TenPenh

Creative pan-Asian (or Asian-influenced) cuisine in casual upscale setting, and a current favorite even if I don’t go there often enough. The name, by the way, is derived from the address: tenth street at Pennsylvania Avenue.

Pleasant space, friendly staff [though, our server was trying too hard], and outstanding food. I grudgingly gave up bits of my food, while being keen to sample everyone else’s. <grin> Steve & Ebeth had to dash to catch a play, and you may rest assured that we did not allow any of their desserts to linger uneaten.

My only quibble, actually, would be with the cocktails- they were priced quite expensively, and were completely uninspiring.

Many so-called Asian fusion restaurants promise more than they deliver, ending up with either brief and confused menus, or turning into an incoherent smorgasbord of choices, or simply riding their success by sinking to the lowest common denominator.

TenPenh suffers from none of the above. In fact, I would gladly make a meal out of any one item on their menu. Really. Except perhaps for the little baby octopus that rides skewered as a decoration on their “sake-tini”.

Don’t pass up the sorbet, or else.

The pseudo-Asian staff costumes are a bit over-the-top, but the space itself is airy and modern, as befits its primo location.

-dave