Karravaan — Restaurant in Washington

Karravaan, the newest addition to the bustling Union Market food scene celebrates a fusion of culinary traditions by combining Persian, Egyptian, Palestine, Portuguese, Indian, Balkan, and Turkish influences into a vibrant and inviting dining experience. The meal was enjoyable, with consistently good quality across the board, although not everything felt particularly memorable or exciting.

My favorite part was the fish cake served with incredibly fresh greens. It was light, refreshing, and full of clean flavors. The lamb sliders were another strong dish, flavorful and well-cooked, though they could have used a bit more spice to really stand out. The chicken kebabs tasted good but the portion size was surprisingly small, making them feel more like samples at Costco.

The appetizers were generously portioned and actually quite filling. They felt closer to tapas in both size and substance. I especially enjoyed the fresh bread, which had a great texture and a lovely topping of black seeds and sesame. The snapper crudo was fresh and well-executed, offering a nice balance of acidity and flavor. The khachapuri was another highlight. The dough was nicely baked, easy to cut, and filled with rich, satisfying cheese. The restaurant’s open-fire baking oven adds both character and quality to the dishes.

Desserts were mixed but interesting. The mahalabia tart was a standout with its bright lemon flavor and delicate texture. It may be one of the best lemon tarts I have had in quite sometime. The honey cake, on the other hand, was overly sweet and lacked the contrast that comes from alternating textures. A drier layer in between would have made a big difference. The chocolate cake was solid and satisfying, especially for chocolate lovers. The baklava could have been better if it used more whole dates instead of date paste, which was too noticeable in the flavor.

The space itself is stylish and welcoming. Service was attentive and pleasant throughout the evening. One thing to keep in mind is that parking in the area can be difficult if the nearby garage is full.

Karravaan offers a well-executed concept with thoughtful dishes and a warm atmosphere. I would give it a solid four out...

From the moment I walked in, things started off a little confusing. The host stand is tucked just around the corner and out of sight, so I stood near the entryway until a hostess approached me. Although I had a reservation, she couldn’t locate it at first, which was frustrating. Fortunately, another staff member recognized who I was there to meet, and since part of my group had already arrived, I was quickly seated.

Once at the table, the experience improved significantly. Our server, Zach, along with a trainee shadowing him, were both attentive and warm. Zach made excellent menu suggestions and checked in often to ensure we were enjoying ourselves.

Since two of us in the party work in the commercial real estate/design industry, we naturally noticed details about the space. The interiors are beautiful, layered, and thoughtfully designed, but the general dining room lighting was too harsh. While the table lamps created intimacy, the overhead fixtures competed with that atmosphere. At one point, the lights unexpectedly brightened even further, and Zach immediately acknowledged it—something that they’ve had an ongoing issue with. We joked about it but should be addressed.

As for the food, everything was excellent. The vegetable biryani was outstanding, even though the prawns we requested never arrived with it. The delay in the kitchen was offset with complimentary glasses of sparkling wine, which was a thoughtful gesture.

Service stayed strong throughout the evening, and while there was a minor hiccup with the bill being charged to us from the wrong table, it was quickly corrected.

Overall, Karravaan offers a beautifully designed space, fantastic food, and attentive service. With a few small operational tweaks, it could be even better. That said, the food, drinks, and atmosphere made it a wonderful night, and I would still highly recommend it. Zach is...

First time here. Really enjoyed the food and choices on the menu. All the food and flavor profile were excellent. We got several appetizers to share. And then had main dishes. Everything we had was top notch with a great flavor profile, and the portions were quite nice. My only critique was that we were sat at 6:30 PM, wasn’t that busy, but it was 7:20 before our first appetizers arrived. And when they did come out, one of them was the roasted eggplant which seem kind of odd in that it should’ve come with bread. The waitress came back about five or 10 minutes after the appetizers were dropped and noticed that there is no bread and said oh that usually comes with bread and then asked us if we wanted bread when it should’ve been obvious and brought right out. She then had to order it and that took another 10 minutes just to get bread out so the dish sat there for 20 minutes. Seemed like it took a long time to have the waitress order drinks to start, which didn’t get ordered and come out for at least half an hour. Most places would’ve had drinks and appetizers out within 30 minutes of being seated. I clearly thought by having a 630 reservation we’d be done and out of there by 8:30 but everything seemed to drag on and we did not leave there until almost 930 for a table of three with shared appetizers and two main dishes. I did in fact really enjoy this place and will definitely return, but I was let down by the slow pace of service with the waitress not, showing up to take orders quicker and with the bread being forgotten that we then had to wait for. Hopefully, next time I’ll be able to leave a five star review if the service can be tweaked and the realization that bread should’ve been brought out with the eggplant and that it should have been caught immediately and not caused us to...