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Ezmè, Turkish Mezze at 20th and P Streets in West Dupont Circle


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Ezmè opened about a month ago in the old Pesce location. It's strange for me to walk in here and see a Turkish restaurant, but time moves forward. It's owned by the Bolukbasi brothers, who also co-own Bistro Cacao on Capitol Hill.

I sat at the bar this evening and tried a couple of basics. I started with an Efes Pilsener ($5.50) which I enjoyed with the Babaganush ($5.95) - a small portion of grilled eggplant, chickpeas, tahini paste, heavy garlic, and olive oil, the whole package coming across as delicate, and served with a round of good, homemade bread. I graduated to the Efes Dark ($5.50) which is a better beer all around, with the same delicacy as the Pilsener, but the added complexity of rye-like aromas - this is the beer you should be ordering here. And it is indeed beer that you should order, because the wine list is pathetic (think Benziger, Moet et Chandon, etc.).

With the Efes Dark, I got an appetizer portion of Manti ($7.95), homemade Turkish mini-pasta stuffed with ground beef, and served in a thin yogurt sauce. The highlight was a freshly made buttered red pepper sauce, brought out in the pan, and drizzled atop the manti - a dish which I haven't had since the last time I had it at Simit and Kabob, whose version was less homemade, with thicker yogurt, and more overt flavor.

Both of these courses were on the light-handed side, and could have used a touch of salt. But they were both good enough to bring me back, and I'll happily return to Ezmè for a deeper sampling. (By the way, has anyone been to Mezè lately? I haven't been in years.)

Cheers,
Rocks

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Has anyone been here recently? Considering going tonight or tomorrow . . .

I haven't been since I last wrote about it over two years ago.

Man, when I read posts like the one I wrote, I wish I had the energy to write about every restaurant visit in such a fashion. I had completely forgotten about this, and now it's as vivid as yesterday.

Rice Paper (good, but you're going to spend as much here at the dr.com dinner as you will at Masa 14 - the caramelized fish was the highlight), Amoo's Kabob (Persian specials and stews are better than ever, good enough to bring me back two nights in a row), New Heights (house made citrus tonic is awesome) ... all lost to the anals of his tory.

I do amuse myself, highly.

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