Restaurant Week Reflection: Ceiba

Yeah, yeah, DcFud has done its share of talking about Ceiba, but we feel it's a moral imperative for us to share any and all of our Restaurant Week experiences, so we feel we're on at least moderately solid ground here.

The popular restaurant from the Ten Penh, DC Coast family doesn't skimp when it comes to Restaurant Week. Though appetizers and dessert selections are partially limited (offering only one of their famous ceviches along with all their soups or salad, and three dessert choices), the restaurant allows patrons to choose any entree off the restaurant's extensive menu for the $30.05 deal (there's a justifiable $7 surcharge for the Ribeye steak).

My best decision for the evening: the golden tomato gazpacho, served over a crab ceviche with a tomato gourmet. This was a delightful surprise; I'd ordered it after wavering between this and the ceviche, and seeking our friendly waiter's advice. The delicate flakes of crab added a richness to the cool broth, and the real treat was the sorbet - tomato sounds like a less than appealing flavor, but it added a lovely sweetness to the dish.

For dinner, it was crab two ways - a crabcake over avocado, and a lightly-fried softshell crab over a shredded jicama salad. The salad wasn't my favorite part of the meal, though I enjoyed the crisp jicama, but the crabcake was hearty and tasty. This was my first softshell experience, and I'm sure it won't be my last.

Not much of a dessert person, none of the three selections interested me too much. I went with the key lime panna cotta, served with what was either papaya or mango. The overall effect was too sweet for my palate, though I enjoyed the dish's creaminess.

With dinner, inspired by a recent Dcist post, I had a Spanish rose, which was an appropriately light accompaniment (I couldn't tell you the label, though, and it seems inaccessible on the website). A friend had less success with her choice of a Riesling.

Companions were pleased with halibut, black bean soup and scallops, though a friend's salmon dish had a strangely sour purple-colored sauce that none of us found particularly impressive.

Sure, we ate at 9 p.m., but the restaurant still deserves credit for giving us attentive, unrushed service during this busy time. As we were celebrating a birthday, they added nice touches like personalized menus and a candle in the birthday girl's dessert. We also were given a beautiful table near the window.

Our incessant promotion aside, Ceiba's a great bargain when RW comes around.