Helen's

Since I've made my second visit to Helen's, albeit after a period of about a year, I thought I should write a bit about this place...chalk one up for another somewhat unremarkable dinner. I have read so many glowing reviews of Helen's but I am now beginning to doubt myself after being a bit unsatisfied again.
It was not that the experience was flawed (although our clothes smelled of "kitchen smoke" for some time after - aside: wonder what the term is for the smell that seems to emanate from some kitchens that just clings to you.. :))??.... or that the food was bad. I had a fairly dull salad and a decent soup on two occasions but that was followed by some excellent pork tenderloins with sweet potatoes the one time and the (not so excellent) shrimp and grits another time (this dish, both my companion and I thought had a rancid aftertaste to it that shouldnt have been there). But it was still ok. The pork was, I must say, perfectly done and excellent with the sides. The service was friendly and the confines dimly lit (interchangeably with romantic) enough. It was rather empty for dinner on a Friday night. This was well before the arrival of the late night crowd, but thats a different story.

Not to belabor it but the bottomline is that the food in Helen's is pretty decent, but if there is a choice, its no different from any of around a dozen or so Richmond restaurants that offer very similar offerings at the same price point.

At the risk of being boringly repetitive, I thought this restaurant was again on the pricier side. One dinner for two with a shared appetizer, an entree each and no dessert and one drink came to $90 (w/ t&t) !! This should be the subject of another rant but there appears to be this set of restaurants in RVA. They all have fairly decent to good food, although extremely generic and often rather unimaginative (tartare or seared scallops or panna cotta?). The menus are basically interchangeable and the dinners end up around $80-$120 for two, which I consider pricey. I bemoan the lack of a decent, non-chain place in the midrange.

In contrast, a visit the following weekend to one of my DC favorites - Zaytinya; we had a perfectly fabulous dinner with (yes, not a direct comparison) a bunch of shared mezze and dessert and a drink each for around $70 (w/ t&t). I generally rave about all Jose Andres' restaurants but there is something to be said about a nice ambience, creative, well presented food that tastes great and an experience that leaves the palate satisfied, a full stomach and a wallet not so empty !!