Lebanese cuisine is renowned for the way its rich ingredients inspire innovative food-fighting techniques. Skillfully execute the Kebab Eye Jab or the Hummus Humdinger with today’s Groupon: for $15, you get $30 worth of Middle Eastern cuisine and drinks at Kabab-ji Grill on Connecticut Avenue.
Start filling your nutrient tank with mezza selections such as grape leaves ($6.50) and cheese rolls ($5) before moving on to the restaurant's namesake kababs. A lunchtime chicken kabab ($11) is packed with poultry that's been lightly spiced and grilled to a golden brown, while a dinnertime pistachio kabab ($18) mixes lean beef with imported pistachios. For dessert, unearth the treasures in the tombs of a chocolate-mousse-and-caramel pyramid ($7), or cool off from crust to core with homemade gelati ($7). View the complete menu here.
Kabab-ji's informal setting is dressed up with moody dark wooden lattices, a dramatic patchwork stonewall, and sleekly attired staff; the Washingtonian called it "a sit-down restaurant that’s downright hip." Stop in for a speedy lunch, to expand culinary experiences, or to find uses for chickpeas other than firing them via jumbo straw into Alan Alda's nostrils.
Reviews
Kabab-ji grabs great reviews from the Washingtonian, Urban Daddy, Metromix, and Zagat. Yelpers give it an average of three stars:
- Good values include the monk salad ($5.50)—roasted eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, and onions—and the tangy chickpeas with yogurt ($5.50). Paired with puffs of warm pita and a shareable order of kebabs from the grill—such as cubed chicken ($12 lunch, $16 dinner) or the ground-beef kibbeh ($13 lunch, $16 dinner)—they make a well-rounded meal. – Rina Rapuano, the Washingtonian
- Try the kabob chicken or eggplant carefully seasoned with just the right amount of spices and fresh vegetables. Be one of the first to discover this Middle Eastern treasure, your stomach will thank you for it. – Metromix
- Outstanding quality beef grilled with excellent execution. – MichaelK2774, Zagat
- Kababji Grill was a cool, eclectic serendipitous discovery that every foodie relishes. I am totally eager to come back! – Kristina K., Yelp
Kababji Grill
An expansive dividing screen of embossed trapezoids forms a complex, glowing tessellation through which patrons can glimpse the next dining room. There, the wooden bar seems not to have been built, but to have grown organically at a tapered angle from of the smooth hardwood floor. Between the cushy banquettes, wine cabinets are lit from below and ornately carved slabs of stone from Lebanon hang on the walls.
Tendrils of smoke unfurl like dark blossoms from the kitchen, where a brick oven fueled by natural, all-wood charcoal roasts kebabs, removing excess fat and sealing in flavor. The cooks take a firm stance against chemicals and preservatives, slicing meat fresh daily and utilizing all-natural olive oil cold-pressed and filtered in Lebanon. Servers take a moment to adjust to the gentle lighting as they bear dishes to tables, where glasses clink together, filled with one of more than 100 bottled wines. Lebanese arak, an anise seed liquor, cools over ice on the surface of a granite counter polished to a patina by the excited chatter of geologists.
Customer Reviews
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