AE, CB, MC, V. Reservations suggested. Parking lot. Full bar service. Full bar service. Street parking. And diners are ordering more lightly. Main courses, too, are good, particularly the liver with sage or any veal dish. L daily ex Sat, D daily. With salad or quiche and pastry, a shopping break for under $10 is worth adding to your list. Donatos Pizza. AE, D, MC, V. Reservations suggested. AE, V. Reservations required. But try the tuna, abalone, salmon roe, all the usual sushi, and be sure to have some rich unctuous eel, with beer to quench the green horseradish fire and a mug of pale gree tea to finish. No wonder. Then match the nearly two dozen main dishes -- Cornish hen with ginger, lemon, coriander and cognac; shrimp with yogurt and coconut; beef with nuts and cream; and, of course, the fish -- with puffed or grilled breads, chutneys made with fresh herbs, vegetable side dishes, to concoct a highly personal Indian feast. Charlies Georgetown 3223 K St. NW. Seafood dishes are the most intriguing; crystal shrimp are soaked in ice water to crisp them, then cooked just until translucent. L, D daily. The service is dignified. L, D $2.95-$4.959 L, D daily. L $3.75-$5.50, D $3.75-$12.50. Open daily. Closed Mon. Don't expect anything fancy, just lots of straightforward food in a heavy fog of garlic, lemon and oregano to remind you of the Mediterranean. The menu is a parade of Americana: liverwurst, ham and cheese, pork chop sandwiches, fried chicken, Salisbury steak. Open daily. Full bar service. U Street Corridor. Although the list of hors d'oeuvres is tempting, particularly the caviars with or without bliny, main dishes are more satisfactory, notably fish wrapped in pastry -- pate de sole Vladimir for one person, or kulebiaka for two people. Lamb has been badly trimmed and smothered in thick unsavory sauce. Samurai Sushiko 2309 Wisconsin Ave., NW. D.C. Space. In general, this is routine cooking with decorator touches, the highlights likely to be from the pastry table. Open daily. The menu overlaps with French but is largely Russian and Yugoslavian; its offerings range from earthy ground meat kebabs -- cevapcici -- and stuffed cabbage to sophisticated kulebiaka of salmon and veal Orloff. 337-7750. Several restaurateurs have talked lately about opening a grill restaurant specializing in charcoaled meats and fish, but while they talked, T. Gregory's did it, and did it exceedingly well. L $4.75-$8.95, : $6.25-$9.45. Company Inkwell serves food of very high caliber from a short menu, printed daily, of seasonal specials. L $2-$4.45, D $4.45-$10.95. Closed Sun. 948-1775. Full bar service. AE, MC, V. Reservations suggested.Parking in commercial lots. The California touch is evident -- and welcome -- in an antipasto pyramided with fine Italian ham and salami, sharp, aged provolone, plump anchovies and pungent little olives over a bed of crisp romaine, with cruets of oil and vinegar to dress it yourself. AE, CB, D, MC, V. Reservations suggested. Full bar service. AE, CC, MC, V. Reservations suggested. Arrangements of bamboo poles suggest huts and gardens. 463-6360. Parking in shopping center lot. AE, CB, D, MC, V. No reservations. Children's prices. Agreed. 9. Full bar service. Full bar service.Children's prices. Chesapeake Bay Seafood Houses Check local phone directories for locations. Parking lot. Full bar service. Mall parking.Full bar service. The menu lists 20 dishes, many of them similar to one another, and all with the large, pale fermented pancakes that serve as platters and silverware for Ethiopian dining. 277-7174. Children's prices. 234-6969. Few places on Capitol Hill, and fewer of Washington's Chinese restauurants, are so serene. AE, CB, D, MC, V. Reservations suggested. White bean salad or corn salad serve as side dishes to the side dishes. Harvey's 15201 Shady Grove Rd., Rockville. AE, CB, D, MC, V. Reservations suggested. But don't aim to dine at Old Angler's at the end of your canal walk or bicycle ride, because proper attire is required. Tall flutes of champagne with framboise dot the room as diners begin their ritual of hot rabbit pate, rare lamb or duck or venison, perhaps mousse-stuffed trout or baby salmon in puff pastry, the flaming orange souffle. L $3-$5, D $4.95-$10.50. D $6.50-$14.95. Full bar service. Closed Sat, Sun. AE, MC, V. Reservations required. Full bar service. Tiberio 1915 K St. NW. L $1.75-$4.15, D $3.50-$12.95. The chef bakes his own excellant Italian bread. With improvements in that arena and Szechuan's talent in playing with fire, this is Chinatown's best bet. The bar is stacked the Clyde's canned chili; even as it comes from the kitchen it is too sweet, decent but not star quality. Sandwiches L only $2.25, platters L and D $7-$19.75. Blaise Gherardi de Parata (1909-1978), a native of Corsica, had come to the United States in 1949 and opened Rive Gauche in 1956. 548-2255. L $2.85-$4.50, D $3.95-$8.50. washington, dc restaurants in the 1980s . The Prime Rib's specialty is self-explanatory, and it is excellent roast beef, tender and juicy and flavorful. L $3.25-$4.25, D $3.95-10.95. No smoking section. L daily ex Sun, D daily. The grand finale is, of all things, a German chocolate cake, probably the best in Washington. L $4.25-$8.95, D $8.95-$16.95. I know this is a needle in a haystack situation, but here goes.. Our chic private dining room offers an intimate experience with a view of our expansive wine cellar. L, D $3.95-$5.35. Parking lot in front. Full bar service. The Big Cheese has, at its best, stood still and raised its prices while more sophisticated newcomers are serving better at lower prices. And on lazy days little attention is paid to precise cutting or lively color. When one reviews the range of Washington restaurants every year, it is no surprise that the situation remains pretty stable -- a few get better and a few get worse, many open and just as many close. 331-9444. A dollop of cold spinach sparked with sesame seeds and soy sauce, a few fresh plump crab chunks marinated with cucumbers in vinegar, a small still life of not-fresh-enough sashimi and a five- or six-inch chunk of superb, unctuous eel with a sesame-lemon-dressed salad recently provided two people with an austere meal for nearly $30. L daily ex Sat, Sun, D daily. Long a favorite of mine for its refreshing, serene dining room and fresh, inventive food, the Big Cheese has expanded to a lush upstairs dining room full of exotic colorful fabrics and glorious watercolor prints and raised its prices while slipping in quality. L $4-$5, D $4-$7. The vegetables, served family style, are sometimes in hunks so large that diners have to cut them up in order to give everyone a share. In other words, this is a typical inexpensive ethnic restaurant, in this case Vietnamese and French. Particularly intriguing is camphor-and-tea-smoked duck, moist and meaty with no fat and with a crisp laquered skin, tasting of smoke and earthy herbs. L daily ex Sat, D daily. 451-9350. 290-9091. L $4.95-$8.95, D $7.95-$13.95. 1828 Columbia Rd. Location. II Nido 4712 Wisconsin Ave. NW 363-2672. Children's prices. Szechuan Inn 558 Benfield Village Shopping Center, Sevena Park, Md. Closed Sun. 965-1185. Vincenzo 1606 20th St., NW. How do you get to Mt. AE, CB, D, MC, V. Reservations suggested. The close seating makes a hectic environment, but both the room and service are colorful and attractive. Open daily. No credit cards. Parking in front and rear. I am trying to remember a restaurant my parents took me to on visits to Washington DC in my youth. Closed Sun. Los Planes de Renderos 908 11th St. NW. Full bar service. Beer and wine only. L daily ex Sat, D daily. The Eatery White Flint Mall, Bethesda. No alcholic beverages. From Duke Zeibert's to . Children's prices. MC, V. No reservations. The hamburgers and roast beef are generally fine, the salads vibrant, the homemake breads and pastries done with a flourish. BEFORE YOU POST A HOTEL REQUEST, PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY! Its culinary assets are highly peppered and faintly sweet cha gio (spring rolls) and crab farci, which is the same crab-pork filling in larger measure, without the rice-paper crust. L $3.25-$4.95, D $5.95-$9.50. No alcoholic beverages. Open daily. 638-2444. Street parking and nearby lot. View the menu for Dominique's and restaurants in Washington, DC. L $5.25-$8.50, D $8.95-$15. Full bar service. There are plenty of pictures online if you google, so you can see if they match your memories. AE, CB, D, MC, V. Reservations accepted. Chef Martino presents the cuisine from a new, mouthwatering perspective with innovative takes on fish and chips, shepherd's pie and chicken tikka masala (served with delicious mango chutney). Children's prices. The French UndergroundThe Gentry (Cap. L daily ex Sat, Sun, D daily. Reservations suggested. Open daily. Open daily. For dessert -- have something. No alcoholic beverages. 638-2260, Ext. By all means order murgh tandoori, the red-crusted tandoor-cooked chicken that shows this cooking to best advantage. Beer and wine only. Much of the food is the familiar pub level: large portions of fairly tasteless ingredients. $1.69 $1.99 . L $4.50-$9.75, D $4.25-$17.50. L $2.50-$7.95, D $6.95-$14.50. But the highlight of an evening at Dominique's might be the service, for the troop of young waiters and waitresses seem not only to know their job, but to enjoy it. L, D $5.50-$5. Soup at 75 cents -- sometimes good, sometimes not -- and a very good simple salad at the same price fill out a meal of mountainous portions of superlative chicken or shrimp salad, hash or omelets or chopped steak with irresistible homemade potato chips called Palm fries. At least there is always a creditable cold smoked chicken garnished with fresh fruits if nothing else tempts you. L $9.50-$10.95, D $11.95-$26. Court of the Mandarins 1824 M St. NW. Then, there are dishes like the duck, stringy and gravy-sodden, yet the highest priced on the menu. Portions are small, the better to present them as works of art. L daily ex Sat, Sun, D daily. Full bar service. Germaine's serves delicate portions, but stints not at all on quality. No-smoking section. It looks quintessentially Italian, with pristine white walls and tile floors, only a few small mirrors and colorful displays of antipasti and pastries. Prices are modest for hot daily specials and quiches, eggs and light entrees. 628-2330. Full bar service. 1621. Initials are of credit cards accepted. Beer and wine only. Capucine 1645 Wisconsin Ave. NW. AE, D, MC, V. Reservations accepted for dinner, accepted only for parties of 10 or more for lunch. Flickr/Lenka Reznicek. Valet parking. AE, CB, D, MV, V. Reservations required. Closed Sun. L, D daily. Black Rose 1101 17th St. NW. For many years the godfather of Washington's French restaurants, Rive Gauche has continued to maintain a glorious red and gold dining room with a well-oiled staff.