Toastypanda

For mother’s day I returned to Northern Virginia and my family decided to try out this new Middle Eastern restaurant in Tysons II called the Lebanese Taverna. The atmosphere was amazing. I had no idea such a huge restaurant lived in that mall. Between the glass walls and the modern furniture, they kept it the scenery interesting while we ate.

Putting a Lebanese spin on things, the first thing served with drinks was pita bread. They are delicious, but watch out- they are puffy with the heat trapped inside, which can lead to some steam in the face or on hands when opened.

For appetizers, my family shared a Taverna Platter, which was a selection of their most popular appitizer dishes. This is where the pita bread I mentioned before comes in handy. The humus and the cilantro/tomato salsa are exquisite with real simple, but bold flavors (the later especially).

My main dish was a fish gyro off their lunch menu. My father ordered one of their pita pizzas and my sister and mother orders I do not remember. This is where the restaurant fails to impress. Don’t misunderstand, my fish gyro and the slice of my father’s pita pizza was good, but for the price we paid and compared to their appetizers, they failed to shine. The flavors were not as bold. From what I tasted of my mother’s and sister’s dishes, I have the same feeling about what they ordered. Good food, but not spectacular, again, especially in regards to the price (10+). I feel like you can get that kind of meal from a smaller middle eastern sandwich shop.

Desert, however, was extraordinary. We ordered the Turkish coffee cake with pistachio ice cream and some whipped cream. It was amazing how sweet the whipped cream was and how well the pistachio flavor mixed with the cake.

Overall, if you can spend the money, and want a nice place to eat/celebrate, this is a good choice. While the main dishes were by no means bad, I was unimpressed with my main dish. The appetizers and desert were amazing, however, so that might balance out your experience. Aside from the posh atmosphere, I feel like I could go to my local kabob shop and get more bang for my buck…but maybe I am just a poor college student.