Last night we took Samuel to Adams Morgan and hit upon MEZE which has apparently been hidden there for 10 years (www.mezedc.com) and while the decor (not comfy chairs, wobbly tables, and a bathroom that Samuel warned me NOT to try) has much to be desired, the food comes out on top.
We ordered three "tapas" style plates to start Samuel off and he let us devour all the MUHUMMARA a rich and decadent red pepper, walnut, olive oil, lemon and garlic paste (a bit thicker than hummus) that was divine on the puffy "pita" style bread. He ate most of the SIGARA BOREGI which are bourekas-type cigar pastries made from phyllo stuffed with melted feta, parsley & dill, we shared and these were also creamy and rich inside, but the pastry was perfect and flaky and a great foil. Sam did like the KOFTE-beef & lamb meatballs (actually patties) with an onion & parsely compote on the side that he skipped.
We ordered up a bottle of MARTIN CODAX "ERGO" 2008 (the menu said '06) Tempranillo from Rioja that went very well with all the different flavors coming to the table due do its more than medium body, nice aroma, slight smokiness and tinge of spice.
Will and I chose a variety of meze and were delighted with them all...we wanted more, but the four we chose and the tastes of Sam's totally filled us up!
MERCIMEK KOFTE was a vegetarian lentil cake (not a kofte kebab) made from bulgar with onion & parsley and a nice simple yogurt sauce. They were not dry at all and actually I thought they would make a great filling alternative to rice in grape leaves!
SIS KEBAB was a tender skewer of lamb with a yogurt & dill sauce and SOMON KEBAB was a tasty salmon kebab on skewer with SPINACH Puree on the side as well as mashed Potatoes. I loved the dill yogurt dip with these even more.
KARIDES GUVEC was on the menu as East Mediterranean stew of shrimp, tomato, garlic and cheese and was more akin to an Italian scampi with gobs of mozzarella all over the shrimp. The sauce was nice and quite garlicky, but if you want to cut cholesterol, avoid this one.
Our server Aykut (he said to call him "Ike") from Turkey told us we really should try to KUNEFE for dessert and he was spot on with this suggestion, and well worth the 10 minute or so wait. The dish comes to the table with a sizzling metal insert filled with shredded wheat, unsalted white cheese, crushed pistachios all made into a pancake on which a lemon honey sauce is poured. It's a very nice presentation and the dish tastes spectacular. Different from the Syrian pastries of shredded wheat as this one is made with cheese as well giving a completely different feel. Even Samuel seemed to like it a little and asked for more.
Ike offered up some Turkish coffee on the house and we went home quite full having spent well under $100 (without tax and tip, but including a $30+ bottle of wine!) for all three of us.
