Contributor Review By Chas Hausheer: Just Two Persons’ Opinion About Againn Tavern

Photo from Againn Tavern website

Chas Hausheer visited the new Againn Tavern with his wife, Sheila Sweeney, and sent along a Contributor’s Review. Againn has a popular location in Washington, DC and describes itself as a contemporary British Isles Bistro with extensive single-malt Scotch, whiskey, and beer selections. Againn is pronounced “a-g-uin” from the gaelic “at us” or “with us”.

Againn Tavern has moved into and opened up in the former Houstons property on The Pike. Being big fans of the previous occupant, curiosity tinged with high expectations - oh and hunger - drew the wife and me to try them out for a recent Saturday lunch.

For those who were familiar with Houstons the first thing you will become aware of is that the décor has been changed a bit; brighter lighting and a bit more of an open feel are the first things you will notice. Shutters have been removed from the floor to ceiling windows in the front dining area and the fully functional open flame gas sconces have been relegated to the bar only. I saw nothing different in there but I did notice later that their web site offers rental of personal scotch lockers. I’m betting they smell a whole lot better than my gym locker.

Price wise, they are definitely as upscale as Houstons if not a little more so but with a brand new menu. They call it comfort food with a strong organic bent and stress locally produced produce. Good for our local growers and green in every sense the word is used today. Again for Houstons’ fans there is still a spinach and artichoke dip. It is on our “to do list” for our next visit.

We enjoyed a very fine lunch and dessert with top notch service. Granted they were not very busy at the time but our drinks were refreshed without prompting – a sign that your wait person is not forgetting you and just what I like.

We both had the day’s specials – me a delightful chicken sandwich on a cibatta roll. The wife had a poached tuna sandwich garnished with hardboiled egg slices and some kind of mayonnaise mix. Both came with small salads of mixed field greens. She also had a side of a delicious cold tomato and basil soup. The table bread was tasty and hearty; may have been some kind of multi grain. Our portions were generous and though neither of us has a refined palate (although she reads Bon Appétit) we found ourselves doing the full mouth smile and nod at each other with our first tastes. For dessert we shared what is called Eton Mess. It was lemon curd, berries and some small pieces of meringue. As yummy as it was the being served in a canning type jar, albeit it quaint did make getting the last little sweet morsel a bit difficult. Not to fear we did mange though; ‘will and way’ you know.

We had a very genial chat with the general manager Marciel Vizcarra. She is attempting to adjust things to the more family centered Rockville clientele. Towards this end a limited children’s menu has been added along with some kiddy distracting place mat games and crayons. I did get a kick that the coloring page for the children we saw is Magritte’s “The Son of Man”.

Being from a family that tends to dine in a larger troupe one new wrinkle is bound to please similar groups, that is, Againn does take reservations. As much as we loved Houstons I feel we will most definitely return again to Againn.

Their web site is AgainnTavern.com and they are open for lunch and dinner seven days a week from 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM. Note they do plan to open for brunch in the near future. The full address is 12256 Rockville Pike and their phone number is 301-230-9260.

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