Birthday Dinner at Bourbon Steak

Having been to Ray’s the Steaks (and Classics), Charlie Palmer, BLT Steak, and Morton’s, Michael Mina’s steakhouse at the Four Seasons in Georgetown was the one restaurant we have long wanted to check off our bucket list. Rachel thought it would be appropriate to finally visit Bourbon Steak to celebrate my birthday a few weeks ago.

After we watched the Nationals pummel the Orioles 9-3 earlier that day, we took the American River Taxi over to Georgetown in what turned out be a picturesque day. We got to enjoy a tour of the Potomac as an added bonus as we made our way towards the Hilltop.

After looking over the wine list, our waiter came by and delivered the restaurant’s famous trio of duck fat fries. Each style came with its own seasoning and housemade sauce: thyme-herb with sweet ketchup, pastrami with 1000 Island, and white cheddar with BBQ sauce.

The complimentary truffle rolls, however, were even better. These delightfully pieces of flaky bread, which arrived in a cast-iron pot, were simply indulgent. Then again, anything that uses black truffle butter has to be good, right? They were like a cross between a sticky bun and garlic knot, but the flavor was just incredible. These might be the best rolls in all of DC, even besting Fiola’s.

We started the meal off with the charred Spanish octopus. It was a light and refreshing course given the hot, humid weather outside while the presentation was simply gorgeous.

For the main course, I went all out, because hey, it’s my birthday. I ordered the 50-day aged, 14 ounce bone-in New York Strip, cooked medium-rare of course. It was as delicious as it sounded. With a nice sear on the outside, the marbleization gave the steak a very pronounced flavor while being very tender. Definitely one of the best I have had in the District.

Rachel kept things a little tamer and ordered the eight ounce filet. Excellently cooked and incredibly tender, Rachel was generous enough to share some with me. Not that I didn’t have my plate full with 14 ounces of my own steak, but I was just as impressed with her cut.

As for sides, we got the highly-acclaimed truffle black truffle mac and cheese as well as the wood-roasted “magical” mushrooms. The mac and cheese indeed met the hype – in fact, it proved slightly challenging to mainly focus on the steak given how rich this side dish was. The mushrooms, on the other hand, were just alright. Rachel remarked they had a rubbery texture to them and were simply not as good as the ones that we recently had at Boqueria.

Before we ordered dessert, the restaurant surprised us with a slice of their seven-layer cake since Rachel gave them the heads up that it was my birthday. The cake was rich and moist, and definitely would have sufficed as our dessert course had we not been persuaded by the waiter to order his personal favorite, the brown sugar bananas.

I tend to stray away from superlatives, but this dish was one of the best desserts we have ever come across. Let’s list the ingredients now, shall we? Banana cake? Check. Peanut ganache? Check. Fried Captain Crunch ice cream? Oh, hell yeah. Now imagine all of these components on one plate. And the amazing part is that it all worked in perfect harmony. Honestly words cannot do it justice… just order it.

Overall, we had a lovely birthday dinner at Bourbon Steak. Our waiter was exceptional (he earned some extra tip after the brown sugar bananas recommendation), the food was terrific, and the atmosphere was lively without being stuffy. As for steakhouses, it’s clearly one of the best in Washington. And considering the water taxi accessibility, I might just skip Shake Shack at Nationals Park and come by the lounge and order one of their burgers instead.