Washington  - US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle went to a posh restaurant Saturday night in what was described as their first date since moving into the White House on January 20.

They spent nearly two hours at Citronelle, a French restaurant in the fashionable Georgetown neighbourhood run by celebrity chef Michel Richard.

Dinner and wine at Citronelle, normally booked weeks in advance, can easily run 200 dollars per person for such mirthful dishes as escargot ravioli or pearl pasta, dyed with squid ink to look like caviar. Patrons can watch the chef and his staff create inside a glassed-in kitchen.

Men are required to wear a jacket at the restaurant, and Obama was seen in a dark suit, without a tie. His wife, wearing a white blouse with the sleeves pushed up, sported high heels and carried a blue clutch purse, with her hair pulled back into a ponytail.

The presidential motorcade for the trip of about 15 blocks from the White House to the restaurant became the centre of attention on M Street, Georgetown's major artery and a bustling Saturday night hot spot for dining and night life.

A large crowd, estimated by White House pool reporters in the hundreds, was kept at bay by hurriedly strung, yellow police tape. One activist of unknown persuasion arrived with a megaphone but went ignored by the crowd, which engaged in apparently apolitical gawking.

The Obamas reportedly stayed for dessert, and they drew cheers from the crowd outside the restaurant on climbing back into the waiting motorcade.

After returning to the White House, the couple held hands for a stoll on the South Lawn of the White House. They were home in time for the president, an avid basketball fan, to watch his home-town Chicago Bulls lose in the deciding seventh game of an NBA playoff series to the Boston Celtics. (dpa)