AMITY & COMMERCE

My husband and I had such a delightful dinner (drinks, appetizer, entrees, and desserts) last week and are so grateful for the divine experience. The food was absolutely top-notch. I enjoyed their signature veggie burger on olive oil roll and my husband enjoyed the tamarind-glazed short ribs. This dining experience went way above my initial expectations. Hats off to the chef and staff!

My employer had our company Christmas dinner at this restaurant and I was THOROUGHLY unimpressed. Given the mandarin oriental hotel is a five star hotel, this restaurant is a stain on their name. I ordered the 6oz fillet mignon, cooked medium rare. While the steak was cooked to the proper temperature, there was zero flavor whatsoever. Based on the taste, there was zero seasoning added. The puréed (mashed) potatoes were good, but the asparagus was blandly colored a faint green and similarly lacking in flavor as the steak. As if that weren’t enough, we were served DC tap water which is notoriously known for tasting “bleachy” and otherwise unappealing. It seems odd a restaurant in a 5 star hotel wouldn’t have filtered water. Additionally, I ordered an old fashioned (a basic drink for any bartender) that was served with unmuddled cherries and an half of an orange wheel (which should’ve been an orange zest), and I’m quite certain, based on taste, that there was no orange bitters in it. It was as if the bartender poured a whiskey on the rocks and threw in a couple of maraschino cherries and half orange wedge after the fact, and it tasted basically like straight whiskey. Another in our party ordered a whiskey sour and was equally disappointed with the quality of the drink. I’ve had better cocktails at a dive bar with rail liquor. Adding to the ensemble of disappointment was seeing the chicken option others in our party ordered, which looked more the size of a Cornish hen than that of a full sized chicken and, per the report of all who had it, was equally lacking in flavor and was overcooked and dry. Two in our party ordered different entrees with which they were equally disappointed for reasons of no flavor and dryness. Lastly, the wait staff seemed largely ill trained to serve in a quality restaurant (which is more understandable now that I see the quality of the restaurant). At one point, I was sandwiched between two servers who were reaching past me simultaneously to serve entrees, leaving me no choice but to move back my chair to prevent from having both of their ribs pressed against my face. This is not an exaggeration. One of the servers, when I requested to see the cocktail menu, felt the need to tell me how much the drinks cost without being asked for this information. In my experience, this is considered rude and unprofessional as the prices are clearly already listed. Under no circumstances will I EVER eat at this restaurant again. The general manager should be promptly replaced, and the head chef should consider a job at the local Golden Corral or Denny’s where the quality of the food that was served to my party most closely resembles. The Mandarin Oriental Hotel should be ashamed of this mockery of a restaurant. In fairness, the desserts, the crab dip, and the charcuterie board were quite good, and the ham sliders were not bad either. However, not good enough to see me to return.

A beautiful location with food and service that was not competitive with other DC restaurants. Our steak was well cooked but everything else seemed frozen. Our waiter was out of it, awkward and inattentive. We had nothing but water on our table for the first forty minutes and there was barely any other guests. I was hoping for a special night out but was sorely disappointed.

I’m not sure if the low reviews went to the same restaurant I did. I’ve been to Amity and Commerce several times and enjoyed every experience. Their French onion soup is the best I’ve ever had. Their steak frites is one of the best deals in the city for the quality. Their nightly specials and bread service are all spectacular. The servers are always warm, welcoming, and accommodating.

Not suitable for important meetings. It's an ordinary cafeteria befitting an ordinary business hotel. Does not deserve the Mandarin name. The best I can say is there were few other customers.

Very good food at reasonable prices in a nice pleasant room. Good service. Recommended.

Inside the Mandarin Oriental Washington DC. Lovely greeting at the doorway. Slow recognition after being seated, but the busboy made up for it THE RROOM was light and airy sparsely yet elegantly decorated. The seating was comfortable as was the room temperature. An overall pleasant room. BREAKFAST: Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon. They presented well on the plate, but the eggs were barrly waned through. For that price, I discretely sent the dish back. FOLLOWING a Very gracious and sincere apology, a new dish was returned to me was delicious.

Came for a fancy breakfast buffet since it's in the upscale Mandarin Oriental Hotel but found the ambience and food underwhelming for $35/ppl. Nothing was bad but nothing felt special either so fine for a convenience for hotel guests and not so much as a destination.