Ambar

Date
1/28/2018

Location
Clarendon, just up from the Metro stop
2901 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA

What I ate
Uhh, everything? Here's the full menu

Who came
Brittany
Mark
Xander
Laura
Tiffany

Website
Ambar Clarendon

Thoughts
By my count, we had at least 35 different dishes and, counting re-orders, well over 50 separate plates. Our waiter took excellent care of us, seizing on our initial hesitation to offer to take us on a tour of the menu. Delicious dish after delicious dish just kept appearing. The portions were just enough to have a taste and leave plenty of room for the next one. I'll do a bit of a general rundown and pick out the highlights.

We had samplers for each of the first three - mezze, kajmak, and spreads. Each cured meat was a little different. One of the prosciuttos had a slight sweetness to it that made it stand out. We were a little worried about kajmak after the waiter's description, but those fears were unfounded. It was light and easily spreadable; the herb one was my favorite. Of the spreads, the slightly sweet bread may have been the real star, though each were tasty. I could probably eat the urnebes (aged cow cheese and red pepper flakes) by the spoonful.

The meat pie was the first time I almost strayed from the sampling menu. It was light and delicious, the kind of thing I could have eaten a half dozen of and not realized anything was happening. I know it wasn't the intent, but they looked like rugelach, which wasn't a bad thing. The flatbread (read: pizza) was good, though a bit of a deviation from the rest of the menu. The stuff:crust ratio was too low. The salads were mostly unremarkable. The best one was the slaw, but more as an accompaniment to the sausages that were to follow. The marinated peppers also would be an OK topping, but weren't much on their own.

The pepper and cheese croquette gave me yet another use for panko. It made for a light, flaky shell around the tasty filling. We kept the vegetables coming, with the sprouts, asparagus, and zucchini latkes being popular up and down the table.

In my quick notes about the slow cooked food section I wrote "star of the meal!" Remembering it, that's totally correct. The cinnamon in the moussaka hinted at sweetness without actually being sweet and made each bite a little journey. Not only did the stuffed cabbage remind me of that time Brittany and I cooked halupki for ScavHunt, but it was tasty, too. The pepper they stuffed was as sweet as the snacking peppers and a great complement for the filling.

Oh yeah, the meats! They kinda ran together. A week or so out, I remember the jokes more than the taste. The salmon was pretty good. We were probably all a bit too stuffed to appreciate the seafood, which seemed to disappoint our waiter. That didn't stop him from bringing us what I can only describe as Balkan churros, even though we didn't order dessert. Despite being full, there was juuust enough room for them and the chocolate sauce and strawberries that accompanied them.

There was a ton (almost literally) of food to write about, but I don't want to forget the other aspects of the meal. Our service was great, with full plates arriving and empty ones leaving quickly. Our waiter was patient with our questions and we were happy to let him guide the whole experience. It's a cozy space and it was sometimes tough to hear all the way across the table. That didn't stop us talking about our favorite dishes and generally having a great time.

Recap
Pros - Delicious food and plenty of it, excellent service
Cons - None. Maybe it's a little loud?
Overall - Well worth it. I'm eager to go back and test repeatability, even if menu doesn't change