Unlike most people that go to Sax, I actually had very low expectations. I expected everything to be over-the-top, trying too hard, gaudy, poor yet expensive food and tacky dancing. What I got was a luxurious interior that wasn't disgusting, tried just hard enough, was semi-tasteful, better than average food and entertaining dancing. The setup as you enter the restaurant is a very beautiful entryway and hostess stand. The amount of gold used in this place is more than anywhere else in the city. Everything is intentionally made to look expensive with nothing spared. The stage is actually set above the bar and encased in glass so it has the feeling almost like you are watching TV instead of a stage. The dining room is darkly lit and extremely sexy.
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| View of the stage at Sax |
It's the kind of place you take someone when you want them to be impressed by how much money you are spending. Will it ever be a Washingtonian top 10 restaurant? No. You are going there primarily to say you've gone and to tell people just how bling everything is. Many of you are probably wondering about the entertainment. Every 20 minutes or so the stage would light up and 2-4 dancers would dance. It was always a decent show but perhaps not necessarily a sexy cabaret show. Still, I enjoy being entertained while I eat and that's an uncommon experience in this city. I appreciate what they are trying to do here.
The food was good but nothing blew me away given the prices they are charging. It's also hard for the food to top the ambience and that might work against what was actually a pretty decent meal. I will mention that anyone that pays full price for food at Sax is a fool. If you are there for the food, try a weeknight when they offer special discounts on their tasting menu. If you are there for the ambience and to drink on a weekend, eat before you show up and party it up.
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| Lobster sliders with seafood bisque |
The dinner started out with an Amuse Bouche that I cannot recall and then was followed by Wagyu Beef Tartar and YellowFin Tuna Tartar. Both were very good but nothing remarkable to report. The Tuna tartar was a very large amount of raw fish but the presentation was completely uninspired. But as I love raw fish, Sax was forgiven for the sheer quantity of tuna.
Next came a seafood bisque and Lobster sliders. Again, both were what I would expect from a nice restaurant but not more than that.
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| A very average Beef Short rib |
For mains, we decided to get the Short Ribs and the Crab Cake. I must preface what I write by admitting that I am a huge crab cake snob. Having grown up in Maryland, I've had MANY crab cakes and obviously, the only good way to make it is Maryland style. Sax's crab cake was dry, boring and had a little too much filler in it. It's just a total turn-off eating an average crab cake.
The short ribs were ok. I guess the memory of Citronelle's 72 hour hour short ribs was still in my head and that's not really a fair comparison to two completely different dishes. But as you can see by the photo, it didn't even look very appetizing. I wouldn't order either main again.
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| More mediocrity with the mains. An average crabcake. |
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| Good recovery with the chocolate cake! |
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| I love apple pastry for dessert. |
For dessert we tried the Sax Chocolate cake and the apple tart. Both were pretty good. A decent apple tart is such an easy win for me. Unless it is too sweet somehow or soggy, I'm always happy by my last bite. The chocolate cake was very rich and if you are a chocolate lover, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
Sax is what it is trying to be. The sexiest location in town for dinner and drinks. We should all consider ourselves lucky that the food is decent too, as we drop 200+ dollars trying to impress a date.
Rating - 4 out of 5 Stars.
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