Hello my Petits Gourmands!👩‍🍳👨‍🍳 We cover the most delicious gastronomic everything 🥩🥑🍇🥖🥬🫐 — restaurants, eateries, bakeries… and find the chefs in Washington D.C. 🇺🇸 that deserve all the accolades. Subscribe to read about the tastiest meals in town!😋

In today’s review… we’ll cover a restaurant serving remarkably delicious contemporary Asian & Sichuan food in a relaxed and upscale casual way.

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

The Ratings

Our simple & honest checklist covers a restaurant’s key ingredients:
Ambiance, Service, and Food.

8.5/10

Located off of Dupont Circle, Astoria DC is one popular little restaurant! With a constant line of folks trying to get in, this restaurant attracts a young and vibing clientele looking for an upscale casual night out. The atmosphere is fun and light, but if you’re sitting outside, just know that the outdoor patio isn’t that large and you’ll probably have lines of customers standing behind you as they anxiously wait their turn to share such an incredible meal.

Note: securing a reservation is a bit challenging, especially if you’re looking for popular times (i.e. 6-8 PM), so make sure you book at least a week, or two, or even three in advance.

9/10

As you sit down, water and goldfish are served. Yes, you read that correctly… goldfish - the crackers. Interesting because that’s a first. Yet, we ate all the goldfish and we were pleased with the novelty. Anyway, our server was kind and helpful in guiding us around the restaurant’s menu, which is presented in a unique and more artistic fashion (especially the cocktails). However, the menu (unfortunately like many eateries nowadays) is digital and the QR codes are located in the center of the water coasters: a clever stylistic design, but practically speaking, it was a little odd (we didn’t immediately see them because our water glasses were covering them). Nonetheless, the waitstaff constantly refilled out waters and checked in on us — enough to ensure we didn’t need anything else, but not too frequently to disrupt our conversations.

9/10

Yummy. Yummy. Yummy. A D.C. hit that we’ve been wanting to try out for quite some time, Astoria DC does not disappoint. The contemporary Asian & Sichuan meals are meant to be shared with friends, family, or a date. The meals are well portioned, so 2 entrées per person is a good barometer for how much you need to order based on your group size. While there are many fantastic options, the chef’s favorites are the Walnut Shrimp - a plate of lightly fried shrimp covered in a creamy honey glaze and topped with small pieces of candied walnuts. The shrimp has a nice bite to it and the flavor is well done. Another chef favorite is the Scallion Lamb - wow. A stew like dish served with a side of white rice, the lamb is phenomenal. The sesame oil and soy sauce bring out the best of the lamb. Next up, we have a crowd favorite: the Beef Noodles. Now these are some flavorful noodles! The beef is cooked and marinated nicely with a mixture of spiciness and sweetness from the chili sesame, garlic, and scallions, that is both powerful and pleasing (although, we’d love more beef please). The noodles are cooked al dente giving the dish a slight crunch and avoiding any sogginess in the texture. We highly recommend you get a few of these noodles to share because these disappeared quickly… yummy.

Note: much to our chagrin, Astoria does not have any deserts. Apparently diners weren’t a fan of them, so they were removed from the menu. Hopefully, they will be reintroduced in the future.

Reservation & Menu: