Ulah Bistro, Washington, D.C.

It's Restaurant Week in Washington!

As we do every year when Congress is in recess and all the politicians and lobbyists have gone away for the summer, we locals get the opportunity to sample some of Washington's best restaurants at unusually affordable prices. For $20.08, one can enjoy a three-course lunch, and for $35.08, a three- (and at some places, four-) course dinner. Dinner, unfortunately, saw a $5 per person increase this go-round, but considering the restaurants involved and the general very high cost of living in Washington, this still represents a very good deal.

Between general busyness this week and a two-day DSL modem reset problem at home, I've been delayed in getting my posts up, but here and in the next several entries are some of our experiences this past week. About twenty of the participating restaurants are extending the "week" another week or even more, so undoubtedly I'll get to a few more places before the end of the month.

We shall start with Ulah Bistro, where Robert and I actually had a pre-R.W. late night supper. Ulah is on the popular U Street strip, and it's a fairly new place, open for maybe about a year. I've been walking by the place (it's right by one of the U Street Metro exits) for months thinking the name was Utah Bistro—with a T, instead of an L—and we were curious about what constitutes "Utah" cuisine. Then, once we got in, sat down, and saw the menu, we just couldn't imagine seeing Mormon missionaries in their white shirts and black trousers and dark ties eating this food (not to mention sitting in a place with such an enormous and prominent bar). But, then our waitress was kind enough to explain to us that the name derives from the location (U Street) and the first few letters of the owner's name (local restauranteur Med Lahlou), hence the U-LAH. Utah has nothing to do with it.

Anyway, it's a standard sort of upscale place for the neighborhood, occupying a narrow but deep space, and having an upstairs dining room as well. Decor is simple and contemporary. Our biggest problem was that they were playing pop music at nearly deafening levels, and it was difficult to carry on a conversation and to communicate with our waitress. On top of that, there was a table of four women who seemed bound and determined to chit-chat at volumes exceeding that of the sound system, with cackling laughs that could no doubt be heard in Utah.

Once our order was taken, we were brought a conical basket of some nice warm flatbread with a delicious black olive tapenade spread. We ended up getting a refill.

For dinner, Robert ordered the tuna burger. The burger was made out of chopped fresh tuna steak that was then seasoned and formed into a thick patty. In addition to standard lettuce and a tomato slice, the burger was topped with a wad of bright green seaweed, and the bun was dressed in a garlic aioli. Some nice French fries, also in a conical basket, accompanied the dish.

I ordered the "Black and Bleu Salad," a nice combination of hot, sliced, grilled steak and lots of blue cheese crumbles on a bed of Caesar-dressed romaine. It was a big salad and very filling, especially with the flatbread.


We had a friendly and accommodating waitress, although between the noise levels and her European accent, it was a wonder we communicated well at all. She almost sold us dessert, but we opted not to stay, feeling that the place seemed to be trying to close down for the night.

Ulah is an interesting place, though, and I found their Restaurant Week offerings to be intriguing, with fun things like duck and mussels, all with a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean twist.