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| - Creeping senility: I thought I'd reviewed this place in 2005. The public area is probably about 600 square feet, but every inch is jammed with Fertile Crescent / Mediterranean goodness.
This is a bakery, restaurant, and grocery. The restaurant part of the operation has a an extensive menu of flesh-based and vegetarian options. There are plates, salads, and sandwiches. The plates (kebabs, gyros, etc,.) usually come with a decadent rice pilaf, your choice of tabbouleh or Greek salad, and tsatsiki. There are a few grilled chicken dishes, and the chicken is always moist with a nice char.
MEB&D also bottles its own spices. Not as diverse as Penzey's, but it's nice to have an option on 16th St. Hat tip to Adam M. on the olives -- they're delicious.
Dessert? They serve different forms of baklava, turkish coffee, and homemade halvah (they'll slice off a piece with a scimitar-looking blade for a sample -- impress your friends!).
Tips:
- You can buy Greek tobacco soap.
- The soup of the day is always avgolemono. It always will be until the mountains crumble and our love is through. Sometimes there's an excellent red lentil as a second option.
- They have great par-cooked or reheatable stuff -- it's in the frozen section.
- MEB&D is an effective and affordable option to cater a party on short notice (I've done this).
IMO the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The components are all four-star, but the place gets the fifth for the "park-once, enjoy-many" experience.
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