Last week, the Washington Post put out a list of the city’s best cakes, and wouldn’t you believe our team somehow ended up co-working from bakery #3 mere days later.
Sharbat is an Azerbaijani pastry shop in the heart of Adams Morgan. Their counter is brimming with phyllo delicacies, from pakhlava to sausage rolls, but we were there, first and foremost, for cake.
The honey cake had made the WashPo list, and it was the perfect level of sweetness, albeit a little dry. But as a team, we were most into the pistachio and apricot slices. They had the best frosting-to-cake ratios, and the flavoring was rich, but not overpowering. The apricot slice especially mastered the sweet/tangy balance, a trait shared by the raspberry cake.
Then, we backed our way into lunch, which actually outshined dessert. We got the:
- Gurza (beef dumplings served with yogurt and a tomato sauce)
- Farmer’s sandwich (egg, soujouk, grape tomatoes, cilantro, and spinach, in between two slices of a flaky spiced dough called goghal)
- Pilaf (spiced rice with beef)
- Soujouk Egg (an omelet topped with spicy sausage, with a fluffy loaf on the side).
The Farmer’s Sandwich. Ain’t she a beauty? (Kaela Cote-Stemmermann/Hey DC)
It all smelled amazing and tasted even better. No notes.
Read more about Sharbat in this touching review by food critic Tom Sietsema, and then listen to this podcast episode to hear all of his juicy, food industry secrets.
