Honeysuckle Vs. Del Campo: Restaurant Week Edition

Restaurant week in DC was last week and if you’re not familiar with the concept restaurants put together preset menus at fixed prices. Brunch and lunch are $ 22, while dinner is $35 for three courses. Restaurant week is the perfect opportunity to try a pricey restaurant at a discounted price, and as such, I made use of the opportunity and had dinner at Honeysuckle and Del Campo over the weekend. Del Campo is a Peruvian Steakhouse, and Honeysuckle cuisine is described as southern with Icelandic flare. Granted they’re in two different wheelhouses but taste is taste and hence a comparison can be made.

(Entrance of Honeysuckle)

Location and Parking: Honeysuckle is located in Dupont Circle where the majority of the DC nightlife is, so street parking is horrendous. Luckily they do offer valet parking for $10. Del Campo is located in the China Town area and a variety of garages are available close by, but I was able to find street parking.

(cured Scottish ocean trout)

Ambiance: I was beyond excited to try Honeysuckle because the aesthetic is literally everything I love in one place. Immediately as you enter the restaurant, you’re greeted with vibrant tattoo artwork, and in the central dining area, the same artwork is displayed on the ceiling, which makes the room pop. Unfortunately, the ambiance was the best aspect of my dining experience. The ambiance at Del Campo was also nice with a chandelier in every room, but it wasn’t as modern as Honeysuckle, but it doesn’t take away from the dining experience.

(Crisp pork trotter)

Food and Experience: As I stated before the ambiance was the best part of my experience visiting Honeysuckle since I was underwhelmed by each dish except for the coconut-skyr pudding, which was dessert. For the appetizer, I apparently had selective reading and ordered the cured Scottish ocean trout not realizing that the trout was mostly raw. I will say that Honeysuckle had excellent customer service because once I made it clear that I didn’t know the trout was going to be raw, the waitress gave me the option to order something else. For appetizers, both my sister and I got the crisp pork trotter, which lacked flavor. For my entrée, I got the crisp duck leg confit, which tasted gamey. This was my first time trying duck, so maybe it was supposed to taste gamey, but I doubt it. My sister had the dry aged pork chop, which tasted horrible. Nether less, to say after one bite of both of our entrees we were ready for dessert. Desert was the best part of the meal, but that is not saying much. I got the butterscotch mousse, which essentially was just decoration and my sister got the coconut-skyr pudding which was good.

(Peruvian chicken + yuca)

Naturally, I was apprehensive about my upcoming dinner at Del Campo, since I took a major L at Honeysuckle, but Del Campo didn’t disappoint, and each dish was delicious. Del Campo is one of the better restaurant week deals since steakhouses can be expensive and the taste and portion sizes were excellent.

(grilled short rib, chorizo and bone marrow)

I started the night off with the beef empanadas that were accompanied by a delicious chimichurri sauce. For the entrée, I got the grilled short rib, chorizo and bone marrow. Everything on the plate was amazing, and the green sauce gave the rib just the right amount of spice. My friend got the Peruvian chicken with yuca, and that was also pretty good. For dessert, I got the tres leches twinkies that were accompanied with passion fruit sorbet, and my friend got the carrot cake. I was slightly disappointed that the Twinkies didn’t have any cream fillings, but it was still good. My friend enjoyed her carrot cake, but I am not a fan of carrot cake, so I didn’t try it.

(Tres leches twinkies )

Overall Winner : *Drum roll please * The overall winner of Restaurant Wars, Restaurant Week edition was Del Campo. All the dishes were delicious, and I would go back for dinner. As I stated before, Del Campo is one of the better restaurant week deals.I would highly recommend trying it during summer restaurant week since you would get three courses for $35.