Levante’s: A Turkish (and more) delight
If you like dips, such as hummus or Baba Ghanouj, but you don’t like restaurants dressed up like the Parthenon, then Levante’s is a perfect setting to enjoy both.
It features a prominent and popular outdoor sidewalk space across from the Dupont Metrorail subway station for people watching during warm weather. Levante’s offers a Mediterranean menu with foods from Greece, Turkey, Lebanon and even Israel in the form of falafel, stuffed grape leaves, Turkish pides, cheese-filled fried phyllo cigars and Tsatziki.
Originally an Austrian chain which spread across Europe, The Levante’s enjoys two locations in DC: one in Dupont Circle in Northwest Washington and one in Bethesda, Md. Its wood-fired ovens provides charcoal-roasted meats and vegetables, and its interior is a light wood and natural stone setting with white tablecloth service to evoke the cool, rustic Mediterranean.
In warmer months, an ideal evening includes sitting outside on the patio, sharing the cold mezze platter with a glass of Greek wine. Levante’s bakes its own fresh flatbread for dipping.
Choice entrees include the mixed grill plate of meats seasoned in the restaurant’s own special blend of spices, including the Adana kebab, chicken skewers, shish kebab and lamb chops. The swordfish skewers are also a good bet, served on top of arugula and with a side of oven-roasted vegetables.
The inside dining room rarely gets full, but outside does, though you don’t have to wait long for a table. Staff is kind and aim to please. In colder months, people tend to shy away from the typically warm-weather cuisine, so you’ll always have a table.
Sports fans can keep one eye on the bar TV and the other on their dates. There’s happy hour Monday through Friday from 4pm to 7pm, where neighbors or after-work crowds from nearby offices gather to drink specialty cocktails and munch on fried calamari.
Posted by Rin-rin Yu
