MICHELIN Guide’s Point Of View

Tucked into DC’s hip Shaw neighborhood, this charmer is low-lit and cozy by evening, with Sunday brunch offering a brighter ambience care of jumbo windows and an outdoor patio. Dishes are a mash-up of ingredients from around the world, tied together with an East Asian slant—a vision deftly translated by a kitchen skilled enough to weave disparate ingredients into a fun, cohesive menu. The shareable plates are divided into simple categories: vegetables, breads, fish and meat. Crispy tofu arrives perfectly creamy in the center, topped with a shiitake mushroom sauce and Sichuan pepper; while succulent cuttlefish bokkeum is stir-fried with pickled green onion, charred scallion and spirals of carrots, then laced with a Korean red pepper glaze.