Restaurant Review: Iron Gate in Washington DC


A friend of mine recently took me to this charming Southern Italian and Greek restaurant near Dupont Circle, the heart of Washington DC. My friend J is a fellow food lover, so I knew wherever she took me, it was going to be good. But even I was surprised by just how good the meal was! I had high expectations and the restaurant STILL wowed me.

We started off with Patzarosalata, a Greek salad made with heirloom beets, black walnut, dill and house yogurt. It was visually interesting and the mix of ingredients and textures set each other off, but I thought something was still missing. A little bit of acid perhaps.

Then we moved onto a Maplebrook Farms burrata dish. I was initially very skeptical, as my experience of cheese in the United States (pasteurised, the horror) has been very poor for the most part. The waiter reassured me it was locally made, but according to the standard of the artisanal Italian burrata, so we took the plunge.


I was slightly disappointed, because it did not taste as good as the burrata I'm used to in Europe. Apart from my very high cheese standards, I thought it was good. My friend J said it tasted like kimchee, and since she's Korean, it's the highest compliment she can give. As it turns out, her tastebuds were not lying. There was indeed some pickled vegetables served with the cheese, along with baby broccoli and a dip called bagna cauda made with anchovies, butter, garlic and olive oil. 

For our next course we decided on some octopus. Just so you know, there is nothing more Greek than eating grilled octopus. Nothing. 


It's a simple dish, served with hummus, onion pickles and sungold cherry tomatoes. As simple as the dish was, it was exquisitely cooked, with each flavour balancing out perfectly. The octopus was perfect, not too done and not undercooked (for those of you in the know, it takes an expert to cook octopus without it turning rubbery or leaving it undercooked). We were both extremely pleased with the dish. Our meal was getting tastier by the dish! 

For our last main course, we shared a dish called Egg and Dill Gemeli, which is braised rabbit with tomato, olive and mustard.


Let's be honest, the real reason I ordered this dish is because I adore eating rabbit and I was curious as to how they would serve it (see my own rabbit recipe here).  This dish was, in my mind, the best out of all 4. It was served with spaetzle, a soft egg noodle. The flavour of the dish was delicate and perfectly accented with a bit of grated cheese. Each bite provided a carnival of flavour. For her part, my friend said it reminded her of a really proper Italian ragout someone had once cooked for her. Along with the kimchi comment, this is one of the highest food compliments she can give. 

We didn't want to eat any sweets (Ah diets), but happily the restaurant also has a cheese course, as any proper restaurant should. We had a sheep's milk cheese, which was quite tasty, and in my mind, made up for the earlier burrata. Our second cheese, a local American one, was much too strong for our taste though. We struggled to finish it. Ah well, you win some and you lose some. 

My friend also had wine over the meal, but not being a drinker, I can't judge how good the wine is. It had a wonderful bouquet though. For his part, another foodie friend, A, who had visited earlier and is quite a wine connoisseur, thought their wine list was very good (although he hadn't been too impressed with the food). 

The atmosphere is relaxed and romantic. It was so relaxed, two tables next to us started talking to each other during dinner and quickly became friends by the end of the meal. The service was good, and the waiters knew the menu well.  All in all, I highly recommend a trip to Iron Gate. I'm certainly looking forward to a return visit on my next trip to DC! 

Iron Gate
1734 N St NW
Washington DC 20036
+1 202-524-5202

Comments

Popular Posts