600 Restaurant at the Watergate, Washington, D.C.

Friday night after the symphony, Laurent wanted dessert while Ryan and Robert were running off to Dupont Circle, so Laurent and I stopped on the walk home at 600 Restaurant at the Watergate. I usually don't like going to 600, since they cater to the Kennedy Center crowds, which means they have a lot of pre-prepared items that can be served quickly to their in-a-rush, pre-theater customers, all at a premium price. Laurent, though, is not particularly discriminating, so I acquiesced, and it turned out to be a pleasant surprise that it was an acceptable experience.

Our intention was just to have dessert. Laurent ordered their chocolate explosion cake and I got the pecan pie. The cake had the standard uniformity of the commercial dessert manufacturers, but Laurent liked it. The pecan pie was actually good. It was a generous serving of standard pecan pie without any "weirdness" about it, and I enjoyed it. My only criticism is that the server had popped it into the microwave to warm it (you'll recall my previous rants about microwaving pastries and breads), so it was my fault for not telling her to serve it room temperature.

Then, Laurent decided he was still hungry, so he ordered a French onion soup. And then a Caesar salad. And then another dessert—the crème brulée. The soup and salad both looked good. The crème brulée is definitely pre-made here (the top sugar crust is supposed to be hot, in contrast to the cold custard below) and 600's are cold through and through; Laurent didn't care. At his encouragement, I ordered an appetizer (though I refused a second dessert!).

Now, their appetizer mussels at 600 are a Provençale-style preparation, baked with tomato sauce. On their entrée list, though, they do mussels "meuniere, " or at least their version of meuniere, steamed in white wine then sauced with minced shallots and a cream sauce. I didn't want tomato sauce, so I had them do the appetizer mussels with the entree sauce, and the kitchen happily complied. It was very, very good.

While Laurent was eating his second dessert, I had a nice little glass of Sandeman port.