Zaytinya - Recommended Dishes?

[kathryn]

Returning to Zaytinya on a very short trip to DC, for a pre-museum lunch, before shipping out to Virginia for a wedding.

On the first visit to Zaytinya, we greatly enjoyed:
- Falafel: traditional chickpea fritters, tahini sauce
- Garides Me Anitho: shrimp, dill, shallots, mustard, lemon juice
- Bantijan Bil Laban: crispy eggplant, roasted garlic-yogurt sauce
- Arayes: grilled ground lamb and tahini stuffed pita, garlic yogurt

The only thing we didn't like was the Adana Kebab: skewered ground lamb, house made harissa,
grilled tomatoes, sumac, onions.

Any dishes we we shouldn't miss this time around? Spanakopita? Aglaia Kremezi style Crab Cakes? Crispy Brussel Afelia? Octopus Santorini?

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Zaytinya
701 9th St NW, Washington, DC 20001

[brooke]

We went there recently and enjoyed everything we ordered :)
https://plus.google.com/photos/103634...

[JAC13]

It's not on the menu, but whenever I go to Zaytinya, I always order this beef-stuffed pasta dish, which they serve with roasted garlic-yogurt and paprika butter. I am blanking on what it is called, but they always seem to have it in house for people in the know, and it is absolutely delicious! I also never miss their tzatziki, which is my favorite version of the dip anywhere!

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Zaytinya
701 9th St NW, Washington, DC 20001

[daves_32]

piling on to JAC13 about tzatziki, I second that. I would also recommend you do the dip trio with your favorite dips. i usually do the tzatziki, baba ghannosh, and hummus.

[huiray]

Not specifically directed to JAC13, but - who's the exec chef or chef de cuisine there now?

Does Mike Isabella ever drop by or have any contact with Zaytinya nowadays - especially since Graffiato is now open?

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Zaytinya
701 9th St NW, Washington, DC 20001

Graffiato
707 6th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001

[kathryn]

Thanks, all.

[Bob W]

The apricot-yogurt dessert is a MUST.

[pikawicca]

Both the Brussels sprouts and the apricot dessert are outstanding. If they have the roasted chick pea pods, do NOT pass them up!

[odkaty]

I've also enjoyed the crispy eggplant and falafel. The brussels sprouts, asparagus (ladolemono, dill, sea sal) and roasted cauliflower are great. I can't recall what impression the roasted stuffed eggplant or zucchini fritters left. I want to say the latter was the better of the two. The pylaz was good, but didn't quite live up to my expectations.

And finally remembered what we fought over: the seasonal mushrooms. Finally ended up ordering a second dish of those ...

For sweets/desserts I've enjoyed the taluma with honeycomb and the apricot and yogurt dish.

[Bart Hound]

Don't miss the Kibbeh Nayeh (raw meat), it's fanstastic. I get at least 2 orders every time I'm there.

[mselectra]

I wanted to second this rec.