Hip Restaurant in Georgetown Does Some Off-Roading Down Silk Route
by Rachel Hunt and Stephen Qualiana
Just as libraries are no longer libraries anymore but information resource centers, restaurants are no longer restaurants anymore: They are conceptual culinary lounges.
And the concept at the cutely named Mie N Yu is in high form at the stylish and hip Georgetown restaurant. It looks exotic, but underneath it’s really American. To narrow the target further, it’s very Washingtonian. We don’t think it could exist anywhere else exactly, with its cool international and sophisticated crowd of culturally diverse young District workers flocking to it as if it were a non-stop happy hour. First, the restaurant is “big,” spanning several levels, with a seating capacity of 185 and 40 more at the bar. We were there on a Friday night and the dining rooms appeared to be full and the bar was packed like sardines.
This concept-driven restauran
t is inspired by the Silk Road, an ancient series of trading roads from China through the Middle East. Executive chef Tim Elliott and others helped design Mie N Yu’s menu, which combines contemporary American cuisine with traditional dishes from Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean. Really, it’s more like they kicked in the four-wheel drive and did a little off-roading along the Silk route to mix things up, both in the cooking and the interior.
With a mix of low lights, the place is moody and in places romantic. The décor reflects this eclectic mix, and because there are several individually styled rooms, you can dine in different settings: Moroccan Bazaar, Turkish Tent, Baroque Room, Venetian Room and Tibetan Lounge.
The bar is in a dark-red-drenched Hong Kong style. The structure itself is an old federal-style building typical of historic Georgetown, so amid the exoticism of Middle-Eastern and Asian furnishings and art are huge colonial banisters and newel posts on the stairs, with examples of 19th-century American architecture popping out here and there, including some large paintings in the style of Whistler. On some walls, brick is exposed; other walls are sponge-painted plaster; still others are plaster and partly exposed brick. We thought the moody restaurant looked like the movie set to “The Cook, the Thief, the Wife and Her Lover.”
Although we don’t usually make note of this area, the rest rooms were one of the best in the city. In fact, all restaurants should go take a look at how the rest rooms are organized and designed there: six good-size toilet rooms that were not sex-specified and then a large common are in the middle with several wash basins and faucets.
For our dinner, we sat in what is called the Turkish Tent, a nicely secluded area with one table on a landing between flights of stairs. A gauze drape created a canopy cover over the table with a single lamp hanging in the center. That night there was a belly dancer, but she seemed confined to the one room, which we guessed must be the Moroccan Room.
While listening to pipe music, mostly world beat dance style, we tried a Valencia drink ($12) made with Stoli oranj, Cointreux blood orange puree and a splash of lime juice. It had good flavor and effect. We also had an Effen cherry pom ($12), which had an intriguing cherry-fruit taste and was made with Effen black cherry vodka and pomegranate juice.
The service was a team effort, with each of the black-clad staff quickly and efficiently doing his or her tasks and the waiters showing deep knowledge of the menu. We were feeling adventurous and tried the banana pesto hummus ($12) a curious combination of pureed chickpeas, tahini, banana, pesto and olive oil, served with naan, papadam and fried plantain strips for scooping. It was strange but grew somewhat in appreciation after a few tastes.
The wild mushroom and crab soup ($9) was actually more like a thick stew with a generous helping of wild mushrooms, crab dumplings and shrimp broth. The sesame prawns ($9) was the special that night—a single jumbo shrimp served on an oversize rectangular plate. The slightly spicy shrimp, encrusted with black and white sesame seeds, appeared is if it were looking at the salad meticulously arranged three inches away from it.
For entrees, or proteins as they are called on the menu, we started with the red curry scallops ($21). They were pan-seared until golden brown, then cooked in a curry cream sauce and lined up in a row and served with sautéed Swiss chard, yellow cherry tomatoes and sliced okra for a slightly off-beat and playful dish.
The vegetable side dishes were terrific. The wilted spinach ($8) with sliced red cherry tomatoes was buttery and delicate with a hint of garlic. The rich wasabi mashed potatoes ($8) were made with Yukon gold and seemed to go well with any of the entrees we ordered. The braised wild mushroom ($9) with thyme, mushroom soy and melted goat chess was so impressive it could easily have been an entree. If you like mushrooms, you must try this dish.
The garlic and herb lamb loin ($29), widely recommended by our main waiter, was genuinely tender and silky, cooked to a perfect medium rare and accompanied with a fitting side of white bean and shiitake mushroom ragout.
The most disappointing aspect Mie N Yu was the desserts. They seemed to be made off site, and they were simply not very good. The mango sticky rice ($12) had no mango. The coconut crème caramel ($10) with pineapple brulle and toasted coconut was run of the mill.
It would be better to skip the dessert after a meal, order a nice Muscat or Chimay and watch the belly dancer.
Mie N Yu is located at 3125 M St., NW, in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. The phone number is (202) 333-6122. Lunch is served Wednesday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dinner is served Sunday through Thursday from 4 to 11 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. Brunch is served Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For late-night lounging, Mie N Yu is open Sunday through Thursday until 2 a.m., and Friday and Saturday until 3 a.m. Dress is urban casual.
Rachel Hunt and Stephen Qualiana are the restaurant reviewers for The Washington Diplomat.
