Tasting Journal

Katherine’s Birthday Dinner and a Show…
Shear Madness and Tabaq Bistro...

In honor of Katherine’s birthday, the girls and I decided to do something different, something more than just dinner at a restaurant and drinks at a bar. We decided to see Shear Madness at the Kennedy Center, and then have dinner at a restaurant and drinks at a bar.

The six o’clock show was a nice start to our evening. Shear Madness is a whodunit type of comedy that takes place at a hair salon in Georgetown. The improvisational plot consists of a murder crime with audience interactive sleuthing. After a couple hours of laughter and playing detective, we headed to a lounge across the hall for some drinks.

The girls and I had some time to kill before our 9 p.m. reservations at Tabaq Bistro on U Street. I had heard many wonderful things about this place, the most impressive being the glass roof-top terrace with an immaculate view of the city, and offering a picturesque display of the Washington Monument and Capital.

Brothers Omar and Melih Buyukbayrak are the owners of this Mediterranean inspired restaurant. The menu offers a wide selection of tapas, or small plates, adopting bold flavors from Turkey, Greece, Lebanon, and Morocco. A nice variety of both meat and vegetarian dishes are offered. Selections include Dolma, stuffed grape leaves with rice, pine nuts, currants, and spices; Su Borek, a hand rolled pastry layered with feta cheese, roasted pepper, and dill; and manti, Turkish style beef ravioli with red pepper and garlic, and served with a yogurt sauce. Full sized entrées are available as well. The chef presents grilled beef medallions prepared with eggplant, mushrooms, and a kalecik karasi wine sauce; braised lamb shank served on a puree of eggplant and cheese; and a filet of Branzini, which is a Mediterranean Sea Bass, stuffed with chermoula, and served with almond-currant rice and lobster sauce.

I snagged a list of their specialty martinis before we left. Some of the concoctions sound really tasty, such as the fresa, a blend of belvedere vodka, pureed strawberries, and a splash of champagne; and the roma, a mixture of belvedere pomerancza vodka, pomegranate juice, and sour. The oliv martini, with a mixture of tanqueray 13 and olive juice, served with blue cheese stuffed olives also caught my eye (I love blue cheese stuffed olives)! Wine is also available, and although we didn’t have any that evening, I hear the selection is promising, with bottles coming from the Eastern Mediterranean regions of Turkey, Greece, and Lebanon.

One thing Tabaq lacks is organization. Roman and I experienced rude and unprofessional service when trying to make reservations. The woman on the other end of the phone seemed quite flustered when I asked to reserve a table for a party of 6 on the roof-top. When we arrived at the restaurant, we were seated at the wrong table, and then were told that we would have to wait for the next available table. What’s funny is that Roman and I even made two separate reservations, one at the bar-top and one at a table. Unfortunately both fell through, and we ended up eating in the dining room instead.

Despite Tabaq’a lack of organization, it is still worth the trip. The view from the glass terrace is reason enough to visit. However, there are other levels to enjoy as well. The attractive dining room (The Red Room) is located right beneath the terrace, and the basement houses the chic Tabaq Lounge. The restaurant also has two additional VIP rooms.

By the end of dinner, we were all feeling quite content. Before we left, the staff at Tabaq made sure that we walked out on a good note… a birthday dessert was brought out with “Happy Birthday Katherine” written deliciously around the plate! Very cute!

After dinner, we headed over to Andulu for cocktails and more fun…!

restaurants, tapas, Mediterranean food, Kennedy Center, birthdays, food and drink, Tasting Journal