Le DeSales

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1. TT

   TheresaT

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined 6 days ago

   overall5food5service5ambience5

   Excellent service! Garden salad was a delicious surprise! Short ribs were PERFECT!

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2. C

   Cruiser

   Washington DC

   5 reviews

   3.0

   5 reviews

   Dined 6 days ago

   overall3food3service3ambience4

   Biggest disappointment was the one entree on the “specials” menu was sold out when we were seated at 5:45. Really? Not sure I am onboard with the menu shift to sushi.

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3. CA

   ChrisA

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined 6 days ago

   overall5food5service5ambience5

   Welcome to Sei 2.0. It was such a lovely experience with staff from Sei recognizing me and my wife. The menu has many items from Sei, Fish and a hood roll!!! And a lot of new things to try. I cannot wait to go back.

   Report
4. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   New York Area

   2 reviews

   vip
   3.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 7 days ago

   overall3food3service5ambience4

   I am so glad to see this place open again, but the menu has become really strange. Too much European and Asian fusion. I was expecting a pasta dish with mushrooms and ended up getting a soup that had some pasta and mushrooms floating in it. Other dishes we ordered were not impressive. Sadly I will not be inclined to return unless DeSales reverts to being classic French again and reliable.

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5. F

   Flandrienne

   Washington DC

   1 review

   vip
   5.0

   1 review

   Dined on January 18, 2023

   overall5food5service5ambience5

   Enjoyed a wonderful lunch. Bavette steak, rabbit, bento box with a delicious crème brûlée....the flavors were wonderful. Will definitely come back

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6. JO

   JoseO

   Washington DC

   3 reviews

   5.0

   3 reviews

   Dined on January 15, 2023

   overall5food5service5ambience5

   We arrived for a pre-show dinner. The location was perfect as we were going to DC Improv literally right across the street. Nice atmosphere, elegant, quiet, attentive professional staff. It reminded me of what restaurants used to be pre-pandemic. Cocktail selections were creative and mirrored the eclectic French/Japanese menu. Appetizer, again creative and delicious. Steak Tartare not too wet, well seasoned and topped with crisps, Hamachi Crudo, fresh and seasoned well. Deviled eggs topped with caviar on watercress salad delicious. The kale pistachio salad was generous and dressed with a sesame dressing it was my wife's favorite. We will return to try the squash blossom tempura (whipped lemon ricotta, chili) Wine List, balanced and well thought out. Great by the glass options, and bottle prices are very fair. Mains, Whole Branzino crispy skin, moist flesh, and topped with a persillade and grape tomatoes. Very well prepared. Onion frites, thick cut onions in a light tempura on a delicious creamy parmesan parsley dip. Dessert Chocolate tart (70%) vanilla ice cream. Deep dark chocolate, creamy firm and slightly bitter in a flaky crust. Perfect with a cup of coffee. Wonderful evening meal, and great service. It makes me realize how far service standards have gone down in many restaurants, Le Desales is the exception.

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7. LW

   LisaW

   Washington DC

   6 reviews

   5.0

   6 reviews

   Dined on January 7, 2023

   overall5food5service5ambience5

   Before the pandemic I had business lunches at Desales fairly regularly. This was my first time back, and my first time there for dinner. I love the new menu. So glad the duck Pate is still on the menu. The service was perfect. The entire floor staff worked together creating a seamless experience and leaving us feeling very well cared for. The food was wonderful and the 4 of us kept sharing bites with each other saying “Oh, you have to try this”. (The one exception was that one guest refused to share the miso Camembert because it was too good to share any). We went as a family (4 adults) and this will be a new family go-to for a nice dinner downtown.

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8. S

   Suzsez

   Washington DC

   9 reviews

   2.0

   9 reviews

   Dined on January 3, 2023

   overall2food2service2ambience2

   Food was tired and uninspired. Service was competent, but not attentive.

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9. B

   Beth

   Washington DC

   1 review

   2.0

   1 review

   Dined on January 1, 2023

   overall2food2service2ambience3

   Portions were extremely small. My salmon was the size of my palm and we got like a handful of potatoes. Really confused about the portion sizes. My partners steak was just average. Not coming back.

   Report
10. TC

    TheresaC

    New England

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on December 24, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5

    Delicious French and Japanese options, all well prepared and beautifully plated. Excellent wine list. Crème brûlée and chocolate mousse desserts were perfect. Very attentive service. Will be back again soon to sample other menu choices.

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11. DH

    DavidH

    Charleston

    16 reviews

    vip
    5.0

    16 reviews

    Dined on December 22, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5

    We were visiting from out of town and was intrigued with the menu. It was absolutely unbelievable! Will definitely come back.

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12. VL

    VilmaL

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on December 20, 2022

    overall5food5service4ambience4

    I love that LeDesales offers bento boxes... they are perfectly sized and delicious. My friends ordered a cheeseburg and a poke bowl, and they loved it.

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13. OT

    OpenTable Diner

    Washington DC

    8 reviews

    vip
    3.0

    8 reviews

    Dined on December 18, 2022

    overall3food3service3ambience5

    Went to Le DeSales three years ago before Covid and loved the place. Last night not so much. It felt like it was a new restaurant trying to work out the kinks. We ordered the Kale Salad, Bronzino, and French fries with shaved Parmesan. We thought we could get the salad as a first course and then the Bronzino with the French fries as a second course. Nope, they brought everything to the table at the same time. We didn't want the fish and fries to get cold so we ate that first. Then we ate the salad after. Let's start with the fries. Go to the frozen food section of the grocery store, by a bag of fries, put them in the oven, grate some Parmesan over them, and that's what we got. All of this for $8. No value here. The bronzino, was good, but small. We could have gotten it butterflied or gotten the whole fish. We got it butterflied and deboned. I would recommend getting the whole fish instead. I've had Bronzino at a dozen different places over the past several years. The plate appearance and preparation was underwhelming. Even though it tasted good, For $34 I expected more than a small fish with a couple of tomatoes on the side. Not a good value. The Kale Salad was the best part of the meal. It was a shareable size, with a lite dressing, pomegranate, radishes, and pistachios. For $13 I thought it was a reasonable value. When we got to dessert, the server brought the menu. There were 10 items on the menu and she told us seven of them were out. So there were only three options. We decided to skip dessert. I'm not sure if they are under new ownership or are just getting their footing underneath of them from being closed for so long but everything seemed off. I understand a lot of restaurants have new staff all the time nowadays and will chalk up the service to that but the value for what you get compared to how much you pay is not equal.

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14. CH

    ChrisH

    New England

    1 review

    3.0

    1 review

    Dined on December 17, 2022

    overall3food2service3ambience3

    Food was really underwhelming. Steak covered in lettuce and cheese; deviled eggs with no flavor. When ordering dessert, we were told the menu was limited to two items because “they were closed on Sunday” even though we were there on a Saturday, presumably the busiest night of the week. The whole experience was a big thud.

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15. MA

    MAdc

    Washington DC

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on December 15, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5

    Really delicious poke bowl. Would go back to try other things.

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16. DA

    DanielA

    Washington DC

    5 reviews

    5.0

    5 reviews

    Dined on December 10, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5

    Loved this place and the food. The service was incredible and it is excellent value for a reasonable price. The Duck Pate was fantastic and the rolls were a good surprise and a delicious mix of ingredients. We tried the salmon cilantro, the hamachi serrano and the spicy tuna and shrimp beignet. Also, the Angry Dragon Margarita was a superb cocktail.

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17. S

    Steakhouseseeker

    Columbus

    221 reviews

    vip
    5.0

    221 reviews

    Dined on December 8, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5

    Incredible flavors. Awesome place

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18. SJ

    SavvyJ

    Baltimore

    1 review

    4.0

    1 review

    Dined on December 8, 2022

    overall4food4service4ambience3

    Good burger, a tad undercooked. Nice menu options. Great service otherwise.

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19. P

    Prchic36

    Charlotte

    3 reviews

    4.0

    3 reviews

    Dined on December 4, 2022

    overall4food4service5ambience5

    I gave 4 stars because while everything we had was delicious the menu was not French. It had sushi, French onion soup, fish and chips- a bit of an odd mix. The sushi rolls were delicious and so was the taretare. But an odd combo on the menu. Convenient to the mayflower hotel.

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20. KM

    KevinM

    New York Area

    2 reviews

    4.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on December 1, 2022

    overall4food3service5ambience4

    We came here for the French food. The food was good, but not great, and certainly didn't have the classic sauces that are signature of the French cuisine. Service was prompt, friendly and unpretentious.

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21. G

    Grigio

    Washington DC

    81 reviews

    vip
    4.0

    81 reviews

    Dined on November 28, 2022

    overall4food4service5ambience5

    We chose this place as a spot for an early y dinner after going to the National Geographic Museum. Great to choose from French food band sushi! Wonderful service. Best French onion soup we’ve had in a long time! We’ll be back for sure.

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22. c

    clama

    Washington DC

    5 reviews

    4.0

    5 reviews

    Dined on November 26, 2022

    overall4food5service4ambience5

    High quality food and diverse starter and side options. The sushi rolls were also unique and tasty. Desserts were fantastic

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23. D

    Doug

    Cincinnati

    18 reviews

    5.0

    18 reviews

    Dined on November 26, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5

    Great dinner. Ambiance was ver nice and comfortable. The service was terrific, very attentive. The food was excellent. I had the burger! Close to the Mayflower which helped.

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24. OT

    OpenTable Diner

    Washington DC

    28 reviews

    vip
    5.0

    28 reviews

    Dined on November 20, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5

    Great food. Creative. Wonderful experience.

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25. FF

    FinickyFoodie

    Washington DC

    77 reviews

    vip
    5.0

    77 reviews

    Dined on November 20, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience3

    We picked Le DeSales because it was convenient to an event we were attending. We had low-to-moderate expectations. We were very pleasantly surprised1 Though nominally French, Le DeSales features a full menu of Asian items along with French or French-ish favorites. I do not eat seafood and my wife does not eat meat, so by default, we had a broad sampling of the menu. In short everything, from appetizers to dessert, was delicious. We didn't sample anything on the menu we wouldn't enthusiastically recommend. It was ASTOUNDING to us that even though we were there in "prime time" on a Saturday night, the restaurant had plenty of open tables. That just shouldn't be!

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26. CC

    ChristineC

    New York Area

    17 reviews

    vip
    3.0

    17 reviews

    Dined on November 19, 2022

    overall3food5service3ambience4

    Overall we were very happy with the food and drinks. The restaurant was very chilly. We did feel a bit rushed by the waiter even though the dining room wasn't even at half capacity. He gave us the dessert menu when I was still eating my main course.

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27. ES

    EvamarieS

    Washington DC

    23 reviews

    vip
    3.0

    23 reviews

    Dined on November 16, 2022

    overall3food5service4ambience2

    First time dining here. Was intrigued by the menu; French and Japanese? Sounded great! The food and drinks were wonderful. Imaginative craft cocktails (Rum Punch and Sago-martini were fantastic) a lovely French wine list, and the assorted takes on sushi were fun and delicious. I had the “fish and chips” roll which included shredded potato chips on top. It was really good and different! One in our party had the shrimp beignets roll, that too was delightful. The squash blossom appetizer was so good, we ordered it twice. My one complaint: OMG was it LOUD. By far one of the noisiest restaurants I’ve been to in a while. At one point, my two guests and I were raising our voices to hear each other. I am not sure what, if anything, can be done about the noise level. Calling it “energetic” in the star choices is a misnomer. It was flat-out disturbingly loud. We dined on a Wednesday night, not sure if that is the reason. It would not prevent me from going here again, because the food and drinks are incredible. But I might reconsider what time of time to go.

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28. IK

    IraK

    New York Area

    64 reviews

    5.0

    64 reviews

    Dined on November 16, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5

    @7pm on a Tuesday night, the bar scene was very lively and all the tables were occupied. They did have a table ready to honor our reservation. The quality and presentation of the food were excellent. We shared the “Hamachi Crudo”. This was very good but you might find the red onions overpower the taste. I order the whole branzino with bone in, head and tail. I love to take an entire fish apart. The fish was well cooked until I got to the inner bone where it was still raw (not sushi grade). I did not make an immediate fuss about this because there was plenty of cooked fish to indulge in. When the waiter picked up our plates, I explained the situation. He came back with 2 glasses of champagne for our anniversary. He also said that he showed the chef the fish and they were comp’ing my dish. A few minutes later he came with a crème brûlée for two from the chef as an additional apology. All in all, we had a marvelous meal and were treated with respect by the Host, waiter and chef. I would recommend this restaurant and will return to it the next time we are in DC!

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29. DG

    DidiG

    New York Area

    12 reviews

    5.0

    12 reviews

    Dined on November 15, 2022

    overall5food4service5ambience5

    Service was wonderful as was the food. We had their award winning sushi roll ( fish & chips) & it was terrific! My husband had rabbit parpardelli & enjoyed it! Their Wine & Sake recommendations were spot on too.

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30. OT

    OpenTable Diner

    Charleston

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on November 9, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5

    Outstanding food and friendly service. We’ll be back!

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31. AD

    AmarD

    San Francisco

    3 reviews

    vip
    5.0

    3 reviews

    Dined on November 8, 2022

    overall5food5service4ambience5

    Interesting and delicious combination of French and Japanese food, not really fusion, more paired combinations. Came during lunch. Service was quick but not that attentive.

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32. DM

    DMacP

    Washington DC

    7 reviews

    5.0

    7 reviews

    Dined on November 3, 2022

    overall5food5service4ambience5

    I love this place for lunch. It has been a long pandemic never going out to lunch. Went with a group of friends in town, did not disappoint - added sushi and poke bowls is pretty exciting.

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33. SN

    SusanN

    Washington DC

    3 reviews

    5.0

    3 reviews

    Dined on November 2, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience4

    Unusual entrees, well prepared. Our server was attentive and helpful.

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34. LW

    LukeWatson

    Washington DC

    1 review

    vip
    3.0

    1 review

    Dined on November 1, 2022

    overall3food3service3ambience3

    For a business lunch, this is a good place to go. The menu is interesting: sushi and burger. That's a slight exaggeration, but it's a slight exaggeration. It's a quiet street and so a great spot to eat outside.

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35. D

    Drue

    Chicago

    12 reviews

    vip
    5.0

    12 reviews

    Dined on October 31, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5

    Great varied menu; wonderful staff and fun environment. Terrific Value.

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36. MR

    MichaelR

    New York Area

    5 reviews

    5.0

    5 reviews

    Dined on October 29, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5

    The food at Le DeSales was fantastic. The restaurant does not serve French/Japanese fusion dishes. Rather, they do an excellent job serving up sushi and French Cuisine. The Fish and Chips roll, duck paté as well as the Rabbit pasta were delicious!

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37. MJ

    MathewJ

    New England

    6 reviews

    vip
    5.0

    6 reviews

    Dined on October 27, 2022

    overall5food5service4ambience4

    Never disappoints.

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38. LF

    LoveFrench

    Washington DC

    12 reviews

    5.0

    12 reviews

    Dined on October 25, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5

    Excellent food and great service.

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39. OT

    OpenTable Diner

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on October 21, 2022

    overall5food5service5ambience5

    Phenomenal food, staff, and service.

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40. OT

    OpenTable Diner

    Seattle

    6 reviews

    5.0

    6 reviews

    Dined on October 20, 2022

    overall5food5service4ambience5

    Great sushi from sei

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