Mio Restaurant

Mio Restaurant
1110 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington DC, 20005
Type of Cuisine: "New American"
McPherson Sq. Metro

A co-worker friend of mine convinced me to take one final (extended) restaurant week endeavor for a Friday lunch (I'm sure that was extremely difficult). Although she suggested going to Willow, I suggested a place we had never been before, Mio Restaurant in Midtown. Mio is a relatively new restaurant (according to our waitress, within the past 6 months). So we went for a restaurant week lunch there, enjoying another 3 course meal for $20.08. After trying my Washington, DC geography and remembering that coming from Virginia, Vermont Ave. is after you pass Connecticut Ave, we made it to the restaurant, only about 10 to 15 minutes late. Fortunately, no one else seemed to know that they continued restaurant week, and our 1:30 reservation was held without incident. While the were misleading about valet parking (only available at dinner), my co-worker had no trouble getting the full garage next door to take her car.

Menus: The restaurant week menu was a little bit disappointing because very little of their food was on their regular menu. This is a brand new restaurant so restaurant week should be a key advertising point to them.

Appetizers:
Me - Smoked duck breast prosciutto, persimmon balsamic reduction (not on regular menu)
Friend - House made cured salmon, endive, toasted almond (not on regular menu)

Entrees:
Me - Grilled skate (a white, mild fish), spinach, lemon brown butter (not on regular menu)
Friend - Braised beef cheeks, polenta, fennel salad ($15 on the regular menu)

Desserts:
Me - Chocolate-banana cake with vanilla ice cream
Friend - Key lime pie

Sweet:
Food Presentation - The food presentation here is worth mentioning separately from the food. The chef at Mio takes a lot of pride in the presentation. Each dish was very creatively presented and it shows that the chef took significant efforts to design them. The salmon appetizer was presented in a flowered pattern inside of aritchoke shells (?), my skate came layered in with the spinach in multiple layers of both, the duck was presented very uniquely in almost a modern art looking pattern (almost a controlled chaos appeal, obviously planned although you're not sure how). Even the desserts had a bit of an appeal in how they were designed. The key lime pie was remarkably circular and the ice cream for the chocolate banana cake was scooped on top of attractive mint leaves.

Duck - The smoked duck was a very interesting flavor. It was a little bit dried, but maintained some of the moisture that you would expect from duck. It's also very rare to find thinly sliced duck. The taste was a little bit salty, but ultimately slightly smokey. This was a wonderful contrast to the tangy sweetness of the balsamic reduction. Finally, the color and presentation was fantastic.

Set Up - Perhaps it's because we were in the restaurant at an empty time, but the tables seemed far apart, the restaurant was easy to navigate through and the acoustics were very good. It would be an easy restaurant to have a conversation in.

Key Lime Pie - I am not usually one to go for typical desserts, particularly at a place that is not specifically known for it. Creme Brule is always safe, but rarely spectacular, most mousse cakes are good, but not great, but this key lime pie was fantastic. As stated earlier, the presentation was fantastically round and it came with some good whipped cream on top of it in an attractive, if not artistic manner. The crust itself was good, but nothing special, but the key lime was refreshing. Most key lime pie that I have had is overly tart (not to say that I don't like key lime pie). It shoots onto your tongue and completely wipes out all other tastes you've had. The texture always seems a little bit glazed and fake. This key lime pie was very smooth and creamy. The key lime was tart, but not too tart. It did a good job of balancing sweet and tart.

Bland:
Service - This was the best service I've had at any restaurant that I've written a review for so far. This does, however, show that I am very picky when it comes to service. The hostess was extremely pleasant. I decided to give up my coat (although partly because it didn't seem like a real coat check) and she very pleasantly escorted us to our table despite our being 15 minutes late. The server was extremely pleasant, polite, friendly and efficient. She made sure our drinks were kept full and didn't seem the least bit disappointed when we only order water (a common problem in restaurants, although less so for lunch). She managed to engage us in conversation multiple times about the restaurant and a little bit about her life, which was quite interesting. The only fall backs of the service was the server's knowledge of the menu and command of the language. She was very pleasant, but she (and most of the servers I heard speaking) were difficult to understand. Our server had no problem understanding or finding the right word, but I did overhear another table where that was an issue. My knowledge problem was when I asked about skate. She informed me that it was a slightly strong, flaky, white fish. While I can excuse the characterization as slightly strong (which it is not), it is definitely not a flaky fish at all. So the service ends up in the bland section, but a pleasant experience nonetheless.

Salmon: The salmon was nothing special. My friend took a little more than half of it home so her mother could try it. She said she liked it, but I had as much of it as she did (which is to say a small portion). Perhaps it's my history of getting lox from Livingston Bagel in New Jersey at my grandparents' house when I was younger, but this smoked salmon was nothing too impressive. The salmon was alright, but a little dry and mild. The endives were a good touch and the presentation definitely saved the dish. The best part of the flavor actually came from the interesting dichotomy between the smoked salmon and the toasted almonds. That was a pleasant surprise.

Beef: I know, as blasphemous as it sounds for me to not like beef, particularly a good cut of it, this again did not impress me. It was a very good cut of beef, which was quite nice for the dish, but once again, it was very basically cooked and well presented. The basic cooking for a good piece of meat (even braised cheek) is fine. The problem is that I thought it was a little bit overcooked (once again, my friend took about half of it home and I had a decent taste of it). The overcooking made the meat a little bit on the dry side. The sauce that was with it had a bit of a strange aftertaste although a good first taste. It wasn't bad, but it was nothing to write home about (only to write on a blog about).

Chocolate Banana Cake: This ended up being an interesting brownie served with ice cream. The presentation on the brownie was the worst presentation of the meal, although the ice cream was appetizing. The brownie was relatively moist as far as brownies go and the slight hint of banana was wonderful. Unfortunately, the item didn't overwhelm me as it turned out to be mostly basic chocolate, a little mild on the sweetness. Good, but not great.

Bitter:

Skate - The skate was definitely not flaky and somewhat strong like I was expecting, it was actually quite a mild and stringy fish. It had more of the feel of tilapia. In fact, it definitely took the flavor of the sauce around it, similar to tilapia (although definitely a better fish with a stronger texture than tilapia. The spinach surronding the fish was a wonderfully fresh spinach, wilted on the stove. The problem was that, although the lemon butter was not overpoweringly buttery, there was so much of it put into everything. The spinach and the fish both had the distinct flavor of butter (a well prepared butter, but butter) about them and it didn't really impress me. Sometimes I enjoy the basic, but not really this time. The spinach was oversaturated with the lemon butter and was over-wilted. I like spinach to maintain a little bit more of the fresh spinach nature.

Decor - The decor was not very good at all. There wasn't much on the walls at all, but it wasn't a planned simplicity, it was just nothing to look at. It doesn't seem like, even in a full restaurant, it would have created a very good atmosphere for fine dining. The biggest problem was the tables. I think that the designer may have thought this was a creative idea or it was a calculated risk, but the tables are made of small square tiles and grout. I'll be honest here, while I appreciate uniqueness in design, I get a little bit nervous eating on tiles. While it's easy to clean off tiles, it isn't easy to clean off grout, no matter how good of stuff they have. Dirt gets into grout and builds up all sorts of messes. The restaurant has been open for 6 months and I could see a little buildup in the grout already. They should put a thin glass on top of it or something. I suppose another part of the problem is that aside from a slightly whiter shade of tile, the tables didn't look much different from the bathroom floor in my college apartment (how's that for a nice image).

Recommendation:
Quality: **.5
Value: $$$

The food is alright, but at the moment very basic. I was told that they originally had a chef who left after not too long. They just got a new executive chef about a month ago. That may have to do with the basicness of everything on their menu, but it didn't impress me too much. The presentation is fantastic however, and that will impress a lot of people (if they can get over the tile on the tables and unimpressive surroundings). The location is prime for lunch, but not particularly near any evening attractions (Verizon, Farragut bars, theatres or even metro). It would be a decent place to go if you're in the neighborhood, but nothing to base your night around.

Their regular menu tends to be priced reasonably. You can get a dinner portion of a rack of lamb or venison for $27 or $28. Unfortunately, the portions are a little bit small, particularly as you need to pay $5 for sides (which I think are individual sized). Because of the fine dining title and somewhat lower prices for higher ticket items, I'm okay with the value. But dont' expect amazing food, just good food.