Paul and I christened our Savored memberships last week by having dinner at Mourayo, a Greek restaurant located just off Dupont Circle. I really like the idea of Greek food – lots of fish, vegetables, olives (deelish) – but don’t know it that well so I was looking forward to an educational experience. Unfortunately, I came away from the table knowing less than when I walked into the place. If eating Greek food means eating heavily oiled food, then I get it. However, I can’t help but think that’s not the case. The dining room is striking, though, with tables situated right on Connecticut Ave., and the place definitely has a nice ambience. But like I said, the food a bit was too oily for me. We split an appetizer of Poikilia Lahanikon “Messene” ($15.95), an assortment of hot & cold vegetarian dishes- tomato cucumber, eggplant salad, beets, baked white broad baked beans, vegetarian patties, grilled vegetables, and tzatziki. The baked beans were really good but overall the appetizers could have been lighter. For dinner, I decided on the seared scallops which were actually pretty good but served atop a cauliflower puree that was swimming in oil. Paul ordered a salted cod entree that both of us thought was a bit too fried. I think we were expecting the dish to be pan sautéed – unfortunately not the case. That said, maybe I just don’t know Greek food after all. The staff was friendly and the location is great so I’d certainly give Mourayo another try, perhaps for the whole grilled fish and one of tasty looking salads I saw delivered to the other tables.

Mourayo Restaurant
1732 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington DC 20009
http://mourayous.com/