🇺🇸 DMV 🦐 Mediterranean Flavors | 🍽️ Zaytinya

I wrote too much last time—so here’s the rest! I’ll use smaller images for what I already mentioned before, and full-size ones for new dishes. 🍴 Third round: Lemon shrimp 🍤, sea bass 🐟, and smoked lamb shoulder 🐑. The shrimp was disappointing—just tasted sour, with no real shrimp flavor coming through. The sea bass also let me down—maybe my expectations were shaped by Chinese-style steamed sea bass, which has such a delicate taste. This one was lightly pan-seared (maybe their style?), and came with a pretty side sauce made with fennel, almonds, and pickled caper berries. The sauce itself was tasty, but it didn’t really elevate the fish for me. I ended up dipping the sea bass in the lemon shrimp sauce—way better! 😅 Not sure if that’s offensive to the chef though! The smoked lamb shoulder was second-to-last on the meat menu. It was basically a small patty cut in half—the flavor was rough and not very refined. Maybe I was just getting full by then! 🤣🤣 We ordered a lot because we heard portions were small—but turns out, not that small! 🍴 Yes, there’s more—the final round! We got two desserts and a bone marrow flatbread (which I didn’t like—same reason as the lamb patty). Desserts: Greek yogurt with apricot 🍑🤣 (not sure the best translation!), and Turkish coffee chocolate cake. The yogurt was great—nice texture, and the pistachio crumbs were a perfect touch! The coffee chocolate cake was okay, but I couldn’t really taste the coffee. We also ordered three drinks 🍷. With tip, the total came to over $293—wow, even more expensive than a chef’s tasting menu somewhere else! The experience was decent—next time I might try the salmon, but I’ll think twice about the meat dishes. 🤣🤣 Have you been to Zaytinya? What did you think—worth the hype? Share your thoughts below! 👇 #USA #FoodReview #MediterraneanDiet #HealthyEating #DMV #WashingtonDC #MediterraneanCuisine #Foodie #EatingOut #DCfood #RestaurantExperience #GreekFood #TurkishFood #SmallPlates #ShareableMeals #FoodCritique #HonestReview #TrySomethingNew #DiningOut #FoodAndCulture