Peyton Doyle
Okay - yes, yes and yes. Fascinating concept: pocket restaurant with standing room only, accommodating maybe 20ish people. The staff was super helpful and willing to engage. Food was so weird, but in the best way. Cocktails were delicious and the entire branding of the restaurant was spot on. Coat rack was a nightmare but easily overlooked considering everything else this place in the Line has to offer!
Ahmed Abdulmajeed
A must visit! I recommend getting a reservation a week earlier as this place has no walk ins. The food is delicious, standing and eating experience. I recommend going there with a couple of friends and sharing everything. We tried the chicken skin dumplings, and lots of other things, and they were delicious. Their drinks were refreshing.
Hakan Koymen
Super small space with an amazing menu. First off, you will stand the entire night and be right next to it her people. So, if you are unable to stand for an hour and a half or have problems with talking to your neighbor, this is not the place for you. If you do enjoy stepping out of your comfort zone you will be taken on a fantastic culinary journey. Everything we ate and drank was thoughtfully composed and presented. Service was excellent and we really enjoyed a casual meal amongst been friends we met. We will be back soon!
Christian Mai
Great Hidden Restaurant, I am sure you will find it. One pic as hint is attached. Atmosphere and Ambiance of Spoken English is neat, comfortable and elegant. The restaurant appears super clean. Servers are pleasant, communicative, efficient and knowledgeable. It is very small but still comfortable with tables to stand at and the kitchen in the same room. The food is nicely presented, taste was delicious and it is great to share dishes while standing and chatting all night.
Erica Magallon
This no-seats restaurant gives every diner a front-row view to all the cooking action. A very fun and effortless scene that delivers with such creatively rich bites. We enjoyed it! We somehow snagged seats on a Friday night, but I suspect we won’t be able to covet this nook of finger-licking dishes (seriously, forks are optional) to ourselves for long.
Rachel Rinkesmith
i came here with family and everyone loved it! you have to order a few of each thing so if you want to try the camembert with 6 ppl you need to get 3. It gets pricey fast. We decided to ball out to make the experience worth it and it didn’t disappoint. get the cheese, the pickles, and the duck! we asked for a sake recommendation and he let us do a 4 taste blind sample to help decide which one we liked most which was really cool. one billion stars!
Richard Ingebretsen
Great food and experience. I wasn't sure about standing at the table for the entire dinner, but the food is so good it's worth it. Great friendly service as well. Wear comfortable shoes and come hungry.
Michelle Ai
Food was delicious, and the atmosphere was really unique. Apparently they’re changing the concept soon. No more standing around for your meal, which made this experience really fun. The grilled skewers were all great. cold noodles, and duck were tasty.
Nina H
Creative dishes, great vibe, and outstanding service. Definitely coming back for the chicken skin dumplings!
Austin Graff
Spoken English is one of the most unique dining experiences in Washington, D.C. Located in an old church turned new lifestyle hotel, it's down a red hall just passed the lobby. You'll see it on your right. Walk down it, through the black curtain, and into an actual kitchen. There you will see two medium sized high tables with no chairs. This is where 30-40 people dine each night.
Most people have to come via reservations, but they do accept walk-ins if you are lucky enough to find a spot between reservations. Once "seated (remember: you stand the entire time)," the servers will walk you through their concept.
Inspired by the standing restaurants in Japan, DC chef Erik Bruner Yang asks patrons to slow down, put down your devices, and connect with the person across the table. They encourage that through bringing tasty Japanese food to your table.
For a restaurant that offers a unique experience, the prices are reasonable for DC. They offer several appetizers (I recommend the dumplings and mushrooms), craft cocktails (none are super sweet), and a small beer/wine list. My table ordered $7 cans of Founder's All-Day IPA and Dogfish Head's Sea Quench (a new favorite sour ale). For our main, we ordered the chicken served eight ways (skins, wings, thighs, skewers, and even chicken heart). We skipped the two desserts offered, but our server brought us each a delicious pistachio chocolate truffle with our bill (before that, another server brought us chicken broth compliments of the chef).
The service was great and the food good too. They pay attention to little touches like bringing us barley tea when we arrived and ending our experience with warm cloth towels to wash our hands (it felt so good and refreshing).
If you want a more unique experience, go to Spoken English.
An error has occurred! Please try again in a few minutes