Last Thursday was my second-ever visit to Central Michel Richard. Earlier that morning, I'd made a reservation on OpenTable for 6:45pm that day. Both my companion and I arrived at the same time, a little after 6:30, and we were seated immediately. A server came by to take our drink orders and give us menus, but we didn't have another server pay attention to us for about 10 minutes.
Despite that early misstep, the meal went wonderfully and the service was wonderful as well. My Cel-Ray Pimm's Cup was the first I'd ever had, and I was surprised that it was sweet, given that I was expecting to be knocked over with celery flavor. It was pleasantly carbonated and refreshing, and I'll definitely get it again (I hear it's not actually on the menu, but just ask for it). For a starter, we ordered the gougeres ($7), which are little cheese puffs, tasty and warm, not too cheesy, though we couldn't possibly finish them all given that I'd also ordered the faux gras terrine and country pate ($15) -- an appetizer which turned out to be enough for a meal.
I'd not had the faux gras before (faux due to it being chicken liver instead of duck or goose), but it was delicious, and the accompanying spicy mustard was surprisingly spicy -- a fact attested to by my companion's observation that my facial expressions every time I had the mustard were providing ample entertainment to go with his food. There was a bread basket on the table, and that plus the bread with the faux gras is what made that appetizer so much to eat. I knew I wanted to save room for the bacon cheeseburger I'd ordered, so I asked the friendly French waiter if I could have the faux gras wrapped up to go. He graciously complied, with no hint of an attitude (my main complaint about my visit in 2008).
My bacon cheeseburger and fries ($18) came promptly, along with my companion's grilled mushroom and cheese sandwich ($15). I'd ordered my burger rare, and it came exactly how I ordered. It was juicy and just greasy enough and messy. I'd heard good things about the burger several years ago, and I'm happy to report that the rumors of it's deliciousness were 100% true. The accompanying fries were good, though they didn't blow me away the way Granville Moore's fries do (especially with that black truffle aioli, mmm). My companion was delighted with his sandwich, though he was quite familiar with how it would taste as it was the reason he chose Central for our dining experience.
After all that food, we were too stuffed to order dessert, so we got the check and left....leaving my packaged faux gras behind. Alas! 15 minutes after arriving at our next destination, my companion said, "Do you have everything? Your faux gras?" I wailed that I had forgotten, and he suggested calling Central, which I did immediately. I didn't even have to give my name, I simply said "I just left about 15 minutes ago and I left my food--" and they said "Oh, yes, we have it here at the host stand." The awesome waiter had brought the leftovers up to the host stand, almost as if he knew that I would come back for them, which I did, before the closing time of 10:30pm (Thursday, remember).
Overall, it was a very nice meal, everything was quite tasty, the service was good, and the burger was one of the best I've had in DC. I'm glad I decided to go back and give it another chance.
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