Fourth Estate - Washington DC

We have been enjoying the Fourth Estate for many years. We bring all our out of town guests. Every guest has been impressed. You can count on the atmosphere being one that you can enjoy your guests and the food is always excellent.

I 've been a Press Club member for many years and have always loved The Fourth Estate restaurant, a crown jewel hidden in DC. I brought guests here even when the restaurant 's patronization was significantly reduced for reasons I never figured out why. The restaurant has always been good and I 've not had any complaints, nor have my guests. However, tonight 's visit was very disappointing from the start. The four of us were give a square table off to the side and near the kitchen area. The table was crowded, smaller than we 'd like for comfort and our knees and feet hit or rested against the aluminum structure that held the table up. I thought we had wooden legs? Guess those tables have been replaced? When I saw the round 4 person table in the center being vacated, I asked for our party to be moved to it. I could tell the manager was not happy with the move. I told him I would like to think that members would get a little better treatment than non members. He simply said most people enjoyed the view from the table we were at. I said the view stunk, it 's a view of the interior of the building, I was having dinner with and preferred to view them. Once we relocated, Eberto, our waiter asked for our order. We ordered our appetizers and he asked for our entree orders. We told him we can only eat one thing at a time, so only order one course at a time. He wasn 't happy but accepted it. As we were eating the appetizers, the manager came and asked for us to order the entrees. I expressed my dislike of being rushed when eating and he said the kitchen was closing soon. (I don 't understand why the kitchen closes at 8:30 pm on a Saturday night, but later on weeknights. Doesn 't make much sense to me in DC . When the entrees were delivered we noted the very easily seen lack of consistency between the very same entrees two of us and six guests of ours had the night before. The steak was thinner and lacked the blue cheese crumbles listed on the menu and we had the night before. The crab cakes were much bigger tonight than last night. Consistency is important especially when I 'm bringing guests and bragging to them how great the restaurant is. As we were eating the entre our check was given to us. I asked why we couldn 't get desert. Elberto then took our desert order. In contrast, last night everything, except the small crab cakes, was great as always. As a side note Our executive chef (Susan is fantastic and has created interesting menus for years. The current menu includes roasted rabbit and the soup if the day, last night and tonight was lamb and goat soup (really? . Those items may be selling well, but I know none of us last night or tonight (a total of 11 people even considered ordering either item, even though we wanted soup. I see this as a lost revenue potential for the restaurant. Maybe more traditional soup and less exotic meats are best? Bottom line although very stressful and disappointing tonight, but mostly good last night, I highly recommend this place. Hopefully there will be more consistency in the future.

Sea scallops (succulent) and the Weekend at the Beach cocktail were wonderful as was the grilled shrimps appetizer. Bread basket contained warm baguette with a side of garlic butter and Boursin cheese, delicious. The asparagus next to the sea scallops was full of fiber. Hard. No longer tender. Probably too old. A pleasant (small) restaurant on the 13th floor of the National Press Club building (inside the Club; the front desk will open the gate for you as you step out of the elevator) with friendly and efficient service. Very attentive. A few guests seem to be regulars, as the host and waiters knew them and were chatting with them a bit. Menu was small but they had a long wine list and several cocktails. The bathroom was small (2 stalls only) but clean and pleasant. Overall it felt upscale. It 's interesting they had automated faucets that dispensed soap, water, and then ... even hot air to dry your hands! See the photos. It 's an all in one unit. Pretty fancy. You 'd dry your hand right at the sink. We came at 6 pm on a quiet Tuesday evening. We overheard the other table, they were here because like us they were going to National Theatre next door for a show afterwards. Convenient location. We counted a total of four tables dining including us, between 6 and 7:15 pm when we left. The atmosphere was civilized, relaxed. Heavy wood paneling. Quite a gentleman 's club vibe as all the other tables were older couples.

Terrible location. Construction in the easy. Rude bldg security

Unless you are a journalism junkie and want to support the National Press Club, don't bother. Food was fine, but it was a bland banquet room with fair service and no character. It was fun to walk around building and look at pictures of all the people that have come and presented at the club