Willard Room

Description:

• For the ultimate Washington experience: Take a taxi (better yet, a limo) to the Willard Hotel, and stroll through the lobby, heading right, to find the Round Robin bar. Enjoy a mint julep, old-fashioned, or gin rickey and listen to the tales told by the seasoned bartenders about Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and others who frequented this hotel in earlier days. Proceed to the Willard Room, which has to be the most elegant dining room in the capital: two-story-high ceiling, walnut-paneled walls, green marble columns, sumptuous fabrics, tables placed far from each other throughout the room. Enjoy a repast of classic dishes: Caesar salad, Maine lobster poached with onion-ginger ravioli, or rack of lamb with herbs Provençal. Discreetly observe the presence of the royal family from Denmark or the former prime minister from Israel. Ask for your bill, add a healthy tip, and then wander out to Peacock Alley and peruse the information on display about the history of the Willard (2006 marked the centenary of the "new" Willard). Return to the Round Robin for a nightcap.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2009