Dishes at Carving Room’s NoMa Restaurant Go Beyond Its Famous Pastrami | Eater DC

"Located at 130 M Street NE, this stylish, industrial-chic sister spot from Oded Weizmann expands the Carving Room concept into nostalgia-inducing Middle Eastern territory with a cavernous 3,000-square-foot dining room near the NoMa-Gallaudet Metro stop. The menu imports core items from the original—pastrami, 100-percent brisket burgers, and fried Moroccan “cigars”—while introducing four types of k’tzitzot (traditional Israeli meatballs), rockfish and whiting balls packed with cilantro, cumin, and Moroccan red sauce (a Friday night and holiday staple), and Sephardic dips and salads including a roasted beet dip with pequin chile, yogurt, honey, feta, and goat cheese. Flatbreads are baked in a domed, tile-lined oven and drizzled with an olive oil infused with garlic and anchovies (a flavor many diners do not request to leave off); highlights include a meat-lover’s pie topped with very slow-roasted whole rib roast, provolone, garlic, thyme, onions, and pickled serrano harissa, a ribeye flatbread served at brunch with runny eggs, and a braised lamb rib flatbread that crisps up—prompting ideas for Arabic-style lamb tacos. The opening lineup also features a pork-and-brisket meatball trio in roasted tomato-poblano sauce with parmesan and basil (served as an individual order or shared appetizer) and sandwiches and a charcuterie-style board built from deckle corned beef paired with pastrami, cured and smoked duck, manchego, and house pickles. The beverage program includes a standout watermelon-lemon-basil vodka cocktail, a draft “Sexy Mexi,” the rum-and-pineapple “Love & Pride,” 15 beers on draft, a dozen wines by the glass, and a consistently packed happy hour from 3:30–7 p.m. at a sun-drenched blue tile bar." - Tierney Plumb