Ambar Balkan Restaurant Soft Opens on Capitol Hill

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by Prince Of Petworth January 14, 2013 at 10:30 am 10 Comments

528 8th Street, SE

Back in Sept. ’12 learned some details about the new Balkan restaurant, Ambar, moving into the former Jordan’s 8 space on Barracks Row. They quietly soft opened on Friday night and the space looks amazing:

A peek at part of the menu after the jump.

Click to enlarge

DF

Can’t wait! Hope them all the best.
monkeyrotica

Hope they open for lunch at some point, seeing as they’re the only Balkan/Serbian restaurant in DC.
imagine_peace

There’s no burek?! It’s not authentic.
- monkeyrotica
  
  City Paper says they’re going the tapas/scene-ey vibe. I’ll stick with Cosmopolitan Grill, Euro Bistro, and Balkan Grill, which is right across the street from Huntington Metro.
sk

Went on Friday. Loved the inside & the food was pretty tasty.
victoriadear

Managed to luck out on Friday by grabbing a seat at this place. Food was great. We went with some folks that lived in Macedonia, and it seemed to bring back great memories.
Only problem I have is with the price and portion size.
Most of the portion sizes are barely share-able for two. Everything is horribly over-priced for the standard ingredients that seemed to be used. I really wanted to love this place, because it’s truly a gem (atmosphere, food, decor, staff)! But, I doubt I’ll be returning until they lower their prices or up their portion sizes.
Regardless, let me highlight some of my favorite bites:
-Balkan kabob rocked! Now, just serve it in some crusty bread, make an awesome sandwich of it, and we’re set.
-Ajvar is delicious and exactly what you would expect from a well-made eggplant/roasted pepper dip. But, WHY serve only a tablespoon worth on the prosciutto platter? Again, give me some crusty bread and a bowl of this stuff and I’d visit once a week!
-Spinach risotto was surprisingly tasty. Not sure what this has to do with Balkan cuisine (but I’m by no means an expert in Balkan cuisine)? They know how to cook risotto. Perfect.
-Cheese Pie. Yes! But oh so small.
We also tried some rakia (in the form of cocktails). Rakia will knock your socks off, and I don’t really recommend the idea of it in cocktails. But my Sofia was good! Super strong, but good.
Skip dessert. It’s not really worth it unless you’re looking to impress.
Everything is plated so artistically. It’s lovely. But I don’t want to pay for it.
- caroline
  
  Thanks for the review– I was expecting the high prices/small portions problem but it’s good to hear the food is good. I figured this would be more of a place to have drinks and snacks than a full meal anyway. I’m hoping the upstairs has a good late-night vibe because we could really use more of that sort of thing here.
Caroline

I attended the soft opening last Tuesday. It was fabulous! Not much in the way of vegetarian options (many of the vegetable plates have meat i them), but I’m an omnivore so it worked for me. Beautiful space. Service was slow, but that was expected as it was their second evening of the soft opening. I’m definitely going back!!
thomsenite

pljeskavica is the best
Anonymous

Hey Capitol Hill come in and say Hello! WE CAN NOT WAIT TO MEET YOU !!!!!!

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