Againn does most everything right, which is more than one can ask for during Restaurant Week.

The food is impeccable, the atmosphere bright and cheerful during the day and mysterious and romantic at night, the service (as it is anywhere during this time of culinary overexcitement) can be spotty.

But hey!  It’s Restaurant Week, anything goes.  When you can get three three-star courses for $20.11, it doesn’t do to be overly critical.

My strategy for Restaurant Week is to go for lunch–the food is just as good as dinner, it’s much cheaper than the $35.10 dinner, and having a three course lunch just makes your day way better than a three course dinner ever could.

At Againn, a self-described gastropub, the first course menu is light–soup or salad, both excellent.  For the main course, I recommend the perfectly light fish and chips, fresh fish freshly fried with hand cut fries and mushy peas (mushy peas!), and the house-made corned beef, so fresh that the grease dripping off the beef catches the light and forms a rainbow.  Don’t believe me?  You should probably go see for yourself.

For dessert, which really, the British do extremely well, the sticky toffee pudding was eaten almost before I knew what was happening.  The banoffee pie is served in a jar, making you wish you’d brought your own baby spatula with which to get all the remaining deliciousness in the bottom before the waiter comes back.

Of course, if you go to dinner, you have more options.  Lunchtime diners do not have the pan seared salmon or Tamworth pork belly on their menu.  The choice is yours of course, lunch or dinner.  The customer is always right.

Restaurant Week runs through January 23, but some restaurants (like this one) will keep the specials running even longer.  Againn can be found at the corner of New York and 11th, NW.