Zatinya, DC

On Friday, I went to Zatinya in Penn Quarter! I heard it gets crowded, so we arrived around 6pm in anticipation. There was a wait for outside seating, but we were immediately seated inside.

Dress was mostly dressy casual, like the website says. Wine was expensive (the cheapest red was $8 a glass!!) but I had some anyway :) And the menu is mezze; think Middle Eastern tapas. The waitress suggested 2-4 per person, so my friend and I each chose 3 :D

I picked: fattoush (a salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, green peppers, radishes and pita chips with pomegranate vinaigrette!), carrot-apricot fritters with pine nuts and a pistachio sauce, and one of the specials: a rice and beef meatball thing with tomato sauce topped with dill and some kind of cheese. Can you tell which descriptions were stolen from the menu and which were made by me?

My friend picked: zucchini-cheese patties over caper-yogurt sauce, salmon kibbeh, and grilled pita stuffed with ground lamb and tahini (which I definitely thought was the most boring thing on the menu, but it ended up being my favorite!! They made it very flavorful!).

Almost everything was served in groups of 4.

We were also served olive oil and hot, delicious pita bread. The pita bread was replenished 3 times throughout the meal! They did NOT have salt and pepper on the table. I hate places that do that...but otherwise, it was great!!

Dinner for 2, including one glass of $8 wine and tip, came to about $70. The service was great and it was pretty classy! I recommend it for hot dates, and groups of 2 or 4, but not 3 :D