Review: Sou'Wester, Restaurant Week Lunch, DC

For our second Restaurant Week meal, N and I tried out Sou'Wester at the Mandarin Oriental in DC for lunch.   They don't provide menus on their site so we weren't sure what would be on the Restaurant Week menu, but I assumed that they would be offering contemporary American/Southern-ish food, from what I've heard about Sou'Wester before.   Although N and I both tasted each other's dishes, I will only be commenting on my own dishes, because it's hard to judge a dish based on just one bite. 

Menu (same as the regular lunch menu, yay)

I was really happy that their Restaurant Week menu was their regular lunch menu- it's always nice to have a bunch of choices, and feel like you're getting a good deal.   

 

Mmmmm bread basket

To me, one indication of how good a place is going to be is how much care they put into their bread and butter offerings.  This one was sooooo good, with a variety of tasty bites alongside yummy soft honey butter. 

 

Rabbit Rillettes, Pickled Green Tomatoes

I ordered the Rabbit rillettes with pickled green tomatoes.  I honestly did not expect to like this dish as much as I did (I ordered it mainly because it's one of the more expensive dishes normally, haha).   The grilled dough with the creamy (although pretty cold) rillette was so decadent and tasty.  The picked green tomatoes added a much needed sourness to cut through the fatty rabbit spread. 

 

N's Pork Scrapple with Fried Egg and Smoked Ham Hock Sauce

 

N's side order of Hush Puppies

I have to say something about these Hush Puppies even though technically they weren't mine, haha.  I tried one and these were OMGSOGOOD.  The crispy crunchiness of the outside was perfect with the soft pillowy innards.  So so so good.  If they offered a buffet with these I would probably fill up at least 1 plate with just these. 

 

Roasted Leg of Baby Lamb with Bean Ragout

For my main dish I got the baby lamb with bean ragout, mainly because I don't ever think to make lamb myself at home.  It came out a little differently than I expected - with "Roasted Leg of Lamb", it was hard for me to not assume it was coming out bone-in.  but I can't complain, it's much easier to eat it this way, haha.  Surprisingly enough, the beans were the best part of this dish.  The ham added so much flavor to the creamy beans- it was so so so good.  The leftovers were just as delicious the next day. 

 

N's Blackened Bluefish with Cajun Rice

 

Cheesecake with Huckleberry Compote

Finally, dessert time!  It was hard to decide between all the options, but I went with the cheesecake in the end.  I'm glad I did- the cake was light and fluffy, not heavy at all.  I don't even like fruit on top of cheesecake usually, much less huckleberries, but this balanced out the cheesecake perfectly and it was a really fantastic dessert. 

  

N's Banana Cream Pie

Overall, I thought this meal was super delicious and well worth the $20 Restaurant Week price.  I loved that they offered their regular menu because it was a great way to get a feel for the restaurant on  Non-Restaurant Week days.  I'm sure that everyone could find at least one dish they like- the hard part might actually be choosing just one!  It's pretty out of the way (especially from MD), and yes, it's technically in a hotel, but it was a great lunch and I'm really happy we tried it out.