Sababa Washington DC
Modern Israeli restaurant
Walking into Sababa from this cluttered NW DC stretch of Connecticut Avenue is like entering an exotic lounge, lined with geometric mosaic tile and scented with roasting meat and honey. The bartender is creative, using Mediterranean touches like pomegranate, charred lemon and pistachio, but foraging into uncharted territory with flavors like sumac and orgeat (which is, according to Wiki, "a sweet syrup made from almonds, sugar, and rose water or orange flower water"), but he'll also gussy up your old standard.
We can make a meal from pita and the house-made hummus -- there's a rotating special flavor -- a veggie small plate and a kebab or two, but consider the lamb shank, over tomato flavored bulgar (careful if you're gluten-sensitive, they aren't at all open to substitutions) with fennel, or the half roasted chicken. The flavors from the roasting oven take everything that comes from it up a notch, and the knowledgeable, enthusiastic server helped us navigate the menu and steered us to the right choices.
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