Maydan

I based making the reservation on the Smokey Lamb Shoulder that my friend had there twice (and would have loved to have tried the goat). Unfortunately, my two friends wanted to select something else and I did not want to have the the Lamb Shouldert by myself. If they had went with my recommendation, I would probably be writing a beautiful review to let people know how great Maydan is.


We ordered the following for starters: Beiruti Hummus, M' Talbal and Muchamarra.
Kebabs for main dishes: Aleppo, Tenderloin, Saffron Lamb and the lady in our group had the Barramundi. Additionally we had all the condiments.

Our experience was terrible. The Aleppo, Tenderloin and Saffron Lamb were horrible and miniscule for the money spent. When these three puny kebabs arrived separated in rows on the same small metal dish I was shocked. The Aleppo was tasty but for the price was a ripoff........I could have gone to many places for a better dinner for the same price. The saffron lamb was some of the worst lamb I have ever had.....maybe 5 or 6 puny little chunks of the toughest and chewiest. The Tenderloin I did not try but my friend said was ok. Lastly, my other friend liked the fish, but again, very overpriced.
As for the spreads, the miniscule amount of the Beiruti Hummus and taste was an epic fail. I can go to dozens of local restaurants and get the best hummus in town with twice the amount for half the price. The other two were good but such a small portion for the price. We got all the condiments which for the price were the only good value there.

Lastly, thank God for the bread! I did not go there for the bread, but this turned out to be our savings grace. Without the bread, I would have left on an empty stomach.

My recommendation: Do not listen to the local food critics. Although I loved the inside of the restaurant, the ambiance and the excellent service, the food was sub-average.

Best dining experience in DC! Staff was amazing, food was so fast and the flavors were incredible. We felt great eating healthy food yet feeling spoiled!

As someone in the food and beverage industry (a roaster) I appreciate the attention to the flavor of the food. North African/ Mediterranean cooking is normally not at the top of my list as I find the ingredients usually presented in a boring and bland fashion. However, when prepared as well as at Maydan, these types of dishes move there. Well done and thanks for the fresh take on the Mediterranian diaspora.

We went for my husband's birthday and absolutely loved it! Great atmosphere, delicious food and great service! The music was a little loud, however overall very festive!

I'm from Chicago but saw your review in Food and Wine. I was in DC for one night, and was thoroughly impressed with everything. Service, Ambiance, and Food. I'll be back when I go back to DC!!

Great food to share. Definitely had to make reservations in advance. Hummus was out of this world and bread was delicious.

Excellent food and timely service, cocktails were great as well. The overall experience was worth it.

First rate in all respects.

Fabulous dinner celebrating our anniversary with friends. A bit noisy but not unmanageable. Food exceptional! Wish our reservation was earlier as very shortly after seating we were unable to order any other proteins because they had closed down the “fire”. Also, no acknowledgement of our anniversary although I made note on arrival as did our friends. We will return!

The ambiance was a definite 10/10. The open fire/grill is unique and fun to watch. Unfortunately food was good but not amazing, and our server clearly wanted to be elsewhere. Overall, it was a bit underwhelming. Definitely not worth the hassle of logging on to opentable at midnight 2 weeks in advance to snag a reservation at a reasonable hour.

The good news: interesting food, well prepared.

The rest: noise is unbearable and conversation impossible, very dark making it hard to read the menu (service stated she finds it hard to read in the dining area), AC not adequate due to fire for cooking (even receptionist was fanning herself), service is uneven and simple requests have to be repeated (sometimes more than once), reservations very hard to come by. Washrooms need attention.

Despite the interesting menu too many negatives. Probably would not return.

Excellent all the way around,

Amazing, great new flavors for me. I enjoyed the eggplant and kabobs. Rose was also worth trying

Excellent - great setting

Love love loved it.

Overall amazing experience. The moment you step into the dining room and see the open fireplace you know you are in a special place. The service was very friendly, gave recommendations and enough time to study the menu. We liked that the plates are small enough that even as a party of two we were able to try 10 of them. We enjoyed so many different aromas, it's hard to choose a favourite. But we especially liked the shrimp, which were marinated in a herby, garlicky sauce and the sticky, sweet squash. I recommend getting all the condiments, which were a highlight by themselves together with the freshly baked bread. They also have good cocktails and a small but nice wine selection. The price of our meal seemed very reasonable for what we got.

Simply the best!!

Fabulous experience, our waitress was phenomenal and walked us through every dish. Amazing service and the food was spectacular. Loved the vibe of the place

Absolutely fantastic food and service. If you are unfamiliar with a menu like this allow your wait person to suggest your menu choices.

Amazing experience! From the food to the service and the ambiance! It definitely is one of the top restaurants in DC hands down

Everything was delicious. Favorite dish was kombucha squash. Chef plays exquisitely with the flavors for an authentic yet unique twist. Great cocktails.

Good service, fun food experience. The lamb shoulder is an experience to try. Overall, we'd go back for that, but not the rest.

It was amazing

I went for my birthday and it did not disappoint. Best lamb I ever had

A fabulous experience! A little more expensive than the menu seems at first glance, because you end up ordering from up and down the menu, but worth the price for the food and ambiance.

All around terrible service experience. Too much to go into. I was really excited to go. Place looks awesome though.

Maydan was phenomenal! We heard from several friends that this place was the real deal. I stayed up until 12:01am to snag rezzies for two weeks in advance....worth it!

Faves:
Eggplant
Carrots
Halloumi
Barramundi
Shrimp

Good, but not super crazed about:
Squash
Whole chicken
Muhamarra
Both dessert options

Yes, we ordered a lot of food and ALL of the condiments. Will definitely be back to try the rest of the menu!

We were guided by Sierra through the menu and we took her advice. Wow! The flavors were amazing and service was top notch!! Can’t wait to dine again!! Advice: Try Everything!!

Absolutely excellent. A memorable meal. Would definitely return if traveling to DC again.

Maydan is certainly gem of a locale for special-occasions and foodies with diverse palates. With the variety of food options and their array of dressings, flavor pairings can change throughout the meal in extraordinary ways. The only thing I would suggest is skipping dessert: it's definitely of the same caliber, but you don't need something sweet after such a flavorful array of savory main menu items.

Overall pretty good. Lamb was $100 but it was 62 oZ of meat and was good for dinner next night.

We tried to order the small plates as “apps” but the chef only wants you to order everything at once...even though they end up bringing out the smaller plates first, like apps. Waitress was kind of odd but otherwise was all good. Very dark inside.

Amazing meal, service and atmosphere. Could not recommend highly enough.

Wonderful! Will be back many times and most definitely recommend to anyone looking for great food, great service and a wonderful ambience.

What an experience! The food was delicious, the drinks were refreshing, and the vibe was PERFECT! can't wait to go back again

This was our second time at Maydan and it definitely does not disappoint. The atmosphere is great and the bread never stops coming. The first time we visited, we sat down stairs where all of the action is. I preferred this experience compared to the upstairs, but the upstairs was still fun and well decorated. For the food, the beef tenderloin is the one of the best I've ever had. I recommend getting all of the condiments! They are delicious on the bread and meats. The cauliflower and carrots are notable. The lamb kebab was great the first time, but was dry and crumbly the second though had great flavor. The drinks are excellent and the draft wine was particularly good (and cheap). Highly recommend.

Amazing!!!

Absolutely amazing! So delicious with so much variety!
Well worth the wait to get the reservation!

Absolutely delicious! I would highly recommend to anyone looking for authentic middle eastern cuisine.

The food at Maydan is creative and delicious, as are the drinks. Service was a bit brusque. It is very loud.

Cool setting, but too loud, too smoky, service was subpar. Food was ok but not fantastic.