Sharbat Bakery&Cafe (Adams Morgan) — Restaurant in Washington

We were in DC for 3 days for a family trip to visit the White House and Capitol Hill. Being Persian, on our last day, we decided to try and find a Persian or Persian-esque restaurant that serves Persian breakfast. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find a specific Persian restaurant that serves traditional breakfast, but were able to find Sharbat Bakery and Café. From the reviews, it looked pretty promising and offered Azeri traditional breakfast which is quite similar to Persian breakfast. We ordered the traditional breakfast mix which had, olives, halal sausages, marscapone and feta cheeses, honey, bread (more on this later), etc. this combo was very tasty especially with the apricot and berry jams. Notably the sausage was very delicious as well and the brewed tea was delicious as well. We also ordered the homestyle tomato and egg. This was also very delicious and just as I remember back home. However, there are a few shortcomings, unfortunately. First off, even though the lady (I assume who is the owner) was delightful at first, she was working by herself. I understand trying to save money on staffing, but this was extremely detrimental to our experience. First it took a long time for our food to be prepared and brought to us. I don’t understand why during the opening hours a restaurant should be so understaffed? This is a morning specialty cafe and should be staffed accordingly. People are hungry and need their coffee and tea expeditiously so it’s not a good idea business wise. At least have one other person to help out. In addition, she never checked on us to see if we’re doing ok. Instead, we constantly had to get up and walk to the front desk to ask for extra utensils, napkins and bread. Speaking on bread, we were surprised to learn that there was an up-charge of $7.50 for 3 extra pieces of bread. Most other restaurants I’ve been to, extra bread is free especially if you’re spending $85 on food. Finally, this last one really was unpleasant. My sister accidentally dropped the lid of the tea pot and broke it. Out of courtesy and respect, we informed the owner of this accident and as a gesture of kindness we offered to pay for it. But instead of being welcoming with hospitality and refusing to take money, she gladly accepted our offer and charged us another $15 just for the teapot lid. This was a very classless move and made the experience unpleasant. A welcoming restaurant would never charge its customers for accidental drops. Especially visitors who are spending $80+ dollars. Overall the food was great but service and hospitality left a lot to be desired. Looking forward to revisiting a hopefully improved restaurant...

One of the most delightful meals I've ever eaten. My husband and I traveled here on our honeymoon in DC - Sharbat was on my list of places I wanted to visit and I'm glad to say it exceeded my expectations. Before talking about the food itself, it's got a nice atmosphere and kind staff, and there's fresh flowers and pretty art too.

We ordered dishes to share, selecting the dushbara and gurza. The dumplings (gurza) came with a yogurt like sour cream and a little crock of sauce that resembled something between sundried tomato and a very mild chili oil. They were beautiful and fantastic - like you hear "dumpling with beef inside" and that seems like it'd be pretty familiar, but the flavor was unique and complex. We also got the most gorgeous soup called dushbara. It was honestly to die for. Beneath the surface are these small dumplings, of a different shape but I think filled with the same beef mixture. I was reading an article about it from natgeo recently and supposedly it's a fine art in Azerbaijan to try to get the dumplings as micro as possible. These fit perfectly one to a spoonful and they filled up with the beef broth which was phenomenally silky with oil. There was a small crock of vinegar which you could pour into your spoonful to cut the fats and also that same sour cream type stuff. Both were delicious with the soup, which was warm and herby and glorious. There was also a flatbread that came with it - my husband dropped chunks in to soak and it made for a decadent bite! We also took back with us a slice of honey cake and pistachio cake. We'd tried something similar at another bakery before (our first exposure to these kinds of desserts) and I think Sharbat's were my favorite. The honey cake has so many layers, and the pistachio cake is coated in extra nuts with plentiful frosting (which I especially like).

One recommendation! If you have time in advance and you know you'll want particular dishes, it's worth letting the staff know ahead of time. For example, the dovga soup, creamy manti, and khinkali were dishes I was interested in trying out but they'd need to be requested in advance. I wish I had longer in DC so I could go back and try those out, knowing how good everything else ended up tasting. And there were such beautiful pastries on display which I wish I could have tried. It's a fairly extensive menu with many phenomenal options, so if you live nearby you ought to take advantage of it and sample...

Absolutely wonderful café and bakery located in the heart of Adams Morgan! This lovely little hole-in-the-wall shop may look unassuming from the outside, but it is home to some of the best baked goodies in DC. I've dropped by several times for dessert, and I've been super impressed by their quality and consistency -- the baklava is definitely the star of the show, and they have a ton of variety. Whether you want to keep it classic with their traditional batu baklava or pistachio baklava, or if you want a sweet fusion twist with their nutella baklava, each dessert is perfectly flaky, nutty, and all-around delicious. Their batu baklava has the perfect level of sweetness and goes wonderfully with a latte or americano; the nutella baklava is a smidge too sweet for my taste, but it's great if you're looking for something with a bit more sugar. Beyond baklava, they have a wide selection of other traditional Azerbaijani desserts, including cakes, cookies, and a bunch of other sweet or savory pastries. The owner is the sweetest woman I've ever met and more than willing to chat through the menu if you have any questions.

For their drinks, they serve La Colombe coffee, so you really can't go too wrong with anything. I wasn't the biggest fan of their matcha (it tasted a little more like culinary-grade matcha vs. ceremonial), but it was still tasty and fulfilled my caffeine craving.

The shop is super cute and has a good amount of seating, including these really cute benches with an eclectic assortment of colorful pillows. It is super cozy and has a ton of natural light from the large storefront windows, making it perfect for reading, working, or yapping your afternoon away. I also love that they're open pretty late (8 PM...