a night in the balkans

cool wallpaper, ambar.

we kicked off restaurant week with ambar, a restaurant specializing in balkan cuisine, located in eastern market.

c, j, and i kicked off the night with some refreshing drinks.

mojito and simply bliss- lemongrass, grapefruit, & lime infused gin.

then we dove right into our first of many courses.
we all chose to do the restaurant week deal, which was a four course tapas style meal for $35.

ambar at night was a very different experience than ambar by day.
this was my second time trying balkan cuisine at ambar. the first time was during a weekend for brunch. i have to say, this time the food at night was very very delicious. i wasn't super impressed by the brunch but the dinner selection was amazing.

favorites of the night:

i chose the cold octopus salad.

cold octopus salad. yum!

c chose kajmak tasting (sumadija- light cheese spread, spicy crab spread, and smoked salmon spread) with fried sourdough and baked bread).

kajmak tasting and refreshing balkan salad! i was inspired by the salad! time to make this at home!

j chose the drunken mussels.

drunken mussels with creamy sauce.

c, j, and i had a lovely night at ambar, talking about future travel plans and recapping the past few days. we unofficially decided that we were going to travel together to croatia someday. the balkan cuisine inspired our wanderlust. it was great to end c and j's DC trip with another delicious meal

i will miss the company of these two dear friends. safe flight back to LA, my friends. until next time! xoxo.

-mai

dishes below were absolutely delicious:
kajmak tasting
balkan salad
cold octopus salad
mushroom flatbread
slow cooked pork
seasme crusted salmon

dishes were ok. good but not amazing. not sure if i will order again:
chef's tasting spread (smoked trout spread, hummus with bread)
balkan kebab (pork and beef sausage)

not that great. def wouldn't order again:

capri (dessert with raspberries, vanilla pudding, almond crumble with raspberry sorbet)

three chocolates (chocolates with mascarpone and strawberry yogurt)