Passage to India is the only stand-alone Bethesda restaurant that made Washingtonian’s annual ranking of the “100 Very Best Restaurants” in the Washington area, released last week. The Cordell Avenue eatery, which features cuisine from four regions of India, was ranked No. 51.
Six other Montgomery County restaurants made the cut. They are Thai Taste by Kob in Wheaton (No. 25), Ruan Thai in Wheaton (No. 49), La Limena in Rockville (No. 65), Sushiko in Chevy Chase (No. 85), Republic in Takoma Park (No. 87) and Cava Mezze in Rockville (No. 89).
Jaleo, which has a location in Bethesda, and Brasserie Beck, newly opened in Gaithersburg, also were chosen, but the magazine listed their original D.C. locations first.
Thai Taste by Kob, Sushiko and Republic were new to the list this year. Three area restaurants that were listed last year didn’t make the new list: Black’s Bar & Kitchen and Food Wine & Co. in Bethesda, and 8407 Kitchen Bar in Silver Spring.
In October, Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema didn’t include any Bethesda eateries (or any in Montgomery County, for that matter) in the ranking of his favorite 37 Washington-area restaurants.
Soon after, Washingtonian critic Todd Kliman opined that the Bethesda restaurant scene is “thoroughly mediocre.” In a blog post, Kliman wrote that Bethesda “counts more than 200 restaurants, none of them great, and at most three or four that you might actually consider for a good meal out with friends.“
Kliman was among four Washingtonian writers who selected the magazine’s top 100 restaurants.