Ambar Restaurant 1

It is a Balkan American Kitchen and Rakia Bar. It is located on Barracks Row which gets its name from the Marine Barracks that are located along the street. The Navy Yard is just around the corner from this popular strip along 8th Street, SE on Capitol Hill. It is an easy walk from the Eastern Market Metro stop. It is a fantastic area.
Ambar Restaurant in DC offers a 20% discount for military members. From our first step into Ambar we were welcomed with smiles and friendly faces. Uros Smiljanic, the general manager, greeted us with handshakes and a warm welcome. His face lit up as he shared the history of how Ambar Restaurant came to be.

We began our evening with a round of drinks from Ambar's Rakia Bar. Mike enjoyed a light Balkan bottled beer and Uros selected a cocktail called Podgorica for me. It was a grappa rakia / aji amarillo / passion fruit / mango / lime drink. Both were full of flavor.

My husband and I feasted on a 4 course tapas style meal of Balkan foods.

We started out with a Smoked Trout dip that was light and fresh, with delicately smoked salmon and we shared the White Flatbread freshly baked flat bread with four white cheeses melted on top. Next up were Roasted Mushroom Crepes that were divine and Brussels Sprouts with Bacon served on a tangy yogurt sauce. These were the most delicious brussel sprouts I have ever eaten! They are a must for ordering at Ambar. By this point we were so full that we could barely continue eating, but of course we did continue.

For our third course we had the Balkan Burger. This is the best burger I have ever eaten! My husband loved this burger too. He recommends that anyone coming into Ambar should definitely order the Balkan Burger.

Finally, comes the divine ending to an already fabulous meal ....dessert! Four Chocolates dessert was the perfect balance with rich, thick chocolate and cold, creamy raspberry sorbet. We also indulged in the white chocolate panna cotta with strawberry yogurt and a hazelnut biscuit. Mike capped off the evening with an espresso he said was equivalent to the best espressos he has had across Europe on his various naval deployments.