Nature’s Table Cafe

Disappointing food and experience. Interesting menu brought us in, but they were out of so many essential ingredients our choices were limited. What we got did not taste nearly as good as the menu suggested. Oh, and the bathroom was out of order. Too many other good places to eat at National Harbor. Skip this one.

Review written while in shop. The gelato was ok but I was surprised it was even partially frozen given how hot the temperature was inside. Even the staff scooping gelato was visibly suffering from high temps. As if sweating indoors was not enough, the cashier did not honor the check-​in offer which was a free small coffee. The cashier stated he is not concerned with Unilocal or ratings and that he only wants to provide good service. Wow, what an ironic statement. Since he doesn’t care, this one star rating won’t cause him to lose any sleep. That also means I won’t need to spend any of my hard earned money here either.

Maybe they’ve cleaned up their act because now and then I come here for for lunch and get a wrap and have had a consistently good experience. I’ve kept my eyes peeled for signs of neglect and poor hygiene but everything is spic and span and the employees fast and helpful. This is not fine dining — it’s healthy fast food.
Eating the Mediterranean wrap now and it is very good. A bit pricey for fast food but this is fresh and healthy and fast. A couple notches above subway and the price reflects that.
I haven’t tried their coffee or desserts.

I liked the food but the service was so bad that I will never come back. Unlike cheddars who the service sucks also but their food trumps everything.
If I’m in the area I may stop in again, but this just could’ve been a one time bad experience or just a bad staff that day. I still gave it 3 stars not to dog the place.
I have some friends that love this place so give it a try and see for yourself

Filthy restaurant, lackadaisical service and mediocre food earns a one star. Visited Nature’s Table this morning for breakfast. We were there when the restaurant opened. The floor was covered in crumbs, the tables had not been wiped down either. The unisex restroom was closed with a sign advising it was out of service. Our breakfast wraps featured lukewarm microwaved eggs and sausage.

This place is surprisingly good and normal priced for National Harbor standards.

Reviewing in real time!!!
Service: Slow, friendly but not exactly welcoming.
Ingredients: Subway-​esq; meat in bins.
Service cont.: Dude ringing me up is slow as molasses. I think he’s pondering the meaning of life.
Going to eats salad now. Stand by…
Eh, somehow they ran out of cucumbers and there was way too much cheese. Girlfriend, said her Thai wrap was weird. There was sticky rice in it.
This is your typical deli sandwich and salad spot with more options. Menu hints that items are on the healthier side. But nothing really impressed us, not even the food we ordered. I can only see myself coming back here after a run for some oatmeal or a smoothie.

Not sure what everyone else had a problem with but I’ve gone 4x in one week! The salads are yummie and always finding groupon deals to get one is even a better treat! The Gelato is rich and yummie.
Considering the area I get the $$$ but again if u get a groupon deal it’s worth the trip

The only reason this place doesn’t get five stars is because on Friday when we came here to get a sandwhich at around six o’clock the place was closed despite the hours posted and because the gelato was pretty over priced.
Now onto the good stuff!
They had an awesome deal via groupon for five sandwhiches/​wraps/​rice bowls and a rediculously low price. All of their items were very fresh and made with good quality ingredients. The buffalo wrap lacked a bit but the rest were awesome. Deff try the California Club, Avacado & Cucumber, Ultimate, Sesame Thai Rice Bowl and «No Bull» Burrito!

Gelato is Yummy
Service is not
That’s about it
Food 3
Service 1
Cleanliness 2

I have visited the National Harbor location exactly twice, and ordered the same thing: the caramel espresso milkshake. The first time, it was brilliant – rich, creamy, blended perfectly, nicely balanced. It was the perfect hot-​supper pick-​me-​up, which is why I ordered it again this past Saturday (July 9), somewhere around 7 or 8pm. A young lady in glasses prepared it for me. It was quite busy in your shop, which might explain why everyone behind the counter seemed frazzled. I was handed my drink, and I requested a cup of water since it was very hot out. She glared at me, filled my cup, shoved it at me, and moved on.
I wasn’t especially bothered by this treatment since it was quite busy in the shop, and I had made my request out of line. I hurried out so I would make it to my appointment, and when I started drinking it was clear that something was wrong – I got a strong sip of espresso and milk, lukewarm, no hint of gelato or caramel. It wasn’t until I began poking around that I discovered the problem: it appeared that all of the ingredients were unceremoniously dumped into the bottom of the cup, without any blending at all. I couldn’t finish the drink – coffee is not my favorite but I can tolerate it mixed with other things, and a straight shot of room-​temperature espresso with milk was disturbing. Trying to swirl things around with my straw didn’t do much, and drinking from the bottom I got a hefty shot of straight caramel – sickeningly, overly sweet. I couldn’t get any gelato using the straw.

Awesome gelato. haven’t had anything else but the two times i’ve been there i’ve been happy with the gelato.

Do not take the 3 stars as a sign that I did not like it. It is just more of an indication that 5 stars is not a good rating system!
This review is just based on their coffee.
We had already tried one place in the National harbor center the day before for coffee and the coffee at the other place was like water! Here it was nice and strong! They must have changed employees since the previous reviews because the employees were all pleasant. I did not try the Gelato but the coffee was good. The décor is cute and we will go again if ever in the area again! None of the employees were Italian so it is more of a theme café than an actual Italian Café. But it is a very nice and cute shop!

Had the banana-​walnut gelato. My friend tried the chocolate and coffee gelatos. Tasty but nothing extraordinary.

My hubby and I needed a little snack before the movie on the waterfront, and Aromi d’Italia caught our eyes immediately. Cute little gelateria with the sweet stuff in addition to pizza and café items. Score.
Sadly, they were out of pizza for the evening so we opted for a grilled cheese sandwich with ham and a sundried tomato paste. The amount of cheese was lacking, although the ham carried a great flavor and the sundried tomato paste was a nice touch — different from a regular grilled cheese. It was grilled to perfection.
The chocolate gelato we ate was nice in texture — creamy and thick, with an ample serving (single scoop around $ 4 or $ 5, pretty run-​of-​the-​mill pricing). While the chocolate was good, it had a bit of a smokey flavor which was not at all what we were expecting. Not super sweet, and not the best I’ve ever had (but certainly not bad).
Worth a visit if you happen to be in the NH area.

This review is only based on my experience with the Gelato.
I walked in and saw a variety of colors and flavors — yum. They had a large variety of unique flavors which was very nice. They are nice in that they let you sample any flavor available. Although, a lot of the flavors looked like they had been sitting for too long and neglected. I decided to give the pomegranate a try being one of my favorite gelato flavors of all time. Oh disappointment. It was more sweeter than actual fruit flavor. Almost like there was a large amount of sweetener in it. EH
Didn’t float my boat. I don’t know if I will return, however if I do… I will be trying a COMPLETELY different flavor.

Stopped in while we came to see a movie on the waterfront. For some odd reason, this May weather was freezing freakin cold with a wind storm and my dumbass warned everyone to dress warm and I didn’t do so myself. A sweater wouldn’t cut it that night. Anyhow, we search frantically for some hot chocolate in National Harbor. Mayorga coffee was too far for the cold walk, plus we didn’t want to miss out on the movie. One of the security guards riding his Super Segway recommended this place.
Score. They had hot chocolate.
So why the 1 flippin star? The employees here suck. Yeah, I said it, you guys suck. Why? Because I stood there, with only one other customer in the damn store… and it took them ten f*cking minutes to make me some goddamn hot chocolate. Plus I asked the lady if I could maybe have a spare cup, a cheap one, whatever, just a small one that can hold a little bit of the hot chocolate… she wanted to hand me a thin flimsy plastic one, that any barista should know would f*cking melt in my hand.
In addition, my hot chocolate took 3 f*cking employees to make it. THREE. I know right? THREE GROWN ASS ADULTS to make ONE hot chocolate. They’re f*cking idiots here. One grabbed the cup, the next put the powder in it, then asked the third one how to make it, the third one took another 8 minutes to put hot water in it. And you would assume with their crafty «assembly line,» my hot chocolate would have been done sooner. I was twitching so badly to just hop back there, add hot water, stir it, then leave.
They’re pretty crappy multi-​taskers too. All while trying to make my hot chocolate, they tried to keep a conversation going between them, while one pulled out her phone and was sharing texts with the other two employees. Don’t f*cking waste my goddamn time if you guys don’t wanna do your job and get me out of there sooner. I could care less about what Joe texted you last night, and how much you can’t believe he told you were terrible in bed. I’m half kidding.
In end result, for nearly $ 4 for a hot chocolate, I thought my hot chocolate would be superb, unique, fast and professional – at least comparable to a respectable coffee shop. I mean really, who the hell do you think you are to charge $ 4 for hot chocolate? I’ve never even heard of you before. I’m only kidding again.
So I’m kind of a grudge-​holding-​person, especially with a bad experience with full grown idiots. Maybe one day, when I’m desperate as I was that day at National Harbor, maybe we’ll try their gelato. I love gelato. I hate the service here though, and for that reason, its hard for me to even think about going back again… no matter how tasty their gelato was. Sorry Aromi d’Italia Gelateria & Café, but your employees were more interested in their personal lives than serving your customers. Terrible first impression, showing me its not professional. It looks like a nice place, but until you can set your employees straight to just do their damn job and stop messing around, I doubt we’ll be back. Inconsiderate employees… grrr…

I start this review by saying that, after you have had legit gelato in Italy, pretty much everything else pales in comparison. So, having that standard to hold this sampling up to, I am confident enough to give it 4 stars. It was mega hot out yesterday (I give it a 4 out of a 5 on the Gold Bond Powder rating) so I thought hey — since I’m here for Cakelove, might as well kill two gastronomic birds with one stone since the gelato place is one storefront down from Cakelove (errr…Cakehate, ‘cos I am a hata!) The ex-​BF, who is Sicilan, has partaken here and given it a ⁵⁄₅ so I thought ok, it might not be that bad.
There was quite the sampling of favors, and I played taste roulette since I wanted to be sure I got the right one. I ended up getting the strawberry shortcake flavor — yes, very unItalian of me but it looked good and tasted amazing in the sample portion they gave me.
I ate about half the cup on my way back to the car. Then it was all melted. :(It is now in my freezer. I will partake this evening, methinks, since I can’t let it go to waste — it’s just that good. It really DID taste like a creamy strawberry shortcake, complete with graham cracker crumbs. MMM MMMM MMMM MMMM good!

Their gelato is pretty darn tasty — perfect for a hot day. They have a lot of gelato flavors, though they seemed to be running low on several of them.
Note that this store has a lot more than just gelato: paninis, soups, salads, pizzas, etc. Also, this store isn’t very large and can get crowded.

Ugh.
I threw half of our large serving away. Granted, they give you more than other gelaterias, but it’s really poor quality gelato. The worst I’ve ever had.
Still, this by no means makes it inedible (I mean, it’s sugar, cream and flavoring)…it’s just not desirable for die hard gelato fans. Having had the same flavors at multiple gelato shops around DC, I typically find myself being thankful for the small spoon that allows me to savor my treat. Here however, the partner and I hurriedly took huge scoops with our tiny spoons so we wouldn’t feel like it was a total waste.
In the end, the rest got tossed and I vowed to search for yummier sweets the next time I was in the area.