Old City Cafe of Jerusalem, Washington, D.C.

That reminds me.....last Monday, while we were preparing dinner for the lodge, we grabbed a late lunch in nearby Adams-Morgan at a place called Old City Cafe of Jerusalem, since it was next door to the Safeway where we were picking up a couple of last-minute groceries. I wish I'd brought my camera, since they had a very interesting and colorful "toppings" bar filled with things to put on sandwiches and falafel. Most of the things were pickled vegetables of various sorts, plus they had various sauces, including house-made hummus and tahini. Robert just got a bowl of lentil soup that came with some pita and garnished with these interesting purple pickled turnips. I had a hummus sandwich and got to choose my own toppings from the bar. I enjoyed my sandwich, though next time, I will have to try the falafel—I only learned after-the-fact that this place is known for its falafel.

We were debating the ethnicity of the restaurant; clearly, the staff was Middle Eastern, but we decided that if they truly were from Jerusalem, they must have been Palestinians, since no one in the place had on a yarmulke and the art appeared to be rather more Islamic than Judaic (and having minarets in the backgrounds seemed to me a big clue). I also hear that the place is open until 4 a.m., so it's great for quick late-night meals.

Lebanese Taverna, Arlington, Va.

Another shopping outing to Pentagon City today gave us an opportunity to have dinner in Pentagon Row at the Lebanese Taverna while we were in the neighborhood.

Robert had the Taverna Platter. This was a combination plate with some beef and lamb shawarma, hommos, and tabouleh, plus two interesting dumpling-looking things called a fatayer b'sbanigh, a pastry stuffed with spinach, onions, pine nuts and sumac, and a kibbeh, a fried thing that was stuffed with lamb, beef, pine nuts and almonds, all very attractively presented in a divided rectangular tray.


I had a shawarma sandwich platter that included a regular green salad and French fries.


For dessert, we split something called a halawet jibne. They took a crepe made from semolina and filled it with a farmer-style goat cheese, and served it with a rose-scented sugar syrup and garnished it with a grating of pistachios and some orange zest. It was pleasant, and half a crepe was just the right amount. We also each had an Arab coffee with cardamom seeds floating in it.