I finally had the opportunity to visit Policy for dinner the other night. Located at 1904 14th Street NW, it is a bit hard to find blending in with many of the other store fronts on the block. The decor is interesting, the main color theme is black, white and red. It has that sort of warehouse feeling and the way the booths are set up in the main room remind me of a dressed up diner. I think the idea behind it was good, I just personally don't know if it fits the space as well as it should.
The hostess was very nice and encouraged me to wait at the bar while I waited for the rest of my party. As often happens in DC, they were running late due to traffic so I had ample time to check out the bar and it's offerings from a bit of a distance. Why? Well, the bar area is a bit on the small side and it was packed.
They offer a lot of interesting beers, nice wine selections and several unique cocktails. I ordered the Hibiscus cocktail which is a combination of Hangar One Mandarin Blossom vodka, fresh hibiscus, prosecco, St. Germaine, and hibiscus grenadine. The first sip was a bit "surprising", lots of strong flavors going on, but as I continued to sip, it really was delicious! Once my party arrived, we immediately (post a cocktail each for the ladies) started to order. Our server by the way was also very courteous.
In the end, we ordered the following plates: Sweet chili glazed pork belly, Madras curry lamb sliders, crispy duck spring roll, yellowfin tuna tartare, roasted marinated olives, and the herbed gnocchi. So while I did not list it first, I must start with the tuna tartare. I will bring back the word "surprising. I use that word because I was surprised at how amazingly fresh the tuna was and the chef thoughtfully put some well placed wasabi in the center that did not overpower but wonderfully enhanced the dish. WONDERFUL!!! Another pleasant surprise were the olives. I was told they are brined in house and they were succulent. The curry lamb sliders were very well cooked and had just the right amount of fresh mint. The duck spring roll had a nice amount of duck and were crispy without being greasy. Note, while we all liked them, we were not huge fans of the dipping sauce.
The herbed gnocchi was another nicely prepared dish. My favorite part about it was the nice dollops of goat cheese. Be sure to scoop up a bit with each bite, it makes all the difference! Now, I come to my one real disappointment.......the sweet chili glazed pork belly. I will preface this by saying that apparently our order had been "given to another table" so they were trying to get one to us as quickly as possible but, it was overcooked and bland. It reminded me of the pork spare ribs that you can order as appetizers at many Chinese food takeout restaurants. The sprinkling of pork rinds would have been a lovely compliment but unfortunately they were also lack luster.
All in all, a nice dining experience with several very pleasantly surprising dishes and yummy cocktails.
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