Turkish Pizza!?! Cafe 8 -- Capitol Hill / Barrack's Row

Gary and I had one of our first dates at Ellington's on Eighth (awwww), so we were a little sad to see it go. In its place popped up Cafe 8, a Turkish / Mediterranean place. We'd heard some good things about it from friends, so on Friday night (aka "date night") we decided to give it a try.

I loved the decor of the place-- it is actually much more inviting than Ellington's was, with warm colors and candles everywhere. We had a cozy table by the fireplace.

So, how does a Mediterranean restaurant make it into the pizza blog, you ask? Because Cafe 8, we found to our delight, has Turkish pizza! They are called pides (pronounced PEE-days) and they are kind of a cross between a pizza and a calzone. The pizza dough is spread out, the toppings are put inside, and the edges are folded over so it has an oblong shape, kind of like a little canoe, or an calzone with an opening. Another thing that makes it different than a traditional pizza is that it doesn't have sauce, but many of the varieties have tomato in it.

We had a pide with eggplant, olives, and a traditional Turkish cheese in it. I thought it was excellent. The crust/bread was soft and buttery, and the cheese was mild but flavorful.

Gary's thoughts: "It was good... but a little too bready... although the bread was good."

Personally, I loved Cafe 8. From the little appetizers (falafel, stuffed grape leaves, hummus) to the salad (feta, cucumbers, and tomatoes), to the baklava for dessert, everything was tasty. And as an added bonus, the prices were quite reasonable, which is hard to find in this town. Gary liked it too, but was a little less effusive in his praise. He didn't think the pides were very "pizza-y".

Cafe 8 does have a woodburning oven, and they actually have regular pizza on the menu, too. So perhaps we'll have to visit again and try the traditional pies.

Our scores for the Turkish pizza:

Liza: 3.5 stars
Gary: 3.0 stars

UPDATE: I had a "regular" pizza at Cafe 8, and it was pretty... eh. 1.5 stars. Stick with the pides!