy boots and ten-gallon hats danced and—most importantly—ate and drank goodies from some of the city’s best restaurants. Our food team tried everything and picked some of our favorites:
Best in show: High-end Indian restaurant Rania delivered a straight-up flavor bomb. Their flower-shaped coconut crackers—adorned with avocado mousse, chutney, and roe—were sweet, salt, and a little spicy. Plus, the dish was one of the most beautifully presented of the evening.
Best junk food riff: Rasa, the fast-casual Indian chain, nailed it with its Indian Frito pie. The delightfully messy mash-up included spicy chili chicken, tomato, onion, cilantro, yogurt, tamarind chutneys, and Fritos. Please add this to the menu?
Best summery dish: The Dabney’s tiny skewers of sungold tomato, charred eggplant, yellow plum, and feta—pleasantly sweet and somewhat addictive—were redolent of summer. A close second: Ellie Bird’s take on classic Spanish pan con tomate, slathered with tomato jam and aggressively garlicky toum.
Most refreshing cocktail: A tropical concoction of pineapple, coconut, lime, and cachaca from Chevy Chase’s Opal (Tropical Storm #2).
Most refreshing NA drink: Rockville’s Filo Cafe takes its drinks seriously. The calamansi lemonade at the cafe’s booth last night was not overly sweet, and captured the complexity of the citrus that is a staple in Filipino cuisine.
Most luxe dish: The Palisades omakase counter Kappo didn’t skimp on its ingredients. Its miniature rice cups were topped with Hokkaido-sourced uni, egg yolk, and Miyazaki wagyu beef.
Best sweet-and-savory contrast: The delicate crust of Petite Cerise’s chouquettes gave way to rich chicken liver parfait and a candy-like shell of salted raspberry.
Best use of brisket: Tie between Sari’s smoked brisket kare kare with buttery peanut stew and Silver and Sons’ deeply smoky brisket French dip riff with gruyere on challah sandwich bread.
Best taco: The al pastor taco with salsa macha on the side from Chicatana, the tiny but masterful 14th Street Mexican restaurant.
Best comfort food: A sriracha glaze brought just enough zing to small slices of classic meatloaf served over mashed potatoes from Unconventional Diner.
Best dish for cilantro fans: The cool, spongy shafout from Marib, one of the area’s best Yemeni restaurants, consisted of thin injera layered with cilantro and jalapeno-spiked buttermilk.
Most creative container: Vagabond served its watermelon gazpacho in hollowed-out sections of cucumber, with a chile-coated rim. 
Best “gazpacho” that isn’t a soup: Gazpacho was a popular choice at the party—we counted at least five different takes on the chilly summertime soup. Taqueria Habanero’s gazpacho de Morelia was really a different dish by the same name: a traditional preparation from Michoacan of finely chopped pineapple, jicama, mango, and cucumber topped with cotija and a spicy sauce.
Best soup: The refreshing chilled red pepper and tomato soup with pickled shrimp and cucumber relish from Ruthie’s All Day.
Best cover-worthy dish: The striking seafood cha gio from Nue, which got a closeup on Washingtonian’s Best New Restaurants cover this month.
Best dip: Dill-heavy tzatziki with freshly fried pita chips from Méli, Adams Morgan’s members-only Greek supper club.
Best dessert: The many-layered Ukrainian honey cake from Capitol Hill’s Ruta.
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
