Tabaq

This is a typical U Street Restaurant; trendy (at least when it first opened), happy hour hang out, rooftop dining room with a great view and retractable roof. Decent food (Mezze), above decent wine list and mixers. If you go and can't get a rooftop seat (even at the bar) don't bother, the experience is dining, or drinking, on the rooftop.
The rooftop is roughly 3 floors up, the main dining room just above street level is mostly red with "pleather"......geared for the lounge/drinking crowd. The rooftop dining room has a summery feel to it, even in winter; glass roof and a great view of the city. At the end of the stairwell you will approach the bar, which is on the right side of the dining room. During peak hours and busy nights, one can't even just stand and wait for spot standing near or around the bar. So, it's best to go early.
The dining room is minimally decorated, with beach looking furniture and port lights on the walls under the windows; in some ways it does create a mediterranean feel to the atmosphere.
The menu is mostly Mezze (greek small plates) with a few entrees. Typical offerings such as Borek, Dolma, lamb offerings, some seafood, one or two fish and a decent amount of vegetarian plates.
I usually order the seafood risotto, it's filling and very decent. It's almost like a small Paella.
The wine list is also decent, with a few California, Oregon or French surprises once in a while.
As you might expect, no bells and whistles from my review; Tabaq is a great place to come and enjoy the view, watch the sunset, etc......when it's busy and full, the enjoyment of being there is taken away.
It's a great place to meet, especially on a weeknight.

Cafe Divan

A few weeks ago i re-visited an old favorite with friends from the old neighborhood at McLean Gardens: Cafe Divan.
A rare Turkish gem in a city filled with, lately, Belgian and small plate (Tapas/Mezze/Antojito) concepts. This is located on Wisconsin Ave, NW just across from the famous Georgetown's social Safeway, which is now being developed into a multi-use property.......read - Condos on upper Georgetown. The building it resides used to be a very small apartment building and Divan's spot used to be small breakfast and lunch joint and a frame shop in the back. The building is now a fancy Boutique hotel that is owned by the same person who owns Cafe Divan.
The restaurant is located in a very weird space as the building is literally in the shape of a Delta, so the dining room at some point gets narrower. The Decor is modern and has an Italian minimalist style furniture, yet cozy.
Unfortunately, due to space limitations, a Bar is not present; the space where they used to offer takeout separately in the back now becomes a small lounge. A happy hour place this is not, which is unfortunate......this means that Divan only attracts sit down diners and no casual neighborhood traffic.
The wine list...........as expected is......at least in my book.....a "forget it" list. House wines by the glass and nothing special.
The menu, however, is awesome! A few lamb dishes that are prepared daily (hopefully), and fresh tasting. Quite a few vegetarian selections as well such as homemade Hommus, grape leaves, etc...
The best item is only prepared on Thursday night, unfortunately, a healthy portion of lamb shavings that has been roasted spit style (gyro) that has flavors of garlic, salt, spices, just perfectly prepared. Served on a bed of rice. I always forget that each entree come with a small salad, so pace yourself.
The best appetizer to get is the Mezze platter....good to share......plenty for 2, enough for 3. It consist of Dolma (grape leaves stuffed with rice), Borek (phylo filled with feta and deep fried), hummus, and lentil kofte.
They also sandwich selections which tends to be smaller versions of their entree wrapped in flatbread.
Wood burning selections over thin crusted pizza made with pita/flat bread dough.

This is a great neighborhood restaurant, which unfortunately, is not a place one can actually frequent and hang out. Perhaps this is okay, but there seems to be an opportunity missed here......

CAVA Capitol Hill

This was a new addition last summer to the Marine Barracks' neighborhood. With Belga, Matchbox and Banana Cafe as a few of the anchors on that Street, this neighborhood now presents quite a diverse offerings of restaurants: Indian, Thai, Puerto Rican/Cuban, Salvadorean, Belgian, Italian, Mediterranean Mezze, a few Irish themed bars, .....not to mention the arrival of Zest and the soon to be Chesapeake Room and Ted rounds up the comfort food offerings on the Hill.
Cava is a locally owned chain; Potomac Fine Foods, started in 2007. The menu, seemingly, formulated and standardized for continuity and consistency throughout all of their locations.
I've only been to the Capitol Hill location, but I assume the decor, look and feel will be similar on all locations.
The Capitol Hill location has a dark exterior; with seating outside under large mediterranean style umbrellas. Upon entering the bar is located on the right side that stretches 3/4 of the length of the dining room with app. 20-24 seating. The bar is sectioned off by perforated walls so as not to create a claustrophobic feel at the bar. There is also a small bar that is geared for private functions that also doubles as a rooftop deck lounge.
The wine selection offers a selection of Greek, Italian, California and some Australian/New Zealand and Argentinean.....
Tip #1: Skip the Greek and Italian wines, don't bother with Argentinean, go straight to the California and oregon if they have them by the glass.
The menu selection offers Mezze style (mediterranean style small plates) and some entree selections as well.
I especially like the Sparaggia (Grilled asparagus dressed with lemon vinaigrette and feta), a healthy amount of asparagus spears perfectly grilled, although they could hold back a little bit on the feta and lemon dressing.
I also tried the Kastoria Beans (large navy beans stewed in tomato, garlic and Basil), this is also very good, but tasted almost like bean soup.....nothing special.
The fried cod, however, a potentially good dish was waaaayyyy too salty. I realized that it is a salt cured preparation, but the batter needed to be neutral.
On another visit, I tried the Whole roasted Branzino, which is a european bass, closely related to the rockfish. This was prepared with simply by roasting it with lemon, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper; simple yet perfectly done......remember my preachings about simple preparations?
The Branzino tasted like trout, but stronger yet not fishy, presented whole on a platter enough to be shared for 2 persons. Te end product is a very nice flaky roasted fish with all the flavors of the fish, lemon and oregano and perfectly seasoned.
I haven't tried any of their desert as of yet, but perhaps that would be for the next review..........