Ahhh, my first post at the Scofflaw’s new home. I’ve been sitting on a few reviews, waiting to get the new site up, and here is the first.

A few weeks ago, after a particularly long and stressful day at work, a co-worker asked if I was interested in going and grabbing a few drinks and some food. Sounding like just what the doctor ordered, I agreed and off we went. After a few false starts and trying to decide where to go, we decided on Rasika an upscale Indian restaurant in the Penn Quarter of DC. Rasika has great reviews of their food and I had heard really good things about their cocktails. I also knew that Gina Chersevani of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group had once headed the bar here.

When we arrived, the bar was busy, but not packed. We took a seat at a small table facing the bar. It would have been nice to actually sit at the bar, but unfortunately that wasn’t possible this night. Glancing over their cocktail menu I noticed a good mix of spririts – gin, rhum agricole, tequila, bourbon, and the requisite vodka. This was a good sign.

My first drink of the evening was a “Delirum.” It consisted of Hendricks Gin, Campari, dill and blood orange juice – shaken, served up in a cocktail glass. This was a really nice drink. It was on the sweet side but the campari added a very pleasant bitterness and a great color. The dill flavor was very light, almost imperceptable, but did seem to work well with the bitterness in the campari.

The next drink I ordered was as “Anasas Oasis” with fresh pineapple, pineapple sage and Niesson Rhum. They didn’t say whether it was the agricole blanc or one of the darker Niesson but from the color of the drink I’m guessing it was teh blanc. This had a very strong sweet smell, almost like the nose found in St. Germain. The taste was just as sweet. The pineapple was muddled. I’m not sure where the pineapple sage was – other than the garnish – but I certainly couldn’t taste any sage within the drink. I think there were some other things going on in the drink as well. First, I detected some kind of citrus – lemon juice most likely. Second, there was a noticible tingle on the tongue that seemed to be from soda water. Overall, it was a good drink but one that would have been improved by a double strain.

Moving down the cocktail list, I landed on a tequila offering titled “Cactus Bard.” This sounded very interesting with blanco tequila and strawberry-rhubarb-balsamic syrup. It was served on the rocks in a double rocks glass. The drink looked fantastic and tasted . . . eh. I expected much more from the strawberry-rhubarb-balsamic syrup. I got neither strawberry or rhubarb flavor or any tang from the balsamic. If the syrup had any flavor it was completely drowned out by the tequila. This drink tasted like a very pretty ruby red tequila on ice. Not my cup of tea.

To end the night, I wanted to try the “House Infused Bourbon” which the server informed me was Maker’s Mark infused with peaches and vanilla. Wow! This sounded like something that I would do backflips for. If I did backflips. Or any other kind of gymnastic type thingy. This was a hefty pour over copius ice cubes in a double old fashioned glass. The taste was reminisent of bourbon. That’s it. No peach. No vanilla. In fact, I found this pour to be much more rough than I’ve ever found Maker’s to be before. Even after allowing the drink to dilute for a few minutes, the bourbon stayed pretty rough. Eh, oh well.

For munchies, we ordered about five different appetizers and shared. Good grief the food was fantastic!!! Everything we ordered we loved. I had to restrain myself from licking the plates clean.

So there you have it. Two drinks out of four were fantastic. The food was wonderful and the ambiance was nice as well. I think their bar program has a little something for everyone yet a few tweaks that could be made – I would have liked to see the Oasis double strained to get out all the little bits of pineapple and the Cactus Bard and House-Infused Bourbon need to be reworked – would serve them well.

Rasika
633 D St. NW
Washington, DC 20004
www.rasikarestaurant.com

Cheers!