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Very Best Restaurants: Bacchus

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Bacchus **
Washington, Bethesda, $

Twenty years ago, when Usama Al'Jallad opened his Bacchus on Jefferson Place, local Middle Eastern restaurants were plain-looking places that dished out their limited repertory of exotic food with little effort at presentation. Over the years, Al'Jallad has not only greatly expanded his set menu, which includes a sheet at the front listing newly added specialties, but has also encouraged his cooks to make their dishes look as good as they taste.

In this intimate restaurantas at the impressive tented and tiered dining pavilion of the Bacchus in Bethesdathere are robust main courses filling enough to make a one-plate meal: meaty layerings of sliced lamb and crisp wedges of pita bread bound in a heroic quantity of garlic-flavored yogurt, or cinnamon-scented pilafs topped with slices of lamb or chicken. Even the moist, sausage-shaped kebabs made from a mixture of minced beef, onions, and parsley are generous enough in portion that diners with light appetites will have to choose whether to order an appetizer or a dessert.

The alternative, which Bacchus popularized before tapas became a trend, is the Middle Eastern version of a feast of many little dishes, collectively called a mezza. Order three or four dishes from the extensive offering of appetizers, and prepare for a convivial feast. The spicy Turkish sausages and the fried turnovers stuffed with meat are irresistible, but even if you just order the vegetable dishes, you'll leave feeling you have dined very well.

Bacchus , 1827 Jefferson Place NW, Washington; 202-785-0734. Open Monday through Friday for lunch, Monday through Saturday for dinner. MapIt!

Bacchus , 7945 Norfolk Ave., Bethesda; 301-657-1722. Open Monday through Friday for lunch, daily for dinner. MapIt!

QUALITY: ****Excellent; *** Superior; **Very Good; * Good
PRICE RANGE: $$$= Very Expensive; $$ Expensive; $=Moderate; ¢=Inexpensive

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