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Cosmopolitan Grill, near Huntley Meadows Park in South Alexandria - Amela and Ivica Svalina on Richmond Highway


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Has anyone else on the board been to Cosmopolitan Bakery, Carryout and Catering in Alexandria? DCist Amanda Kazdoy is calling it an "ethnic cuisine epiphany" and describes the pljeskavica, or "Bosnian Burger" as

An enormous slab of mildly spiced beef is sandwiched between a halved bun of proprietary bread—soft and spongy in the middle, grilled and crunchy on the outside. The burger is then topped with a liberal scoop of sour cream and is accompanied by ajvar (pronounced “eye-var”), a mild sweet red pepper sauce that is best used in copious amounts with the meat and bread. An odd, but appreciated, extra is a mound of raw, sliced white onions, which mix nicely with the contrasting sauces and the tender beef.

oh my. I'm definitely putting this one on my list of "must try" places when next I cross that great divide.
It's located at 5902A N. Kings Higway in Alexandria (703) 329-3303, but as DCist notes, the sign out front still says "Abi II Carryout," from the former occupant.

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Has anyone been to Cosmopolitan Bakery & Catering, on Kings Highway in Alexandria?

I read about it on Tyler Cowan's blog and elsewhere, and it sounds like I might like it, but I can't tell if they are strictly take-away or if they have seating. Anybody know?

We go there often as it's in our neighborhood. It's supposed to be just take out but there are a couple of stools and a long narrow bar on one side of the place that you could eat at if you wanted to. Although I'm sure the health department would have a fit if they walked in and saw people eating there.

The food is very good. Chavapi are little beef sausages that come on this wonderful bread served with sliced onion. Burek come in several varieties and remind me of a phyllo pastry coiled into an oval and filled with meat, cheese or spinach. Breaded chicken breast is quite tasty but HUGE. Ditto when you order fries. There are enough to feed an family of four.

It's well worth a trip.

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My wife and I got some take away here the other night and had a very pleasant experience. The owner and cook are both very polite and friendly. They took the time to tell us about the various Bosnian specialties and they took great pride in doing so.

We had the burek (fillo dough stuffed with a cheese mixture), cevapcici (homemade sausages on homemade bread), the pljeskavica (bosnia burger) and the apple "pie" (apple filling in between soft, shortbread-like "cookies"). Everything was fresh, simple and delicious. The burger was served with sour cream and raw onions; the sausages with ajvar (a red pepper and eggplant puree) and raw onions. We were told that the burger was all beef with some seasonings, but I am not sure what kind of meat was in the sausages. Despite being cooked to "medium", the burger was moist and had a great grilled taste to it. The sausages were great, too. They were mild, and went excellently with the sharp onions and the sweet ajvar. The bread is pillowy with a nice crust. The burek was simple buttery, flaky, cheesy goodness. The cheese filling sort of looked like cottage cheese and was mild with a little tanginess.

All of this food cost $20. A simple, delicious meal at a great value. I think it is definitely worth checking out if you are in the area.

Don - the link to this place in the Restaurant Guide wasn't working, so I started a new thread.

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I went to a Bosnian restaurant in late 2005 when I was visiting this area. Now that I'm here permanently, I'm trying to figure out exactly where it was and what it was called. I'm really wondering if this is the same place discussed here because it doesn't sound exactly the same. The place I ate in was easily accessible by taking the metro and getting off at the last stop on either the Orange or Yellow line. I cannot remember. It didn't seem to be shady on the inside at all. There were probably 15 tables, give or take a few, and a fairly respectable bar. I'd love to go back again. The food was really good.

Also, does anyone know a a Balkans food market? It would be nice to find real Kajmak.

Best regards

Andy

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I went to a Bosnian restaurant in late 2005 when I was visiting this area. Now that I'm here permanently, I'm trying to figure out exactly where it was and what it was called. I'm really wondering if this is the same place discussed here because it doesn't sound exactly the same. The place I ate in was easily accessible by taking the metro and getting off at the last stop on either the Orange or Yellow line. I cannot remember. It didn't seem to be shady on the inside at all. There were probably 15 tables, give or take a few, and a fairly respectable bar. I'd love to go back again. The food was really good.

Also, does anyone know a a Balkans food market? It would be nice to find real Kajmak.

Best regards

Andy

This is the same place, sort of. Restaurant Cosmopolitan changed from an eat-in restaurant to a carryout, catering, and bakery. They swapped space with the Salvadorean carryout space, and are next to the Eastern European market. It is in the shopping center across the street from the Huntington metro North Kings Hwy parking lot.

If the market there doesn't have Kajmak, you might also find it at Aphrodite Greek Imports, just off Route 7 next to Rabieng; or Mediterranean Bakery in the shopping center with Home Depot on Pickett Street in Alexandria.

As an aside, Abi's seems to be doing well as a full-service restaurant.

[From Wikipedia, Kajmak or Kaymak is a creamy dairy product, similar to clotted cream, made all over the Middle East, Southeast Europe, Iran, Afghanistan, India and Turkey. ]

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Has anyone been here recently? It apparently has the same owners, but unless there are some items not listed on the website menu (even the sample list of specials), this cuisine barely qualifies as "Balkan."

I've been there a number of times and that's pretty much the menu. The burek, bosnia burger and cevapčići are definitely Balkan...and if I remember correctly the primary focus of their old carry out restaurant. I think I recall hearing that there are significant german culinary influences in the region as well....thus explaining the schnitzels. They seem to do pretty steady business considering it's an odd location that literally shares a door with a Gold's Gym.

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I hate to come in here and get all negative, but as I was looking through the Mt. Vernon subsection of the Virginia section of the Dining Guide, I noticed this place was listed and I was a little (read A LOT) surprised it was included. I've only been there once (Jan 2012) so factor that in, but I have no desire to return. This is what I wrote for my first ever (and never submitted Yelp reivew):

The first line was based on the raves on Yelp and the crowd in the place on a random winter weeknight.

<<<< For the life of me I don't understand the positive reviews of this place. I went the other night with 2 other people and there were major problems with all the dishes.

The calamari app was obviously not homemade and was right of a frozen bag. That's not a deal breaker but it was horribly bland

Two of us got schnitzels which were ok, but one was ruined with the massive amounts of salad dressing they put on the salad on the same plate. The schnitzel ended up being a sponge for, and tasting like, the Italian dressing. The salad itself was one step above the most basic salad you could imagine at a supermarket salad bar.

My schnitzel plate came with fries so I didn't have the dressing problem but the fries were also right out of a bag (frozen not fresh cut) and also bland. I never salt my food but had to tonight on the fries and calamari

The third dish was the fish sandwich which was hard and dry and was left half uneaten.

I wish I could like this place because it's VERY local for me, but this was just bad. >>>>

If anyone has been more recently or has please post, because (as Tom S often says, and some here hate) I wanted to like this place!

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I hate to come in here and get all negative, but as I was looking through the Mt. Vernon subsection of the Virginia section of the Dining Guide, I noticed this place was listed and I was a little (read A LOT) surprised it was included.

As noted in the Virginia guide, Cosmopolitan Grill is included by virtue of being named as one of Washingtonian's best "Cheap Eats" in 2012 (the most recent issue). The primary focus of the guide is Don's reviews, but it also includes all of the recent recommendations from The Washington Post and Washingtonian. Essentially, the idea is that if any of the major critics like a place, it appears in the guide with links to the most recent reviews, maps, reservations, etc. The star ratings are based on an algorithm that aggregates each critic's assessment and adjusts for factors like recency, etc. (Don doesn't give stars). Cosmopolitan Grill is "unrated" in the guide, which generally (though apparently not always!) equates to "above average" (one star is "average," two stars is "good").

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I've eaten here a couple of times, & the rest of my family likes it more than I do. It's not really cheap eats, especially compared to some other local places. As I remember it, the food was ok, but bland-the best part was the bread w/ the cheese spread/dip.

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Really like the cevapcici and Bosnia Burgers at Cosmopolitan. Also the fresh breads. Both are excellent at Balkan Grill as well, but that's more carryout. They also do a killer doner kebab which is pretty hard to find around here.

Cosmopolitan Grill is great. Had the trout once and was a fan. It's right next to the Gold's Gym so it's a no-brainer for a post-workout meal.

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Cosmopolitan Grill is great. Had the trout once and was a fan. It's right next to the Gold's Gym so it's a no-brainer for a post-workout meal.

I think the last time I was there I got a trout or tilapia salad where the fish was covered in garlic. I liked it. Their bread and the spread they serve with it is dangerously addictive.

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The chicken piccata is the daily special....almost every day. It's a huge portion of pounded flat, lightly fried chicken. Get it with the house salad and give it a big squeeze of fresh lemon. I also like to doctor it up a bit with their WONDERFUL roasted red pepper spread too. Simple but satisfying. My daughter raves about the cevapcici. The location is a bit odd in that the space actually used to be part of the Gold's Gym. But today it is its own separate storefront and has a very loyal following.

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Here's a refresh ....

Father's Day choice usually takes us out of the usual flight pattern.  This year it landed us at Cosmopolitan Grill after a few years neglecting it as an option.  It is on what we refer to as the veracious vein that is U.S. Route 1 south of Alexandria.  To paint the picture, there are windows looking into the Gold's Gym next door.  It is a family place with decor being a distant 3rd after food and service.

I'm happy to report it hasn't changed.  Someone in the kitchen still cares about quality and consistency.  Two of the lads went for the wiener schnitzel with a nice fresh salad served on the plate while the other had the Cevapcici with ajvar and onion.  The bride had the lamb chops perched on a mountain of flavorful rice cooked with peppers and squash.  I went for the bowl of goulash and an appetizer portion of Cevapcici and - as usual, I maintained visitation rights to every plate on the table to round out my meal.  Plenty of fresh made bread with sour cream and garlic dipping sauce plus all the draft German beer anyone cared for topped if off.

It was busy on a Saturday night with a couple of family tables of 10 and 8 but the service was friendly and efficient from the young imported lass with a heavy accent.  It was all very reminiscent of a hotel courtyard in Split, Yugoslavia many years before Father's Day would have been even a thought.

Give it a try.  I hope your experience is the same.

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