Enrique Limardo is at the moment one of the busiest chefs in DC, opening restaurants all around the city in the last several years. Imperfecto, where chef Enrique personally cooks the multi-course tasting menu himself at the degustation counter table on Friday and Saturday, is the crown jewel and absolutely a worthy destination to explore his Latin American-accented cooking at its best and other places that my wife Jun and I had been to like Seven Reasons and its Joy sister restaurant in Chevy Chase also had delicious dishes. This spring, chef Enrique went in a slightly different direction from his existing restaurants and decided to open a modern Spanish restaurant inside the Ritz-Carlton. Last month, we finally got to visit The Saga, and it was somewhat a challenging experience to quite pinpoint.

What would Spanish food with Latin American twist look like? The playful display of the dishes with chef Enrique’s touch immediately caught our attention at first. For its version of pan con tomate, The Saga has multiple layers of different kinds of tomatoes on top of house-made sourdough (you can also add jamon ibérico on top for extra charges). For “not traditional” patata brava, you get to try a deconstructed version with thin circular layers of potatoes over romesco sauce. The popular gambas al ajillo also gets a new Latin American treatment with gulf shrimps from Mexico and dried Calabrian peppers. The starter dishes Jun and I shared together were mostly solid, save for perhaps croquetas (one with cheese and another with cod instead) which I thought were surprisingly pedestrian. I just wish the restaurant brought these dishes one at a time instead of bringing them altogether; by the time we were more or less done with one dish and ready to move onto the next, the temperature of the latter was already past its optimal level. Perhaps a bit of a kink in the execution that the kitchen should fix going forward?

For the main dish, we shared arroz Amarillo with duck confit, which was a rather unusual food item (instead of, say, seafood or pork) for a Spanish rice dish, but turned out to the right choice. Jun was very appreciative of the rustic flavor of the duck confit that blended very nicely with baby radishes, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes as well as bomba rice. If there is one dish at The Saga you absolutely must order, the arroz Amarillo gets our vote of confidence. The desserts at The Saga could also use some work. The chocolate mousse with EVOO caviar was just OK, and we were surprised that the porcini churros with chocolate sauce on the side didn’t have quite the crispy texture we were expecting.

The Saga’s dining room is relatively spacious so you probably won’t have much trouble getting a table without advance reservations so long as you avoid prime time dinner (we went in for early dinner and by the time we were finished, the restaurant quickly filled up). The bright, upscale décor of the dining space makes the restaurant a good option for casual dinners with friends and family in a fun setting. The Spain-focused wine list is another strength at The Saga; unlike other Spanish restaurants that typically skew heavily toward Rioja, I was impressed with the breadth of the diverse regions in the country that the wine list covered. The Saga is a solid dining destination, but knowing what chef Enrique can do at his best, I couldn’t help escape the feeling that the restaurant wasn’t quite up to the high standard that he set at other restaurants. More importantly, it didn’t quite feel like an establishment with chef Enrique’s imprint all over it. Perhaps that is the limitation of a hotel restaurant and perhaps the chef wasn’t as involved in this project as his other flagship places. In any event, Jun and I will wait and see how The Saga evolves before we decide on another visit.    

KenScale: 7.5/10 (Jun’s Score: 7.75/10)

Address: 1190 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20037

Website: https://www.thesagadc.com/

Reservation via Tock