Foodie Crap: Zaytinya

Since des is taking his sweet time to blog about anything food related I'm just gonna throw this rambling post about Zaytinya.

On Friday after waking up real fucking early and trekking around all day wandering around monuments and museums we were glad to get inside and eat something. Hopefully it would be better than the shit excuse for sushi that we got at Kaz Sushi Bistro. I mean for Christ's sake it's supposed to be one of the better sushi joints in DC but it was fucking terrible on the day we went. But, that's a post for another time.

Zaytinya isn't your average restaurant with a group of apps and mains on the menu because they only serve mezze. What are mezze you ask? Let me show you something shamelessly stolen from Zaytinya's website:

"Mezze, also known as meze, maza and mezethes, are the small plates of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. Under the direction of James Beard award-winning chef, José Andrés, Zaytinya’s extensive menu reflects the rich, regional diversity of classical and contemporary Greek, Turkish and Lebanese cuisine. It wouldn’t be accurate to describe mezze as an appetizer. These small bites are not typically served preceding a meal. Mezze are better described as party food, a meal meant for socializing. The perfect thing to serve at gathering of friends and family. A drink, a little conversation and mezze shared by everyone at the table."

With that being stolen, it's easy to see why Zaytinya is a popular place to eat at. The dining room quickly filled up with people conversing loudly and having a good time and the bar was quickly packed to the gills with cool, trendy people by the time our mezze started to arrive.

So, on to the food which will be grouped by spreads and mezze then listed in order of preference, then a quick rambling about the drinks I had or tasted. A quick note, everyone should always carry around a big fat slr and notepad to restaurants because you never know what it'll bring you. What it brought us that night was a complementary platter of spreads, all six that Zaytinya offers and probably a little extra attention from the waitress and possibly the kitchen.

The Spreads

1. Taramosalata: A traditional spread of cured carp roe according to the menu and the best spread they offered. Light, creamy, and not too salty
2. Htipiti: red peppers, feta, and thyme. Also very good, like eating Spring.
3. Hommus: It's humus or hommus, whatever, a good preparation of it
4. Baba Ghannouge: To be honest I don't really remember this eggplant spread but I do remember it being better than the last two spreads
5. Tzatziki: To be honest again, I don't remember too much about this yogurt spread but I remember not liking it too much
   
6. Labneh: Yogurt and dill spread tasted like sour cream with olive oil. Didn't like it one bit

The Mezze

1. Swordfish Kebab: Swordfish with red peppers and onion on a bed of parsley sauce. Easily the best dish of the night. The fish was seared on the outside giving it a nice flavor and pretty much raw inside letting the natural taste of the swordfish shine through. The parsley sauce was a nice complement to the swordfish but the red pepper and onion didn't do too much for me when eaten with the fish
2. Soujok Spetzof: Sausages made from lamb and beef on a stew of tomatoes and peppers. Very tasty, good spicy kick to the sausage, and the stew wasn't half bad either. Casing of the first sausage I had was tough and rubbery but I still thought it was a good dish. Second sausage's casing was perfect which easily made this mezze the 2nd best of the night
3. Aunt something something: Tasty meatballs of some sort, no idea what they are because they were a special that night, but very tasty
   
4. Chicken Melanzano: Tender juicy chicken, well seasoned and the sweetness from the pomegranate was great
5. Seasonal Mushrooms: Just mushrooms sauteed with dates and almonds but done well
6. Short Rib Kapama: Short ribs in a tomato and cinnamon stew. Didn't like it too much but I also don't remember too much of this dish.
7. Lamb Bahar: From Zaytinya's menu this dish is a spice rubbed lamb kebab, tabouleh, tahini sauce. And that's all you're getting out of me because I don't remember shit about this dish just that I liked it better than the next two
   
8. Midyes: Fried mussels with walnut tarator sauce. The mussels by themselves were fine but when eaten with the sauce there was something off about this dish.
9. Rabbit Stifado: Apparently I don't like rabbit very much. The seasoning was nice but too gamey for me

The Drinks

1. Turkish Tea Party: Warm alcoholic drink, very good on a below freezing day. A little sweet, a little touch of spice. I liked it.
2. Macallan Single Malt 18 Year Old: Only had a taste of this but there was a nice kick at the start, very smooth finish. I could easily see myself turning into a hardcore alcoholic if all I drank was this.
   
3. Zaytinya's Signature Martini: I need to learn to completely read the menu cause I wasn't expecting vokda straight up which is exactly what the menu said it was.
4. DC Tap Water: Mmm bacteria filled water. Mmm...