Assaggi Mozzarella Bar: Bethesda Restaurant Week Lunch

Due to an unpredictable week complete with thundersnow and power outages, some of our planned restaurant week meals didn’t quite happen. However, I was able to head to Assaggi Mozzarella Bar on Bethesda Avenue to take advantage of their restaurant week lunch deal.

Six of us from work went at noon on a Monday, and even though we made a reservation, we clearly did not need one as the place was nearly empty. We were seated right away at a table by the front, and several servers were on hand to take our order and explain the menu and specials.

As it turns out, while the $12 restaurant week deal for a choice of soup, salad, or dessert along with an entree was a great deal, Assaggi has a $14 two-course deal on many menu items every day of the week.

We all decided to take advantage of the more limited $12 option, and since it was one of the coldest days of the year, we unanimously ordered the carrot and pumpkin soup with slivered almonds to start. It was a perfect winter soup and wasn’t too heavy or filling for a first course.

For my entree, I decided on the fresh calamari stuffed with shrimp and sea scallops, stewed in tomatoes, over white polenta. I have to admit, the dish wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be as it wound up being two large tubes of calamari, almost like pasta shells, filled with seafood sausage of shrimp and scallops.

I originally thought there would be fresh seafood in the calamari itself, not in a casing. However, everything still tasted delicious, and the seafood stuffed calamari combined with the creamy polenta and light tomato sauce was a perfect lunch on a cold day. It hit the spot but wasn’t too filling or too large of a portion for lunch.

I have to say, I can’t believe after living and working in Bethesda all the time that this was my first trip to Assaggi. Unfortunately, the food was so good that by the time I remembered to take a picture, it was too late.

Assaggi Mozzarella Bar is located on 4838 Bethesda Avenue in downtown Bethesda.