Supra, web site, 1205 11th St NW, Washington, DC, 202-789-1205 (Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window) [Zagat | WaPo | Washingtonian | TripAdvisor | Ylp]
There are two questions here. The first is how well do you know Georgian food? It is the best in the Caucasus and the best from the former Soviet Union. The second is how this place compares in the broader constellation of Georgian restaurants. If you are not up to speed on Georgian, this place is a must. Georgian offerings are subtle, diverse, and combine some of the best ideas from eastern Europe, Persia, Russia, and the Middle East. Get as many small dishes and cold dishes as you can. Get the Khachapuri, the classic Georgian dish, stuffed breads, maybe the best one is with the spinach. Get the just plain Georgian bread, not on the menu you can just ask for it. Get the dumplings with meat. Avoid the larger dishes. That all said, how does this place compare with Georgian restaurants in say NYC or Berlin? Well, it is good enough to go to, but not above average. That said, the average is decently high. The downside is that this place is not super cheap. The bottom line is that in DC we now have a “good enough to go to” Georgian restaurant. And of course for people watching it is superb, hardly anyone who goes there is native-born American.
I must disagree. Their food is unfortunately far below average. We had very high expectations for this place and managed to get there immediately after the soft opening. Our disappointment has been shared by other Russian friends who are very much familiar with Georgian cuisine (it has always been popular in Russia but for the past several years made enormous gains as khachapuri/khinkali places are now to be found at every corner). Looks like the owners and the chef decided to americanize the cuisine and effectively spoiled it.