Adour

I’m writing this review with the somber thought that I will never be able to experience Adour again. I have not yet tried the Decanter, but I am admittedly timid about replacing my memory of Adour with Decanter.
I have had several amazing meals here: steak, rockfish bouillabaisse, boar ragu over pasta and so on and so on.
I finished each meal with a wonderful soufflé — the quintessential, perfect dessert. The soufflé was often served with a fruit granita which paired surprisingly well with the light, subtle sweetness found in their souffles. Adour was truly fantastic.

Closed :(

I’m sad this place is closing. We’ve only had dinner here 3 times, but when I heard Adour was closing, we had to come one last time. It was more than worth it. Great service, wonderful food, and has provided me with some fantastic dishes while it was around.

Went to Adour for a Sunday brunch after seeing it on the Washingtonian top 100. I believe it was number six, which means it should be phenomenal, right?
The décor of the restaurant is absolutely gorgeous. The dining is a huge open space with A LOT of empty seats… My friend and I were one of two tables present for the majority of the meal. Something that I found very odd was that there was no music playing at all… When I brought it to the server’s attention, he said he hadn’t noticed… really? It was deathly quiet. We felt awkward speaking beyond a whisper.
The lunch menu felt extremely uninspired. It was obviously catered towards simplicity and the business crowd. I decided to order the Croque-​Madame. The dish itself wasn’t terrible. All the components felt properly prepared and tasted decently. Nothing about it excited the palate or left me with any desire to come back. I feel like any average home cook should be able to recreate this at home. The side salad was even more dull.
The server was nice and he got the job done. He just wasn’t very personable.
I understand that lunch isn’t often the best representation of a restaurant’s potentials. With that said, I was still expecting a little more than mediocrity from a restaurant of this caliber. It’s just sad when they have all the potential and resources to be great!
Adour is closing at the end of May and reopening under a different name and a different concept. I hope to see some major improvements.

Excellent!
We went with a party of four and felt that both the service and food were fantastic. The restaurant itself is set in the St. Regis hotel and was elegantly decorated in a modern flair. The white leather chairs were comfortable too!
The service was on point the entire night. The waitress’ timing was perfect.
Ok — let’s get to the food! We started with the cheese plate and veal pasta. Each of the 5 cheeses served were nicely paired with a jam or accompanying spread. They brought by fresh bread that must have been right out of the oven as it was still warm. The veal pasta was tasty too.
Regarding the entrees, we ordered the house special, the lobster cookpot. It was tenderly prepared lobster served over a bed of perfectly cooked tagliatelle pasta. Very good! In addition to what we ordered, the intermediate courses were a nice touch. They served a small beet salad, fresh bread, and macaroons /​petite fours without us ordering them. This used to be customary at a nice restaurant, but it was so refreshing to see that service can still be at this level! Bravo!
We were also impressed with the wine list — both the selection and the presentation. As you walk into the restaurant, you will see the impressive wine cellar on display in the horizontally organized, glass wine racks.
We can’t wait to go back! Great spot for a romantic date!

What a disappointment. My wife and I dined here recently, expecting something amazing. Recently put into Washingtonian’s ten best restaurants plus on recommendations from friends, we were really looking forward to our meal here.
First up, the menu wasn’t terribly exciting and it was very expensive. I don’t know what a $ 17 waldorf Salad looks like — perhaps time-​warped in from the 80’s, the $ 17 covers the cost of flux capacitance to get it here.
Skipping the $ 16 mixed greens salad, I opted for a king-​crab appetizer, while my wife had the foie gras.
Mine was quite good, however, it was assembled in an odd way. It was supposed to be king crab served on, among other things, a lobster gelee. Only until I was mostly done with the dish did I discover the gelee on the bottom, in a big lump. Anyway, not bad.
The foie gras was fairly basic. The pomegranate compote was interesting, but it was the least exciting preparation I’ve had in quite some time.
And then the mains. I ordered the wild boar — the most expensive non-​steak item on the menu at a whopping $ 43. I’m not against expensive food, especially if it’s amazing.
This was not only not amazing, it was inedible. I had it prepared medium, as the chef/​waiter recommended. It seemed tender enough, but I could not get even one piece of this down. It was so chewy. My wife, too, was unable to actually eat a piece of this. Further, the taste was pretty bland.
So, I sent it back. I wasn’t paying $ 43 for an inedible piece of meat and, honestly, perhaps the kitchen had made a mistake.
The waiter was very gracious and offered a replacement dish. I went with the short ribs — something I was confident wouldn’t be screwed up.
Amazingly, the short-​ribs — one of the easiest dishes to get right — were tough. Given that these are braised WAY ahead of time and heated up by the kitchen, I was pretty surprised at how bad they were. Plus, very under-​seasoned and bland. I’ve made better short rips in a slow cooker.
But, they were edible. So, I’ll count that as a win.
My wife got a scallop dish that was quite nice, though nothing to come back for.
So far, a really disappointing meal.
Last up was dessert. I ordered what ended up being ice cream wrapped in a hard chocolate shell with some cripy-​rice-​chocalte things on top with a whisky sauce. It was VERY good. The best thing I ate all evening and I actually WOULD come back just to have this. I was VERY pleased that my meal ended on this note, because the main course (s) were just terrible.
So, I would recommend avoiding this restaurant entirely. For the price, it’s really not that great.
Service is excellent, sommelier seemed knowledgable, and the ambiance is great. Too bad about the food.
Given that this ranked above Blue Duck Tavern, I have to wonder what’s going on at Washingtonian. Blue Duck Tavern is a proper fine-​dining meal, with interesting dishes, prepared perfectly. I recommend going there instead. Or, go to Proof, #9, which is WAY better than Adour, and very modestly priced. Plus, they have a wonderful cheese selection.

Cyndy’s BOTTOM LINE: great elegant ambiance for an excellent wine selection and superb dinner at a high price point.
We enjoyed our first dinner at Adour. We loved the tasting menu and the wine list.
We received superb service from the sommelier. Excellent descriptions of the wines and pairings.
We choose the four course tasting menu to experience the Adour signature dishes.
This is what we ate:
Amuse bouche — celeriac soup
Crab royale
Salmon with prosciutto
Braised short ribs
Hazelnut soufflé orange sorbet, granite
Our Baba Armagnac, light whipped cream
Complimentary macaroons, and chocolates

This review is for breakfast. So I realize I didn’t experience the full force of Adour.
First of all, the positive. The space is gorgeous. Absolutely stunning. The food was pretty delish, too. Nothing mind blowing. But really, really high quality pastries and super tasty waffle.
The bad news. I order their Continental breakfast in addition to the waffle, and it included juice. They serve these tiny little juice glasses. The waiter asked if I wanted more juice, so I said yes. This happened once more, after. When I got the check each of those juice refills was $ 6!!! He offered them, and I assumed the $ 18 continental spread included more than one thimble of juice. The charge didn’t annoy me, but rather the fact that A) the waiter didn’t make that known and B) they don’t include more than a few gulps of juice with an otherwise lovely continental breakfast. The $ 12 for refills just seemed petty and beneath this kind of place.
If you’re staying in the hotel, it’s a beautiful restaurant… but plenty of better fish to fry nearby.

I was quite impressed with adour restaurant week lunch! Service was wonderful and food was solid.
Pumpkin ravioli and and smoked salmon were both wonderful apps. the smoked salmon was really fresh and i loved the fresh pumpkin filling in the ravioli. The ravioli was cooked al dente, although i personally would’ve liked it cooked just for a TINY bit longer.
Both my friend and i got the braised beef cheeks… perfectly tender and i loved the polenta cakes with it. portions are a bit small, but perfect for me… guy friend might’ve been a little hungry…
now onto the BEST PART. adour does one thing EXTREMELY well… desserts! both the s’mores and orange tian were sooooo good! i wanted to come back just for the desserts! this is a definitely a wonderful rw lunch spot and it makes me want to come back for their regular menu!

One of my favorite restaurants in the city. Excellent service, innovative and well-​executed food, beautiful ambiance. You truly get what you pay for here!
My favorite is their HEAVENLY desserts. Best macarons in the city by far.

A friend and I wanted a nicer lunch where we could enjoy a glass of wine before traveling for the holidays, so we decided on Adour. We made reservations on Open Table with no problem. As we got there, it seemed like the restaurant was closed. We went in through the hotel, and were told it was under construction but that we’d be seated in the banquet room. The set up reminded me of a very brightly lit wedding reception with no decorations. It took a while to get seated, and the overall ambiance was just a little odd.
We let our server know we were traveling, and had a little over an hour for the meal. It took at least 10 minutes for wine. The little cheese puffs arrived before our drinks did, which was annoying and seemed out of pace. My friend had a Cobb-​type salad, and I got the croque monsieur, plus we split a side of spicy potatoes. She seemed to enjoy her salad, and my sandwich was really good, it came with a delicious little side salad. The potato wedges were extremely disappointing. They tasted like baked wedges from the freezer section in the grocery store. I think KFC has better wedges. They were served with ketchup, and were supposed to have a spicy dipping sauce, but we didn’t receive that.
I thought my sandwich was good, but the potato wedges were sad. My coworker said her salad was okay, but nothing to be excited about. I think the delayed wine, less than stellar expensive side dish, and odd atmosphere were disappointing, especially after all the hype of being one of DC’s best restaurants and the hefty menu prices. I’d like to go again, when the regular restaurant is open and maybe for dinner so I can experience Adour, the way it is supposed to be experienced.

The meal simply wasn’t memorable but the décor, ambiance and service was 5 stars. I would return to the bar area after they finish renovations for a cocktail and quiet conversation but most likely not the dining room.

Went to Adour for Restaurant Week for lunch. Some high-​end restaurants will scoff at Restaurant Week diners, but on the contrary, Adour was more than welcoming. The hosts and wait staff were impeccable, constantly refilling our glasses with water and bread baskets. Quick and efficient.
And the food was superb– one of the best French places in DC. I ordered the cold tomato gazpacho with watermelon (amazing!), the monkfish– which was grilled perfectly– and their raspberry meringue for dessert. The décor is also beautiful. Adour is a great date spot, and would be a great place to take a business partner. It’s expensive, but worth it for a special occasion.

Amazingly delicious food. I ordered the chorizo spiked codfish, with white onion, tomato, and piperade jus, and it was wonderful. The sauce was beautiful and really accented the fish and veggies. The fish itself was tender and warm.
Also had the hazelnut soufflé and wow. You have to order it 20 minutes in advance, but it is worth the wait. It also came with a light orange sorbet. Really excellent dinner. I have to say it was the best dinner I’ve had in DC so far.
The restaurant is beautiful. High ceilings, dark roast coffee-​colored beams, contemporary lamps and furniture, and well-​dressed servers and waiters waltzing around. The overall atmosphere and setting is very intimate, quiet, and exudes class.
Additionally, service was great. Our waitress was attentive and everything came out in an orderly fashion and there wasn’t much of a wait between dishes (except the dessert, but it said on the menu to please allow 20 minutes anyways). It’s a bit pricey, but I think it’s certainly worth it.

Maybe it’s because they comped our wine when our table was over 30 min late, but they definitely were very nice and smoothed things over without us even complaining. So it set things off to a good start.
The food was delicious (although I enjoyed my soup more than my friends liked their appetizers). We were all impressed by the mains and deserts. The breads came late as an afterthought (I’m guessing they forgot and it’s not supposed to be after the mains on purpose? Based on what I observed from other tables)

Looking for an elegant restaurant to have Christmas dinner, the mentioning of Yule Log on their tasting menu caught my eye and a reservation was set. I am happy to report that the food is consistent with the high standards of their sister restaurant in New York City, but the service is noticeably lacking.
We arrived a couple of minutes late for our reservation owing to the fact that address on Unilocal is simply not correct, not even close. We waited several more minutes before our table was ready and we were seated. I think, given the holiday, people were inclined to linger which made seating times less than precise. Within minutes of being seated, disaster struck. Apparently a restless child in the private dining room had their way with a privacy screen which soon came crashing down towards us, striking my girlfriend in the back! It was all so sudden and scary. Members from the dining party apologized profusely, and the sommelier apologized and offered us a round of champagne and sparkling white grape juice on the house, indicating the restaurant’s sincerest apology. Our server, however, was completely indifferent. A difficult start to be sure, but we all made the best of it.
The menu was a set 4-​course tasting menu at $ 95/​person, offering individual selections for each of the courses and no formal wine pairing. Additionally, there were 2 amuse bouches and macarons were served after the dessert course. Here is the rundown:
Amuse 1: Clam chowder. Diminutive serving that was strained and quite smooth with robust flavor. Delicious.
Amuse 2: Cheese fritters. Informal, but tasty. A touch whimsical, if otherwise dissonant.
Appetizer: I opted for the foie gras «au torchon». The foie gras was of excellent quality and was nicely complemented by the quince and pineapple chutney. The brioche was warm, and the foie gras spread easily enough. Very enjoyable beginning.
2^nd Course: Homemade potato gnocchi served with pumpkin and sautéed wild mushrooms. The gnocchi were excellent! They were very light and had a nice consistency. The mushrooms were amazing and had a robust, earthiness to their taste. The pumpkin added a contrast in texture. Additionally lettuce punctuated the dish for even more contrast in texture, but that felt like a complete misstep — a strange addition to an otherwise great dish.
Main Course: Beef tenderloin with macaroni gratin and confit of shallot. I opted for the $ 17 add-​on of black truffles and seared foie gras (it was Christmas after all). Absolutely delicious! The beef was perfectly prepared medium rare. The foie gras was just decadent. The truffles had such concentrated bursts of flavor. The gratin was a miss though. The macaroni were long tubes which changed the composition somewhat. I enjoyed this course considerably, nonetheless.
Dessert: Black Forest Yule Log. Picture perfect and a perfect way to end the holiday meal. Nary a complaint here.
Macarons: Nothing exceptional, all 4 vanilla literally and figuratively. No trolley here, sadly.
The service was deplorable. Typically in fine dining establishments, service is seamless and should almost not be noticed at all. Everything just happens at precisely the right moment, and you never think about it. At this Adour, however, one needs to be very mindful of the server. I had to scan the room and wait for him to request coffee to have with my dessert, which was backwards. When I asked him what kind of coffee it was, he smiled and laughed and just said, «yes». I asked again, and he smiled again. He finally allowed that it was «house coffee». I see. More egregious though, was his inability to communicate to the sommelier my desire to have wine paired with my courses. After I finished my initial salvo of champagne, I was just left sitting there staring at my next course, waiting for the matching wine. Eventually I was able to find him and explain the issue, and the sommelier offered up two pairings for the second and third courses. There was never an offer of a matching dessert wine for the dessert course or any after dinner drinks. Why was it up to me to fill in all the gaps? Even more strangely, we were passed over on the bread course! To be clear, we had bread plates, butter knives, and were even served butter, but we were completely skipped when it came to serving the bread — a first! Most unforgivable though was the server’s indifference to my girlfriend’s plight at the beginning of our meal. She was physically struck. Show some compassion; feign some interest. This was just a disappointing state of affairs all around.
In short, excellent food, great sommelier, and lousy service.
3.5 stars

Rip off. I’d only ever return for desserts. Should really be 2.5 stars.
The waiter was a bit of a pompous prick and my veal was DRY. I am not paying $ 44 for two tiny cubes of veal that taste like flippin CARDBOARD.
Amuse bouche was fine, nothing fancy — some gazpacho that was decent but my bf didn’t even like.
With that being said, the dessert here was absolutely heavenly. We got the hazelnut soufflé because the menu said that we had to order it 20 minutes in advance, so we hoped it would be worth the wait and it was! The soufflé was light and fluffy with the most delicate hazelnut flavor, and it came accompanied with an orange sorbet and passionfruit macarons that were delightful.
I’d NEVER dine here again, but I would be willing to return just for drinks and desserts.

St. Regis can be intimidating but it’s not. It’s rather relaxed and comfortable. Adour. I liked the name. You will be welcomed by friendly courteous staffs as soon as you walk in.
While you are looking at the menu, a plate of petite cheese puffs are served to welcome you.
— Complimentary breads: a few kinds to choose from. Keep asking more if you like them. They would be happy to refill them.
— Amuse Bouche: A bite size buttery toast with chicken/​truffle filling. I’m not a fan of pâté or chicken but it was tasty.
— Lobster salad with beets and caviar cream was excellent. Substantial portion of Perfectly poached lobster… It’s not bite size.
— Dry cured ham and tomato pure on toasts. My friend said it was excellent ham. I don’t know much about ham…
— Veal and sweetbread with gnocchi and trumpet mushroom: You don’t need tooth to eat this. all melts in your mouth.
— Filet Mignon w/​Rossini (seared foie gras and truffle sauce): Get this with Rossini if you love meat/​steak. Rossini for additional $ 19 is absolutely worth it.
— Our baba (dessert): it’s simple yet superior and different than everyday dessert. A bottle of Armagnac comes with the perfectly baked sponge cake. Pour half of Armagnac to soak up the cake and drink the rest (don’t leave it to go waste!).
— Sweet ending: Complimentary chocolates and adorable macaroons.
Now I feel adored… :)

Went here on a Saturday night. Wasn’t too crowded, but it wasn’t empty. We had the 5 course tasting menu. I think it’s probably one of the better tasting menus compared to CityZen and J&G. Can’t beat five courses for $ 75. Had the marinated yellowtail hamachi (probably the best one), the lobster and butternut squash veloute (really tasty), John Dory fish with clam chowder, and veal loin with sweetbread and potato gnocchi. Took about 2 hours to complete. Service and food was excellent.

Q: Are French macarons the new cupcake?
&
A: To lift a lyric from Björk, possibly maybe.
If you’re a self-​professed Francophone and make regular trips to Paris to sample the colorful cookies from Ladurée, please manage your expectations. Washington is no city of lights and Adour couldn’t hold a candle to its confections.
That said, I found the macarons here to be well flavored, with a delicately crisp shell and a luxuriously moist interior. I shared my twelve with four other folks who also enjoyed them.
The gold box they came in dwarfed the tinier-​than-​usual French macarons inside. The presentation should be lifted up a bit given that this is the St. Regis; providing a smaller box to accommodate the common order of one dozen would be a logical first step.
A note on price: A dozen is $ 20 (and you thought cupcakes were pricey!)
If you want French macarons in the District, Adour is your best bet.