Zaytinya, a Growing Disappointment

I remember the first time I visited Zaytinya, a lux-styled bar and restaurant for the young and international crowd that makes up one of several "hip" D.C. scenes. I was taken in by the glitter of the crowd, the thumping of the music, and the "foreign" tapas menu. The patio is an impressively sized front along G St., just two blocks from the Verizon Center in Chinatown. Wide stone steps and tall glass doors form a modern facade that often sees groups walking out of the restaurant oblivious to traffic rules. Wealthy Internationalistas don't stop for traffic or alter their paths to reach crosswalks. They also don't take Metro, much.

Unfortunately, Zaytinya's luster has only dimmed over time. On several occasions now the tapas dishes have been disappointing, and most recently, even drinks at the bar were subpar. During my last stop I ran the gamut of mezze. Having worked out that evening and skipped lunch - a sure-fire recipe for a favorable assessment of the restaurant's fare - I was eagerly anticipating some Mediterranean cuisine. Small plates of falafel, scallops, rabbit, lamb, mushrooms, and beef arrived at random intervals as the cooks completed the plates, the norm in such restaurants. But, with the exception of the decent falafel and somewhat tough beef, the plates were tasteless, dry, or decidedly unpleasant. Scallops: more sand that seafood. Rabbit: where's the meat? Lamb: I won't be getting e-coli, but I won't be enjoying the taste any time soon either. And mushrooms: a whole lot of butter and not much else, at least that I could recognize.

To top if off, the drinks were poorly prepared as well. My gin and tonic, as well as the "signature" martini, seemed like they had been brought to the table direct from a hot plate. The end-of-the-night Pom-Fili, a mixture of white wine, vodka, triple sec, and pomegranate juice, was slightly better, but by that point in the evening I was stewing over the tab and my stomach was grumbling from the meal. I decided to hightail it home via Metro for some Crown n' Coke - with ice cubes direct from the freezer....

Rating: 0/10
In Short: Unless your wealthy diplo-friend insists otherwise, head over to the more reliable Jaleo.
Website: http://www.zaytinya.com/
Location: 701 9th St NW, Washington, DC 20001