Sensorium Review

Last week, I went to Sensorium, the pop-up restaurant in Navy Yard. Before I start my review, though, I’d like to post just two of the many reviews I read of the event/dining experience.

For example, this reviewer was able to get an early viewing of the experience, and had a great time. (The food they describe is not the food I had, though?).

Another reviewer posted pictures of the experience…(again, where was THAT food?)

So, as a side note: maybe I just attended an off night.

Let’s get into my review, though.  First, as a foodie, I was really excited to see what Sensorium was about and what it would be like.  I was lucky enough to get tickets through the Groupon deal, and I cannot express how truly lucky that was, as I would be devastated if I had paid the current, face value price tag of $150 dollars. (Seriously, guys…devastated.)

My roommate and I arrived promptly at the specified dinner time.  We entered the tent and were assigned a table, and luckily (again!) upgraded to the wine pairings.  We were then given a “summer sangria”, which actually one of the highlights of the meal.  Though, as my roommate smartly noted, it was more of a winter-spiced sangria than a summer sangria.  But either way, it was an interesting, sweet but spicy sangria that we both enjoyed while waiting for the show to start.

While waiting to be let into the dining area, we were approached by a performer, who asked us how we had heard of Sensorium, and wanted to know why we were there.  I replied that we like food (love food? obsessed with food? BLOG about food?) and we were met with a blank stare (seemed odd?).

Approximately 40 minutes later, we were let into the dining area.  We chose a seat and sat down.  We were then told by other diners that this was their table (huh? there is assigned seating?).  Confused, we went to one of the performers and asked what we should do and if there was assigned seating.  Without apologizing, we were told of our table color.

The first course was interesting.  I mean, everything started out so positively!  It was a kir royale liquid “grape” with pop rocks. We all ate this together, with the performers demonstrating the correct technique.

The next course was Salmon Tartare with dill.  It was decent, but the performance that accompanied it didn’t add much to the experience — simply, I was confused.  What about this tartare was cloud 9-ish?

Beet soup with goat cheese:  also decent, with just a little piece of goat cheese.  The performance made sense and was whimsical.

Pasta with pistachio brittle:  the brittle was too sweet, and with the salty pasta, it clashed.  This sweet-salty combination would come back later in the meal, and usually I like it (hello…frosting and pretzels), but something was just a bit off.  Maybe the pasta was too bland?

Pork belly-patadas bravas: I really liked the plating, and thought it was interesting and whimsical, but I think that we were eating pork and the fact everything is better if it is pork carried this course. Again, the performance didn’t add anything to this meal.  We were supposed to play with our food? Or just admire it?

Roasted tomatoes, asparagus and potatoes: again, not bad.  But nothing out of this world. I could have made this, and again, the performance didn’t add anything.

Chicken roulade with spagetti squash: my roommate had this one nailed. “Two words: hotel food”. It was incredibly disappointing.  Bland/buttery spaghettied squash and a little (I mean, LITTLE) piece of chicken.

Oyster: I was looking forward to this course.  It was an oyster with SWEET cream and a candied ginger.  I usually eat candied ginger just for fun…I made some homemade whipped cream last week…I go to Hank’s for oysters at least twice a week…but this combination was something I never hope to try again. The sweet cream with the brine and salt of the oyster just came apart in your mouth like oil and vinegar and just was an unpleasant experience.  However, this was the ONLY time that I thought they had an interesting performance piece with the course.

Eggplant tempura: it was fried eggplant with honey. It was fine. Nothing exciting.

Lemon pop: FINALLY, back to some molecular gastronomy! Thank YOU!

Cake:  I can’t even tell you what this cake was called because it tasted like a heavy piece of cornbread with some corn cream.

Overall, I thought the performances didn’t add anything to the food, and that the food was surprisingly uninteresting.  I would like to give kudos to the Chef for the idea and for the pockets of genius that were in the meal.  And the performers were friendly.  However, in my mind, it isn’t worth $150 dollars, as the food was not something that a) I’ll remember b) recommend to anyone else.  It was clear that they wanted us to tell our friends to come (a plea from the Chef, as well as performers)…so I’ll leave you with this bottom line:  my roommate was checking to see if she could get pizza delivered to our apartment after the show.