From Kliman Online’s “Word of Mouth”
The best thing about Kabob Bazaar, in Clarendon, isn't the dish that gives the place its name. They're fine, and you can have a nice (and filling) meal if you look to the kubideh (two kabobs of minced, spiced beef) and soft, fluffy, buttered rice. The thing to get, though, is the baklavah. If you've ever despaired at the prospect of sticky baklavah — of baklavah so cloyingly sweet you recoil before you've gotten halfway through — then you need to pay a visit to Kabob Bazaar. This baklavah arrives in the form of a large, golden-colored triangle, similar to an apple turnover. Honey is deployed with uncommon restraint; so is butter. In other words, you're never overwhelmed by gooeyness and richness; it's all about lightness and snap. The phyllo is marvelously layered and flaky, with a pronounceable crunch. Even if you were to stuff a handful of potato chips in your mouth, you couldn't produce a sound quite like the one you get when you first bite down on this pastry.
-July 17, 2007
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
