One of my new favorite restaurants. Will definitely be coming back! Loved every single thing I got (got about 10 things).
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Wish I could make it 4.
5 stars! I've been here twice and got the all you can eat small plates and it's definitely worth the price. Great scenery and ambiance with plenty of choices for anybody. The seafood dishes were best in my opinion such as the shrimp with corn purée and mussels. Some things were kind of a miss/eh but nothing was bad!
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Really great experience and endless food.
The food just kept coming! We had a group of eight and we all opted for the endless food option. It wasn’t even clear who was ordering the food just kept coming. We were never waiting for some thing and our waiter Sean was amazing. We had called ahead to ensure first floor seating for for a disabled party member and they readily accommodated. They even sat us a little early. They do strictly enforce their two hour time limit but that was OK as we were bursting at the seams by that point. They offer modified recipes to accommodate vegan and gluten-free patrons. Everything we had was delicious. The bill was a bit of a shock at the end because we bought wine that was not included in the endless drink but the good wine was worth every penny.
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Great experience at Ambar.
The food and service were great. We opted for both bottomless options. The food was fresh and came out quickly. I definitely recommend if your in the area stop by Ambar!!
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We had the most amazing dinner at Ambar! We got the option
We had the most amazing dinner at Ambar! We got the option with unlimited tapas style dishes and drinks - it was sooo good!! I highly recommend the lamb lasagna, garlic beans dip, kebab, salmon (the list goes on!!) - you can't go wrong here and the service is fast and gracious! I cannot wait to be back!!! Thank you!!
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Fabulous food and super service.
Love this place and recommend it to everyone. The price is very reasonable for the amount of food you can or will eat. Definitely on my favorite list.
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Food and service are amazing!!! This place is me and my
Food and service are amazing!!! This place is me and my wife's go to for date night. The slow cooked lamb = Bomb
Delicious craft cocktails & many Baltic food options! We suggest the experience, where you get to order multiple items off of the menu, basically all you can eat while you’re there, small plates allows you to try so many unique dishes, we had lunch here.
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Loved the food, service was alright.
$34.99 for unlimited small plates was a great deal! I recommend picking at least 2-3 savory dishes at the start because the food could take a little long to come out and our server didn't check on us as often as we would've liked. If we hadn't had to wait so long to order more dishes, we would've gotten more food for sure.
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This was our first time doing bottomless brunch so we were
This was our first time doing bottomless brunch so we were new to this experience. We booked our reservation for 1:45 and the restaurant closed at 3:30. When we first arrived our waitress briefly explained to us how bottomless brunch worked. We ordered our food but not all of it came out. By the time we realized we were missing some of the food we ordered (we thought it was just delayed) since they don't bring everything you order all out at once, it was the final call to order food. We decided to order more food in case and realized that they had sent our food to another table, because of this, we ended up getting a discount. I would say this is one of the things the restaurant could improve on. It seemed like the kitchen and waitress/waiters weren't on the same page and they didn't know who ordered what. Our order ended up missing food 3 times. I would go back again, but I would go at an earlier time so I wouldn't feel rushed. Aside from our experience the food was delicious. Some of our favorite dishes were The Cheese Pie, Grilled Steak, Chicken and Cheese Slider, Hash browns, Waffles, and Sudzuk Beef Flatbread. The Mac and Cheese was okay (could be creamier) the beef slider tasted like it was frozen and then reheated (a bit chewy), and bacon and grits really had no flavor aside from the cheese in there. I would recommend this, but going at an earlier time (I feel) would give a better experience.
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Ambar is a great little joint.
It's always super busy so make sure to make your reservation. They're also very good about allergies. I'm allergic to gluten and my waiter Courtney was SOOOO helpful in making sure I was accommodated. Also, they were just a good time overall. The food is yummy, the atmosphere is fun, it's definitely worth the visit.
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Did the Ambar experience with my partner recently and it
Did the Ambar experience with my partner recently and it was incredible. $49 is a steal for the amount we both ate and drank. Our server was also great. We had the beef tartare, the tuna tartare, the cheese pie, lamb medallions, pork and veal sausage, smoke pork sausage (tasted like Hebrew National), the drunken mussels were so delicious we got two orders
I came here to celebrate my birthday with family. The food and service was good. At first I was unsure if the sample platters they gave us would be enough, but more and more came until I was literally about to burst!! Delicious. A very different experience.
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What an Experience! Ambar Experience and Unlimited Select Drinks! Do It All!
I am so glad a made reservations for this place. My fiancée and I went on a Saturday night around 730pm. Around 8pm it started to fill in. I would totally recommend the total Ambar experience! You get to try a little bit of everything. If 21+ spend the extra $25 for the unlimited select drinks. The food kept coming. Our waiter was very attentive, when she was swamped with drink orders, she recognized that we need assistance so she went to get help and had the front of the house manager help us out. The food. OMG THE FOOD! Balkan cuisine is now my favorite type of food! The food was very flavorful and the perfect temperature. We started out with the Lamb Soup, and it was so delicious and creamy. Their spreads were life changing. The Urnebes was so smooth and creamy and sent sparks of intense flavor to my brain. I did not have a favorite dish there were a multitude of dishes that was the highlight of the evening. The 6-hour Lamb was super tender, the meatballs where tight and delicious. The sauce that it was bathed in had some really subtle bite. everything was so hearty and filling. The were very accommodating with me with my peanut allergy. They seemed to general care about those who have dietary restrictions and food allergies. I will never forget this place.
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Great Food, average service
I'd give this a 3.5 but went with 4 to be generous. Firstly I'd say the food is great and value for money I don't think you can beat in what is an expensive city. The menu has plenty of choices, but each meal is essentially a very small portion (think tapas but half the size again) so you have to try everything on the menu. The restaurant itself is set across 3 or 4 floors so its big but its also very busy. When we arrived nobody took our details, we had to go to the reception and tell them twice who we were before we finally got seated after 10 minutes of standing around (we had a reservation). We were right on top floor of the restaurant, and there was a very loud table of young locals near us who'd clearly enjoyed the unlimited drinks option a little too much. The waiter was very friendly and tried their best to keep us fed and watered but I think it was a struggle to manage the sheer number of customers and food that kept arriving upstairs. We ordered nearly everything but some food was missed and some arrived at the wrong table, they could do with being more organised My recommendation would be to order the meat dishes first as these were the ones missed and we weren't the only table with this issue. The unlimited drinks option is a great addition and reasonable priced, I had the lager and my wife had the white house wine which was nice.
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Great $44 all you can eat option. Excellent meat dishes
Great unlimited option for $44. Good for menfolk who have hit the gym and then want to feed their weapons of war. Get all the slow roasted meat options.
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Food and vibe are great
Whenever we are in the area, we add a stop at Ambar to our plans. The menu has enough variety to suite anyone and the drinks are deliciously powerful. It is a lively and a fun place to go with a group.
We selected the all you can eat option for dinner and were thoroughly satisfied from all the choices and flavors. Our favs are the stuffed peppers, flatbread, trout, lamb lasagna, chicken skewers. Lovely! The food kept coming and we kept eating. No room for dessert! Service was attentive and our Outdoor seating was convenient. Highly recommend.
Eater beware!! Ambar's much ballyhooed try everything menu is really "managed dining" as they clearly work hard to reduce the overall amount of food you receive for $25/person. The waiter takes first orders and then disappears for long periods to slow down your ability to order again or reorder an item you might like. We had to constantly flag down other waiters to try and order new items, ask where our food was, ask why items never showed up, and get our drinks refilled. Our party of 6 had the gratuity added, so our waiter had no incentive to provide even barebones service. We do not recommend eating here due to the incredibly long waits for food to come out, dwindling food amounts, wrong items delivered to our table, and surly waiter attitude throughout. The price is too high for the small amount of food you receive and extremely disappointing service. Go elsewhere.
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Pretty disappointed with my experience at Ambar.
I had an early reservation for two people on a Saturday evening. It took a while to get our first set of drinks and place our food order. The food tasted good but everything we ordered came out warm, not hot. We sat for most of the evening with empty drink glasses, waiting for our waiter to return so we could request another round. I observed our waiter just standing at the bar waiting for drink orders most of the night - not that the bar was slow, just that our waiter seemed unable to multi-task and was serving a single table at a time. Also, he never once checked in with us about the food. At the end of the meal we sat for 15 minutes waiting to ask for the check, the waiter promised to bring the check and we sat sat for another 15 minutes watching him bring checks to other tables but not ours. Finally, he walked by and I just gave him my credit card because after sitting with no drinks and no food for over 30 minutes we were beyond ready to leave. He didn't apologize or even bring the check back himself...he gave it to a food runner to drop. I can understand short staffed restaurants and slow service right now, but our waiter was just not good at his job, which ruined our experience. I should also mention that I saw who I believe was the floor manager walking around but she seemed more interested in making sure tables were sticking to their 2 hour time limit than checking in with diners to ensure they were having a good experience. I went here because of the reviews on Yelp, concept of all you can eat/drink and the menu. I won't be returning.
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Loved this place! The food was so good and definitely a
Loved this place! The food was so good and definitely a unique experience. We did unlimited tapas, and I wish I'd had room to try it all. Hope to be back soon and take advantage of the bottomless drinks too!
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A quote I say a lot is 'If you are on the dance floor,
A quote I say a lot is 'If you are on the dance floor, dance!' Aka, have passion for whatever you are doing. If you don't have passion, don't do it. And let me tell you, the entire staff at Ambar is dancing! The passion for the food, the passion for service, and the passion for so much more is shown. I came with a friend after a boozy brunch with plans to continue drinking. Which we did, but eventually were easily convinced to partake in the unlimited Ambar Experience. How were we convinced? Employees enjoying a break at the table next to us convinced us, and while our server did an amazing job at introducing the plates, the staff sitting next to us also took the time to explain the dishes. Passion. The only word I can think of to explain the overall amazing service, great food, and the sharing of knowledge by the staff. Great place to visit, enjoy Balkan cuisine, and experience a wonderful atmosphere.
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Great selection of foods, it was our first time trying
Great selection of foods, it was our first time trying Balkan food and it did not disappoint! Friendly staff as well!
Most of the deals are delicious, but I think they were designed for having drinks. Good price for lunch! But a little overpriced for dinner.
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Ambar is one of the best food experiences DC has to offer!
Ambar is one of the best food experiences DC has to offer! Fun concept, delicious food, and great service. We loved everything we tried. David was an excellent server and took great care of us!
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Pretty solid for the full experience.
All of the dishes were good and flavorful and definitely a great and unique meal. I really liked the chicken skewers and the steak tartar the best. For the price, it's quite worth it I would say for an excellent filling meal.
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That buffets style small plate brunch-EPIC.
The lighting on the top floor is amazing g for photos
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Great food and a great selection of different American and
Great food and a great selection of different American and Balkan dishes. Do the all you can eat and indulge all the options. Fast service and solid vegan options, including some vegetarian dishes that can be made vegan on request. Make sure to try the fried sourdough!
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Excellent food and great experience
5/5 by
Kay M on 03/17/2022
This was our first experience of Balkan food. The waiter was extremely knowledgeable about the menu and the cuisine. The food was delicious and I wouldn’t hesitate to return.
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Favorite brunch spots in Arlington.
The food is always really good and the mimosas. The ambience is my favorite--airy and filled with plants
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Great service from Smilia.
Slow cooked lamb and sarma were the best. Couple it with rakija. Highly recommended!!
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It was a great experience overall.
We chose the Ambar experience, and had a great two hour long brunch with a lot of excellent food. Hard to go wrong with the various options, the favorites were definitely the salmon Benedict and cinnamon balls (probably went by a different name). Service was good, I think they started to slow us down towards the end but we were still able to order plenty of food.
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Per usual, my peeps over at Ambar didn't disappoint.
Let me lend a bit of perspective, I was 30 mins late to my 1:45pm Sunday reservation for my homegirl birthday (freaking D.C. traffic/accident & residential neighborhood I parked in). The hostess was a dream, and did what needed to be done in getting us a seat on the rooftop! Granted the roof isn't always ideal because I'm pretty sure it can be tiring for the staff to run up and down all those flights of stairs. Nonetheless, my homegirl was almost 45 mins late to her own birthday reservation & the waitress was so understanding. When another table left, because we had so much food & cupcakes, the waitress gave us an extra table for space.Now we frequent Ambar, so we read the menu before hand & noticed they recently add the shrimp omelette & had to try it (this is your sign you should too!) We placed all our food & drink orders & mingled with the other patrons. Then we even had a visit from the manager, Blair, she's a doll! It was a time, to the point we left our cupcakes with the staff for being so understanding. Which I'm thinking of having my birthday brunch there in April, just because they are so accommodating (when it came to us being late, the staff got us all of our food & drinks were impeccable - no complaints).All this to say, the staff did their thing!
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Ordered almost everything for brunch and everything was
Ordered almost everything for brunch and everything was delicious except for the grits. It had 0 flavor and was a wadte to me. However, every other dish was delightful. Would recommend going but be sure to make reservations a day before as it gets extremely crowded and busy.
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Great Food, Service, & Atmosphere! Ask for David!
David took excellent care of us and truly made us feel at home. He had great food and drink recommendations, and he took the time to get to know us. We will definitely be returning and highly recommend you get here as soon as you can!
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Subpar service and salty food.
2 stars only because some of the food we chose was decent. My friends and I were visiting DC and was excited to try this place given it was on the Bib Gourmand list, but I wish we hadn't.First, for roughly $45 you can order a little bit of everything from the menu (excludes drinks and desserts). This is definitely a new concept, but the food was just NOT that outstanding. The Ambar Mezze (appetizer sampler) was decently good, but nothing to write home about. Everything else was just way TOO SALTY. Next, the service was just...awful. It was hard to understand our server and he was always pulling excuses. He clearly forgot to put our order in and after we waiting HALF AN HOUR, he would come back as if nothing happened. Other tables with different servers were getting their food...but we just waited. He tried to blame it on the kitchen, but we knew he forgot to put in the order - some honesty there would have been appreciated - just apologize and say you forgot to put it in. When we finally got some food (this was our 3rd time telling him), we had no silverware or plates, and he didn't even notice until we had to wave him down. When it was time to pay the bill, we wanted to split 3 ways between 3 people and split the drinks between just 2 people, and he yet again pulled another excuse -- saying "well you should just split it 3 ways because it won't be much of a difference" in the most condescending tone. No, thank you, Joel - you don't need to tell us how to split a bill - it's basic math. It just felt like he was too lazy to do anything, and it was so hard to understand him it was so frustrating.We also sat away from the front door, and it was still cold inside, so dress warm. I've seen other reviews saying this place is cold so be prepared.For $45, you can get much better food and service elsewhere, so keep walking and don't try this out. Honestly surprised this even made Bib Gourmand. I saw that Ambar is expanding very quickly, and I just can't understand the good reviews it's getting. Please don't expand anymore - keep this awful food and establishment contained in DC.
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Every dish is amazing! Love the veal soup and the mussels.
5/5 by
M. A. on 02/25/2022
. their service is great and I crave their food every so often and have to go again.
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This is my favorite spot in DC! I can't stop coming back! I
This is my favorite spot in DC! I can't stop coming back! I haven't found anywhere that beats this deal for such amazing food. If you're going, make sure to come hungry and go for the all you can eat. $45 for unlimited tapas+ you can add unlimited drinks for $25. If you've got a group down to try lots of things then this is the place for you. The cocktails are great and I liked every single thing on the menu. Special shoutout to the brussel sprouts and the salmon. On top of all that the atmosphere is great with chic but homey decor. If the weather is nice definitely ask to sit at the rooftop.
A must visit. Food was amazing and David was an attentive waiter who provided a great experience. Lamb lasagna was my favorite but everything was delicious.
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GOOD NEWS always comes first.
Food was delicious and never missing flavor. We went for brunch, and attempted to order as much as we could to try a bit of everything. Servings are small so order more than you think you'd like to eat.My favorite dishes were the grilled steak, Balkan salad and pecan & maple waffle. Of the dips with bread offered, the beet tzatziki was the best. First critique is that they only offer all you can eat for $35. No option to order from an ala carte menu. I found this a little weird especially for breakfast/brunch when you're just trying to get your day started. All you can eat first thing in the morning isn't ideal, but we weren't able to get a table at our originally planned restaurant so we settled. Next, we had to sit at the bar because there were no tables available, which was our fault for not making a reservation. However, the bar attendant initially came off extremely rude. We watched as he rubbed every party sitting at the bar the wrong way. Saying things such as "are you ready to order yet? Because you only have 2 hours," and "order 6 plates at a time because that's all I can bring out." We also watched as a party of two came in separately and was given different start times, that he blatantly logged into his phone and showed these women. He made it feel like he didn't want you there right from the get go. As our experience went on, we learned that it was sort of his sense of humor. But as a first impression, it was quite off putting. I wish I remembered his name, but I forgot. Overall, the food was great. We ordered enough that it was worth the price. We all agreed that service could use a little work.
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We came here on a Friday night and then returned on Sunday
We came here on a Friday night and then returned on Sunday for the Ambar Experience. Picture it: we sit at the bar. We are assisted by Markco. We feast. Literally plate after plate of the most delicious Balkan food. At the end of the night we got treated to their trio of desserts. This was an experience we will return again and again for. The wonderful service, MARKCO! and delicious food. Recommend highly. Don't sleep on this place.
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You should definitely try the unlimited dinner menu - I am
You should definitely try the unlimited dinner menu - I am a vegetarian and I loved the options they have in that menu
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I only had apps & drinks.
It was an acceptable experience. Food was good. Service was good.
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One word 'AwesomeAmazingness!' Just realized that I
One word 'AwesomeAmazingness!' Just realized that I cannot post without saying more:)Excellent dining experience, Delicious array of small plates.Great service and atmosphere.
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Over rated, greasy and not quintessential Eastern European
Food is over rated and too greasy.
As a born and raised Eastern European, I know a thing or two about our cuisine so this review is written through the eyes of someone who grew up with this food and wanted to reminisce. We ordered the menu for 2, to feed our family.
The highlights were the salad with feta cheese and the marinated chicken. I highly recommend those.
Aside from these, everything was way too greasy and flavor was sacrificed at its expense. Our Eastern European bread is home made bread, and is NOT greasy. We pickle a variety of vegetables so I ordered pickles. The pickled cauliflower was a delight, but it was more of half a cauliflower floret, 2 halves pickles, some pickled carrots, and the rest was pickled onion. So much picked onion. That was disgusting.
I will not order from here again and cannot recommend it unless you are into greasy food.