bourbon steak

what's so great about bourbon steak? first, it's the drinks. the bartenders are amazing and always are coming up with new cocktail experiences. second: the snack mix at the bar is the best in town. third: the burgers and fries are always top quality and worth every penny.

move along.... we ate at bourbon steak last night, and were mildly disappointed. first of all, if you are not familiar with the area, you should know that this is the hotel restaurant located at the four seasons in georgetown. basically, it is a very nice hotel restaurant, nothing more. the decor was up-scale, but the noise level was loud. we had a very early reservation (5:30), so the dining room was mostly empty for the first hour, and it was still very loud. it was nearly impossible to hold a conversation above the din. in addition to the voices carrying throughout the dining room, the bar played rock and roll music that pervaded the restaurant.

the service was friendly and excellent. but for an extremely expensive dinner, we expected a better meal. i ordered the ahi-tuna tartar appetizer which was nice, fresh fish diced and mixed table-side with a variety of herbs and spices...the end result was bland tasting. my husband ordered the spring black garlic soup with shrimp. the soup was tasty, presented asian-style with a very large tempura shrimp on a skewer. is it really traditional for tempura shrimp to be battered with the shell on? the chef seemed to think so when we asked. it was so bothersom to eat that my husband didn't bother. we both ordered the dry-aged steak; he ordered the ribeye and i ordered the ny strip. the steaks were purely ordinary. they were not tough, but not fork-tender either. we also found them to be bland. for steaks approaching $50 apiece, we would have expected them to be full of flavor and very tender. the wine was very good (a malbec, i don't remember the name), we had a la carte sides of a baked potato, creamed spinach (yum!), and macaroni and cheese (my personal favorite, not your grandmother's mac-n-cheese); the rhubarb cobbler was also quite good if you like rhubarb (i do). but for a meal that came out to over $300, we expected everything to be very above-par. it wasn't.

to top off the disappointment, the waiter offered to box our leftovers, because neither of us could finish the generous portions. but one of the 1/2 steaks didn't make it from the kitchen into our carry-out bag. dangit.

finish off the lamb crawl at bourbon steak. chef john critchley cooks to impress with his spice rubbed lamb leg, fondant potatoes, roasted carrot lardo, natural jus paired with a washington state wine- qi lab tech at ste. michelle.

they have an elaborated menu of steaks. particularly wagyu. the prices are quite expensive considering the quality of the food and the service standards.

i celebrated my friend's birthday at the bourbon restaurant while visiting d.c. the service was wonderful! our waiter made us feel very comfortable. we had lots of complimentary starters while we waited for our order. the food was delicious. my filet mignon was very tender and done exactly as i ordered. as it was birthday, the restaurant brought a complimentary dessert, which was heavenly! the ambiance was lovely and the noise level was low so conversation was possible! all in all a very nice evening!

great restaurant!!! i actually went two days in a row while in washington dc.

the first day i went was during the evening and the sun was still up. there was a decent crowd. i tried the lobster pot pie which was amazing. the server came and prepared the pot pie in front of us which amazed me even more. the service was excellent and off i went.

i went back the day after and went a little later in the night with the restaurant being completely packed. even with the heavy crowd, our server managed to provide excellent service with bringing all dishes out in a timely manner and giving great suggestions for drinks.

bourbon steak is now open in the los angeles area so i'm i don't have to travel far for it.

visit dates 6/1/2013 and 6/2/2013

wow is the only comment i can make.... from the wagyu tartare, to the lobster potpie and the truffle mac..... unique experience..... their service aaa rated

have been maybe 8!times and it's never better than "ok". the salmon burger is never cooked properly; either it's too rare or too well done and dry. sometimes i find it too spicey and the aftermath lasts for days.

the fries that either come with it (or maybe i've ordered them separately) are gross although they make a huge deal when bringing them to the table, explaining each seasoning. the past few times i have asked for regular fries with no salt and no seasoning but they've come covered in salt. usually i have to send them back; once i sent them back maybe three times. not putting salt on fries shouldn't be a huge deal but alas, the same thing happened when i ordered fries at another four seasons in ca.

the lamb burger is also blah and often overlooked. the coca cola is always flat too. mcdonald's offers better fries, burgers, and coke for a tiny fraction of the price.

disappointing. went to bourbon steak after reading the washingtonian magazine review about their lamb burger. disappointed. the environment is great, surroundings and staff are top notch, but the actual taste of the burger was bland. the presentation was good - came out with a gigantic pickle & a pepper perched on top of the bun, but the lamb was greasy and the grease totally destroyed the bun on the bottom, it turned into a soggy mush. the feta was too mild, and i couldn't find any tzatziki sauce. the lamb had no herbs added to it, and really lamb has it's own distinct flavour and this burger didn't. it was bland and boring.


-----12 jun, 2014-----

disappointed by the lamb burger. went to bourbon steak after reading the washingtonian magazine review about their lamb burger. disappointed. the environment is great, surroundings and staff are top notch, but the actual taste of the burger was bland. the presentation was good - came out with a gigantic pickle & a pepper perched on top of the bun, but the lamb was greasy and the grease totally destroyed the bun on the bottom, it turned into a soggy mush. the feta was too mild, and i couldn't find any tzatziki sauce. the lamb had no herbs added to it, and really lamb has it's own distinct flavour and this burger didn't. it was bland and boring.
check out the bun below - a wet soggy mess . . . .

disappointed by the lamb burger. went to bourbon steak after reading the washingtonian magazine review about their lamb burger. disappointed. the environment is great, surroundings and staff are top notch, but the actual taste of the burger was bland. the presentation was good - came out with a gigantic pickle & a pepper perched on top of the bun, but the lamb was greasy and the grease totally destroyed the bun on the bottom, it turned into a soggy mush. the feta was too mild, and i couldn't find any tzatziki sauce. the lamb had no herbs added to it, and really lamb has it's own distinct flavour and this burger didn't. it was bland and boring.
check out the bun below - a wet soggy mess . . . .

was psyched to go....but the menu and food was lackluster, over seasoned and underwhelming....very disappointing

a decent place to go. the staff was very attentive as you would expect of an establishment of this price range. i ordered the waygu steak. i was told i had to try it. it was good, but i prefer an angus. the sorbets were diminutive. they were also delicious flavor bombs.

this is definitely a "special occasion" place, as their entree prices range from $29 to a whopping $85 dollars a piece. bourbon steak would be a great place to bring a date that you really wanted to impress (if you are paying, that is). overall the service was spot on, the atmosphere was hip and sophisticated, and the food was great. definitely somewhere i plan on dining again, although hopefully not out of my pocket.

with a slew of interesting new restaurants in town, why go to a pricey steakhouse situated in a hotel in georgetown? and why in heaven’s name should we go when half of my party of six doesn’t even eat meat? fair question. the answer  bourbon steak in the four seasons hotel in georgetown offers quality, consistency, and sinfully good fries that they don’t even charge you for.  you don’t really need to drink bourbon or eat steak to enjoy a meal here. 

what you would expect. good ambiance, excellent service, quality fresh food. everything you would expect from an upscale steak house. i'm not a steak person, but my boyfriend did enjoy is "kobe" beef for $35/oz. (4oz minimum) i thought the mahi mahi was wonderful, if a tad overcooked. get what you pay for, and we did. not an everyday dinner spot, but sometimes you have to treat yourself.