Shouk

VEGANS (and non vegans) IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO TRY IN DC THIS IS THE SPOT!! Honestly some of the best food I’ve had from a restaurant in awhile- I’m still thinking about this shawarma weeks after buying it. 🤧🤧 would totally eat here again!

Food was delicious, falafel was crunchy on the exterior and inside was moist with a punch of flavor. Lacks customer service and ambiance. There is no music playing or anything much to it.

In town visiting and found this gem. Walked in to take (take-out). Love the vibe and friendly staff. You order on a iPad screen on the wall. The menu has a great selection. Price and portion was great! Came back the next day to have lunch before heading out of town again. Worth it! Parking if your lucky to find it.

All I'll say is zaatar Cauliflower was the best cauliflower I've ever had anywhere in my life!
Love that they have all these vegan options and taste super great.

Their ambiance is also super cool 😎

Stopped in here for lunch with a group of friends. Had no clue it was a vegean restaurant but it didn't matter, the food is incredible. There is so much flavor with every bite. I ordered the za'atar cauliflower with rice and we also ordered hummus, pita, falafel and the fries to share on the table. There was so much food and everything was delicious. The cauliflower was so balanced between the spice of the cauliflower and creaminess of the yogurt and the crunch from the chickpeas. The pita was like a nice warm pillow. The falafel and fries were all perfectly crispy and seasoned. And the hummus...excellent. Highly recommend. Wish I had one nearby.

The shouk burger is definitely worth coming back for. It was so great, and the prices are pretty reasonable here. I would love to someday see Shouk come to the West Coast. I didn't realize when you pay extra for a sauce on the burger, that it isn't actually added onto the burger, so I accidentally ate it without the sauce, thinking that the little container was a sauce for the fries. Oops. It's still really good, though!

The spice fries "tossed in super secret shouk spice" didn't taste any different than other seasoned fries, so in the future, I'm going to stick with hummus or lentil soup as the side dishes. The featured photos of their fries on Google Maps are outdated. The fries no longer look like that.

The malabi coconut milk pudding was wonderful, and the mint went very well with the raspberry. I found the 6oz portion to be small, though

Overall: 4.1/5 (dine in)

It was Friday so we were looking for a vegan place for lent. Did a quick Yelp search and found Shouk which looked really good so we decided to try it for lunch. We did street metered parking across the restaurant. They have a kiosk where you place your order then they will call your name when your order is ready. I really like their packaging where they put our pitas in a cardboard box that has the pull thing so you can break the box in half. The pitas don't look big but they're filling.

Shouk Burger ($13.75): I thought it was pretty good until I switched to the Fried Shouk'n. Then when I went back to the Shouk Burger, it tasted different (not as good) for some reason so I recommend sticking to one flavor. I enjoyed the tomato jam and pickled turnip but wish there was more sauce.

Fried Shouk'n ($13.65): It was cold by the time I tried it but my husband liked this a lot more than the Shouk burger. Overall the flavors were good. The oyster mushroom schnitzel doesn't stay crispy long so you have to eat it right away. The cabbage pieces were a bit too big and would have been better if they were cut into smaller pieces. The harissa mayo isn't spicy.

Having provided many delicious, super satisfying lunches and dinners, Shouk has absolutely earned its spot as one of my favorite and most-frequented restaurants in the DMV. After all, with its super flavorful and delicious menu, affordable price point, and fantastic service, it's hard NOT to love this spot. Shouk is a fully plant-based restaurant, but I've taken many of my meat-eating friends to test it out and the resounding response has been that Shouk's mastery of spices and achieving the golden balance of flavors, textures, and temperatures means that you won't miss the meat at all.

As far as which item on their relatively limited, but still phenomenal menu you should pick...it's honestly so hard to make a recommendation because everything is just so darn amazing! Their TV-famous burger is famous for a reason -- it may not really taste like cow or lamb, but it's packed with an insane amount of flavor. Veggie burgers have a tendency to be super mushy, and while Shouk's is mushy compared to real meat, it honestly held up super well. They also char the outside of the burger, giving it some extra structural integrity, crunch, and flavor. It was, admittedly, a little bit too salty, but it provides a good balance against the rest of the ingredients in the bowl or pita. I opted to get the burger in a bowl with a mix of greens and grains (which was just white rice and lentils), and it came topped with a super refreshing pickled turnip, a small dollop of tomato jam that, despite not looking like much, absolutely packed a flavor punch, and beautifully charred onion. There was also a bit of extra arugula, which helped to add a little bite to balance out the rich burger and super creamy tahini sauce.

If you're looking for another pseudo-meat option but the Shouk burger didn't catch your fancy, they also have a spicy veggie sausage option. I wasn't able to try it because it isn't gluten-free, but the friends who gave it a shot were super impressed; they mentioned it was also on the saltier side, but had a great balance of spices and was super satisfying.

Their oyster mushroom shawarma is also insanely delicious; the natural umami of the mushrooms is complemented beautifully by the charred outer coating from their super-hot grill and the rich, creamy tahini. The flavor-packed entree is lightened up with a bunch of fresh toppings, including cabbage, cucumber, onion, and arugula; honestly, a touch of lemon juice would probably do wonders to this dish, but it's already near-perfect the way it is. If you want some mushroom shawarma but also want to try out one of their other entrees, you can always get it as an extra topping for one of their bowls, which is what I usually do with their za'atar cauliflower. The roasted cauliflower is packed with all of the amazing aromas of Shouk's za'atar blend, and is paired with the most wonderful roasted red bell peppers, hummus, and crispy chickpeas. It's topped with, you guessed it, some of their rich, creamy, decadent tahini, as well as a bit of lemony schug to brighten up the bowl. And if there isn't enough hummus in the cauliflower bowl, you can always add more, or, if you're a hummus fiend like me, go ahead and order a side of hummus. You can get it plain or topped with a green, lightly spicy sauce or tomato jam; it comes with a side of pita chips or warm, fresh pita, but you can also get fresh cucumber slices for a 50-cent surcharge if you're looking for a gluten-free option!

All in all, Shouk is...honestly as close to perfection as I think we'll get to on Earth.