Fried spinach appetizer with tamarind sauce, tomatoes, onions. This is one of their most famous dishes. at Rasika in Washington
Eggplant appetizer with spiced mashed potatoes in the middle and nuts on top. at Rasika in Washington
Vegan sorbet for dessert -- last course of the tasting menu. at Rasika in Washington

  • Rasika
    (10)
    8
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  • White Veg-options
Lacto
Indian
Take-out
Non-veg

Serves meat, vegan options available. Modern Indian cuisine with vegetarian menu section, many dishes can be made vegan upon request.

Venue map for Rasika
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10 Reviews

First Review by mesr

Avatar RitvikaSharma

RitvikaSharma

Points +147

Vegetarian
25 Jul 2024

Loved server's recommendations

I have been to two Rasika restaurants in DC. I tried the pre fix menu at one and liked it. Vibe was great. It is kind of a fine dining and inventive food experience. At the second one, I ordered server's recommended dishes and loved it. They were all delicious. The second experience was way above the 1st one and the 4 stars are for this experience.

at Rasika in Washington

at Rasika in Washington

at Rasika in Washington

at Rasika in Washington

at Rasika in Washington

Avatar RobJ1970

RobJ1970

Points +13

Vegetarian
25 Jun 2023

Outrageously expensive tasteless Indian food with rude management staff (Atul Narain is mean and rude to customers)

Worst indian restaurant in DC, way overpriced non-tasty Indian food with rude staff! Especially their Restaurant Manager Atul Narain leads the pack with rude comments and slurs hurled towards dissatisfied customers!

PLEAEE AVOID going to Rasika at all costs as there are other much nicer and tastier (and more cheaper + authentic) Indian food options in DC - just search HappyCow!

Pros: None, Really Nothing, Great location

Cons: Atul Narain, Rudest Management & Staff, Worst Indian food ever

Avatar JeffVG100

JeffVG100

Points +88

Vegan
13 Apr 2023

Delicious

Rasika has been one of our favorite restaurants in DC for several years. They don’t have a huge selection of vegan dishes but the ones they offer are delicious. Great atmosphere and professional service.

Avatar MyleneRozendaal

MyleneRozendaal

Points +58

Vegan
19 Aug 2022

Voted best Indian in DC?

I would like to start with something positive. The restaurant has a lovely setting and ambiance. The wine selection is small but good. My non vegan friends seemed pleased with their meals. On to the points that were lacking. For starters nothing is labeled. Indian restaurants generally are good for vegan diners with lots of “naturally vegan options” that do not need to be veganized. Everything I tried was oily, starchy, overcooked and very heavy. No fresh vegetables in sight. If it is my choice, I would not go back. If I am dining with friends and this is where they would like to go, I probably would eat before I go.

Avatar flamekat

flamekat

Points +397

Vegan
31 Dec 2021

Best Indian in DC

I love Rasika. It seems to be hit or miss with people, but my Indian friends all say it's the best and I agree. I think the key thing to consider is that this is elevated Indian food, so it's going to be different from what you get in a typical curry house. For example, the last time I went I had sweet potato samosas with cranberry chutney. It was amazing! But yeah, the portions were small. Think Indian fine dining. Everything I had that night except for the dahl matched it, but I'm still dreaming of those samosas.

They have indoor and outdoor seating, and the service is usually great. I've heard VEGZ is also good, and will check it out, but until then Rasika remains the only place I've found decent Indian in DC.

Pros: excellent food, nice vibe, authentic

Cons: smallish portions, expensive (but not overpriced)

Avatar Laurenveronica7

Laurenveronica7

Points +1592

Vegan
07 Mar 2021

Fab cocktails

Only went for drinks, but the atmosphere and drinks were divine. Got an assortment of papadum as well which was lovely, sauces were tasty too. Service was friendly, fast, and seemed very safe.

Avatar KelseyCoulter

KelseyCoulter

Points +150

Vegan
27 Feb 2021

Underwhelming

My boyfriend and I were eager to try this restaurant after hearing lots of good things about it. We loved the vegan eggplant appetizer but unfortunately not much else. The vegan options for dinner were not impressive, especially for the price of the food. However, service was very good and our waiter was able to explain the vegan options.

Pros: Several vegan options , Good service

Cons: Expensive , Underwhelming taste of dishes

Avatar sglcklch

sglcklch

Points +3065

Vegan
11 Nov 2018

Wish I had eaten somewhere else

We came here for dinner because we just flew in, it was cold and rainy, and this place was close to our hotel. It turned out to be a complete dud.

First of all, the entire menu only had four vegan options. All other vegetarian dishes were premade with some form of dairy in it. Frankly I had never been to an Indian restaurant so rigidly vegan-unfriendly.

Second of all, the food just wasn’t any good or authentic. We ordered the gobi matar, the mushroom curry, rice (more on that later), and an order of roti. I’d say the most authentic thing was probably the . The curries tasted very bland, mild, and dumbed-down. The mushroom curry even had green onions in it, which I had never ever come across before in Indian food. Good roti should come out fresh and hot but soft and pliable; what we got was stiff, hard, a little burned and crusty.

Lastly, it was very much overpriced for both the quality and quantity. Portions were on the small side. Basmati rice coming with curries is pretty much standard, but here you have to pay an extra $3 for a small bowl of it. I wouldn’t have minded paying even more for the saffron rice had there not been butter already mixed in. Our bill came to around $40 plus tip and we were still hungry after it was over. Good thing Whole Foods was close by; I went there after to get something from the salad bar.

I love Indian food, so I always seek it out wherever I travel. I also follow recipes and try to cook it at home. After all these years I can confidently tell between good and bad. This place is bad. That so few other diners were Indians and most front staff were non-Indians should’ve been the clues.

Cons: Bad value, Inauthentic food, Very few vegan options

Avatar JJones315

JJones315

Points +2192

Herbivore
30 Sep 2018

Fabulous Indian dining

Veg/vegan friendly, find dining, Indian restaurant. Wonderfully spiced Indian cuisine. Professional staff. Not a specifically veg/vegan menu, but the staff is very helpful and those dishes that are veg/vegan are soooo worth the hunt. Great wine list as well.

Pros: Veg/vegan friendly, Excellent food, Upscale dining experience

Avatar mesr

mesr

Points +156

Vegan
30 Jun 2018

Fabulous Veg Tasting Menu

Rasika is perfect for a fancy night out. Although they have an extensive veggie section of the menu, I elected to try the tasting menu because I wanted to try as many of the dishes as possible. In addition to an omnivore tasting menu, Rasika has a vegetarian tasting menu that can easily be made vegan. Unlike some restaurants where the veggie options feel like they're not given as much attention as the meat options, Rasika is a place where you can go as a group of mixed diners and feel totally satisfied that what you are getting as part of your tasting menu is of equal quality (if not better) than your meat-eating companions (for $10 less!). My meat-eating husband got the regular tasting menu, and I felt that my meal was totally on par with his.

From the menu, it appears that the tasting menu is four courses, but it actually ends up being quite a bit more food than that. I mentioned to our server that I am vegan, and then the vegan-friendly food just started arriving. First there was a samosa, then a fried spinach appetizer, and then a third appetizer which was like a little tower of eggplant slices with mashed potatoes in the middle. For the "main course," I got four silver pots full of different Indian dishes, plus rice, okra, and bread (separate vegan bread was brought for me without me having to ask). As if that weren't way too much food, the dinner finished off with three scoops of delicious sorbet. This was truly an extravagant, decadent dinner. I loved how the staff were familiar with vegan diets; they must see a lot of vegan customers. In fact, I overheard one of the diners at the table next to ours discussing with his dining companions that he was vegan.

Pros: Fine dining that is vegan friendly, Creative dishes, Delicious

Cons: Expensive, Requires reservations

Four individual pots of yum as part of the tasting menu. Not sure what the one on the left was. Second from the left is green beans, third from the left is cauliflower, and fourth from the left is eggplant. at Rasika in Washington

White rice and okra. This was the plate onto which I could scoop the main course dishes. at Rasika in Washington

Vegan sorbet for dessert -- last course of the tasting menu. at Rasika in Washington

Eggplant appetizer with spiced mashed potatoes in the middle and nuts on top. at Rasika in Washington

Fried spinach appetizer with tamarind sauce, tomatoes, onions. This is one of their most famous dishes. at Rasika in Washington +1

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