My experience at Oyster Oyster was wonderful. Every dish was creative and beautifully executed, and I loved hearing the stories behind where each ingredient came from. Everything we tried was flavorful and unique. The only thing keeping this from being a perfect five was that the main entrée (the eggplant dumplings) didn’t quite deliver the same punch as the earlier courses. It was still good, just not quite the showstopper I expected as the final savory dish. Overall, though, a memorable and thoughtful dining experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Shashank Pedamallu
Where to start? I just had an exceptionally incredible experience beyond my expectations at Oyster Oyster.
Few things can enliven you when you’re fatigued and drowsy after a red-eye flight and a long day. The dinner here did that and more for me!
Me and my wife are vegetarians and made a reservation quite in advance for our first ever trip to DC. The restaurant was quite charming with elegantly compartmentalized seating options - the kitchen, booths and chairs and tables. We got the booth.
Before going further - I’ve dined at restaurants recognized by World’s 50 best, multiple Michelin 2 star restaurants, fine dining restaurants with vegetarian degustation menus in multiple countries. By far, this stands as the best experience I had.
We got the Harvest menu. The experience started with a refreshing warm and umami drink to cleanse our palates. - The first course was bites and finger food. It was “game-on” statement displaying the variety of flavors and textures. With an Indian background, I was delighted to see the novel usage of some of our native spices / ingredients in new flavors - fermented coriander seeds with turnips, sesame with tomato. - The second was salad with potatoes and greens. Absolutely refreshing. - We then had Old Bread New Bread with butter made from sunflower seeds along with Squash and mushrooms. The bread and butter was so addicting that we had to request our hostess not to take that away and we are holding on that to not get stuffy in stomach. - The next course with “meatless” balls was so comforting. I just couldn’t comprehend how they could do that with eggplant! - It was followed by desserts which were ok (not exceptional to me at least).
We also took a wine and juice pairing along with this. I’m no wine connoisseur and cannot speak with authority on them, but as a diner, I was thrilled by the juice pairing. The juices were totally crafted by the team with unused ingredients from the kitchen. They just complemented with the dishes as a pair quite well. Definitely recommend their juice pairing.
Lastly, the service was top-notch. Our hostess Izzy (apologies if I got this wrong) was quite enthusiastic to share the details of each dish along with the story behind it. My wife once had to leave the table to use the restroom. The hostess took the napkin she put aside and folded it placed it back in this time. Everyone was so genuine and greeted us on our anniversary. Upon leaving my wife commented that the menu they gave us has details about food, but not the drinks. Guess what, the next day I had the drinks menu (both wines and juices) in my email. I haven’t even asked.
All-in-all phenomenal. Highly recommended this to anyone.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Heewon Choi
Love love loved it! At least among the Michelin-1 star restaurants in DC, this was the best place to me, even though I'm not a vegetarian or vegan and I love proteins.
First and foremost, all the foods were top-notch. Mouth-watering and also visually satisfying. Wine was great, too.
Secondly, service was impeccable - some friendliness + some professionalism + and some humor.
What impressed me and my company the most, however, was how the restaurant was dedicated to their values. From every bits of the food and the way they operate showed how they wanted to run this business and interact with the local community. All the food ingredients locally sourced, the plates they use were made out of used wine bottles, even the menu paper was completely decomposable so we can just give it to our plants at home.
Very impressive, and highly satisfied.
One small hope, tho : Would love to see the course menu before getting the foods instead of afterwards.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Stephanie
Absolutely out of this world! Hands down the best vegetarian, local, and sustainable fine dining experience in the U.S. The welcome broth was bursting with flavor, and the beet pastrami kohlrabi was exquisite— even the meat lovers in our group were amazed by how rich and satisfying it was. Every course, from the smoked new potato salad to the grandmama zucchini bread, corn froyo, and spicebush porcini shortbread, was incredible. The staff were warm, knowledgeable, and accommodating. Truly an unforgettable dining experience!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Eric Napier Strong
Fabulous and memorable meal with their fall harvest menu. The service was warm and on point, with a smooth progression that never left me waiting.
The food was creative, tasty, and had a clear point of view with their focus on local/foraged/zero waste. Their marigold butter, potato & squash courses blew me away, but nothing disappointed. As a non-alcoholic person, I give them big points for their housemade juices.
I loved the funky and unpretentious vibe of this restaurant. I'm so glad I chose this unique dining experience over the many forgettable fancy options in this city.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Camila Vasquez
We looked into many sources before going to this restaurant, but unfortunately, our experience was very disappointing. It felt like a waste of our money, time, and energy.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Cristina Clark
If you are in DC you have to go here!
It is an upscale vegetarian restaurant that uses local produces from local farmers. They recycle and use everything. They don’t waste any other food or materials.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jeffrey Horwitz
I rarely give any place a 5 but this place does it all well. The food is vegetarian but it's all transformed and very well done. I've had meals like this before but not a a price this good. Very interesting wine list and great sommelier.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tresa
A unique, inventive and utterly delicious mostly plant-based menu. A very special, bucket list type of experience for the beloved vegetarian in your life. Pro-tip: the restaurant is intimate. You will need to book far in advance. Channel your inner-Virgo, get out that calendar and set a date.
Came here for our anniversary. The service is top notch right from the start. We sat at the kitchen counter. Every dish has a story and local ingredients. There were no offensive or bold flavors. Everything was smooth, compatible, and sometimes surprising. For instance as a tomato lover I did not expect much from the tomato dish, because what else you can do with it I thought. They manage to elevate it with different types of tomatoes and a unique ailoi. We also love the butter alternative spread made from pumpkin seeds. Kitchen bar seating is great if you enjoy watching plating (and if you want to ask questions when the staff is not too busy) This was an interesting experience and a treat.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Emily
The vibes and service were wonderful! The wine pairing was really nice. The food was sadly underwhelming on the whole. The first few small things were phenomenal, the tomato salad was ridiculously good, but the mushroom broth was only good and far too salty and the main dish was inedibly over spiced. The dessert course was beautiful but none of the flavors really sang. For the price I expected to be blown away by every dish and simply was not.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
ERIKA G
I am not a vegetarian and I thoroughly enjoyed this experience. The food tasted so good, and the attentiveness to the preparation & presentation of each coarse was commendable.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sarah Glaser
I’ve been twice and already can’t wait to come back. Each course is impeccable. I loved their beautiful Shucking Peas dish with kohlrabi and peanuts. I enjoyed being served by at least 5 chefs and servers and sitting at the counter was fun. This is the kind of vegetarian cuisine that wows me with every bite.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Allie Michelle
Worst Michelin Star meal of my life. The main course was inedible. One note. Fried. I had to send it back and was not offered anything to substitute. Nice concept. Horrid waste of money.
Phenomenal plant-based tasting menu.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
My experience at Oyster Oyster was wonderful. Every dish was creative and beautifully executed, and I loved hearing the stories behind where each ingredient came from. Everything we tried was flavorful and unique. The only thing keeping this from being a perfect five was that the main entrée (the eggplant dumplings) didn’t quite deliver the same punch as the earlier courses. It was still good, just not quite the showstopper I expected as the final savory dish. Overall, though, a memorable and thoughtful dining experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Where to start? I just had an exceptionally incredible experience beyond my expectations at Oyster Oyster.
Few things can enliven you when you’re fatigued and drowsy after a red-eye flight and a long day. The dinner here did that and more for me!
Me and my wife are vegetarians and made a reservation quite in advance for our first ever trip to DC. The restaurant was quite charming with elegantly compartmentalized seating options - the kitchen, booths and chairs and tables. We got the booth.
Before going further - I’ve dined at restaurants recognized by World’s 50 best, multiple Michelin 2 star restaurants, fine dining restaurants with vegetarian degustation menus in multiple countries. By far, this stands as the best experience I had.
We got the Harvest menu. The experience started with a refreshing warm and umami drink to cleanse our palates.
- The first course was bites and finger food. It was “game-on” statement displaying the variety of flavors and textures. With an Indian background, I was delighted to see the novel usage of some of our native spices / ingredients in new flavors - fermented coriander seeds with turnips, sesame with tomato.
- The second was salad with potatoes and greens. Absolutely refreshing.
- We then had Old Bread New Bread with butter made from sunflower seeds along with Squash and mushrooms. The bread and butter was so addicting that we had to request our hostess not to take that away and we are holding on that to not get stuffy in stomach.
- The next course with “meatless” balls was so comforting. I just couldn’t comprehend how they could do that with eggplant!
- It was followed by desserts which were ok (not exceptional to me at least).
We also took a wine and juice pairing along with this. I’m no wine connoisseur and cannot speak with authority on them, but as a diner, I was thrilled by the juice pairing. The juices were totally crafted by the team with unused ingredients from the kitchen. They just complemented with the dishes as a pair quite well. Definitely recommend their juice pairing.
Lastly, the service was top-notch. Our hostess Izzy (apologies if I got this wrong) was quite enthusiastic to share the details of each dish along with the story behind it. My wife once had to leave the table to use the restroom. The hostess took the napkin she put aside and folded it placed it back in this time. Everyone was so genuine and greeted us on our anniversary. Upon leaving my wife commented that the menu they gave us has details about food, but not the drinks. Guess what, the next day I had the drinks menu (both wines and juices) in my email. I haven’t even asked.
All-in-all phenomenal. Highly recommended this to anyone.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Love love loved it! At least among the Michelin-1 star restaurants in DC, this was the best place to me, even though I'm not a vegetarian or vegan and I love proteins.
First and foremost, all the foods were top-notch. Mouth-watering and also visually satisfying. Wine was great, too.
Secondly, service was impeccable - some friendliness + some professionalism + and some humor.
What impressed me and my company the most, however, was how the restaurant was dedicated to their values. From every bits of the food and the way they operate showed how they wanted to run this business and interact with the local community. All the food ingredients locally sourced, the plates they use were made out of used wine bottles, even the menu paper was completely decomposable so we can just give it to our plants at home.
Very impressive, and highly satisfied.
One small hope, tho : Would love to see the course menu before getting the foods instead of afterwards.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Absolutely out of this world! Hands down the best vegetarian, local, and sustainable fine dining experience in the U.S. The welcome broth was bursting with flavor, and the beet pastrami kohlrabi was exquisite— even the meat lovers in our group were amazed by how rich and satisfying it was. Every course, from the smoked new potato salad to the grandmama zucchini bread, corn froyo, and spicebush porcini shortbread, was incredible. The staff were warm, knowledgeable, and accommodating. Truly an unforgettable dining experience!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fabulous and memorable meal with their fall harvest menu. The service was warm and on point, with a smooth progression that never left me waiting.
The food was creative, tasty, and had a clear point of view with their focus on local/foraged/zero waste. Their marigold butter, potato & squash courses blew me away, but nothing disappointed. As a non-alcoholic person, I give them big points for their housemade juices.
I loved the funky and unpretentious vibe of this restaurant. I'm so glad I chose this unique dining experience over the many forgettable fancy options in this city.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We looked into many sources before going to this restaurant, but unfortunately, our experience was very disappointing. It felt like a waste of our money, time, and energy.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
If you are in DC you have to go here!
It is an upscale vegetarian restaurant that uses local produces from local farmers. They recycle and use everything.
They don’t waste any other food or materials.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I rarely give any place a 5 but this place does it all well. The food is vegetarian but it's all transformed and very well done. I've had meals like this before but not a a price this good.
Very interesting wine list and great sommelier.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A unique, inventive and utterly delicious mostly plant-based menu. A very special, bucket list type of experience for the beloved vegetarian in your life. Pro-tip: the restaurant is intimate. You will need to book far in advance. Channel your inner-Virgo, get out that calendar and set a date.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Came here for our anniversary. The service is top notch right from the start. We sat at the kitchen counter. Every dish has a story and local ingredients. There were no offensive or bold flavors. Everything was smooth, compatible, and sometimes surprising. For instance as a tomato lover I did not expect much from the tomato dish, because what else you can do with it I thought. They manage to elevate it with different types of tomatoes and a unique ailoi. We also love the butter alternative spread made from pumpkin seeds. Kitchen bar seating is great if you enjoy watching plating (and if you want to ask questions when the staff is not too busy) This was an interesting experience and a treat.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
The vibes and service were wonderful! The wine pairing was really nice. The food was sadly underwhelming on the whole. The first few small things were phenomenal, the tomato salad was ridiculously good, but the mushroom broth was only good and far too salty and the main dish was inedibly over spiced. The dessert course was beautiful but none of the flavors really sang. For the price I expected to be blown away by every dish and simply was not.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
I am not a vegetarian and I thoroughly enjoyed this experience. The food tasted so good, and the attentiveness to the preparation & presentation of each coarse was commendable.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I’ve been twice and already can’t wait to come back. Each course is impeccable. I loved their beautiful Shucking Peas dish with kohlrabi and peanuts. I enjoyed being served by at least 5 chefs and servers and sitting at the counter was fun. This is the kind of vegetarian cuisine that wows me with every bite.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Worst Michelin Star meal of my life. The main course was inedible. One note. Fried. I had to send it back and was not offered anything to substitute. Nice concept. Horrid waste of money.
Food: 1
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