Bambulé

really REALLY bummed these guys are closed!
They had an amazing Lunch and Brunch deal (paella, seafood, made to order pasta and omelet, etc)
Also a pretty decent place to watch European league football (soccer)
Took one star off because it deserves 0 star as a nightclub… yes, it does turn into a night club at night… a really creepy one… unless you enjoy paying $ 20 cover, paying $ 15 for a drink, and being chased by really REALLY creepy 70+ year old guys who can’t speak English!

So here I was about to plan my return to Bambule only to find out they are closed. I am VERY disappointed and so is my sister who was quite looking forward to a birthday Brunch after I raved about the food. Appears they have closed their doors. That is very disappointing as my experience there was very good. They were very nice when I was there.

Closed, eh? The only thing that suprises me about that announcement is that it didn’t happen sooner.
(Sorry, couldn’t resist a little post mortem snarking — this place was THAT bad…)

I know this is technically a posthumous review, but I felt it necessary to say that after moving to Friendship Heights, this was one of my favorite places to eat, hands down. When arriving one day for brunch to find out it was no longer in business, a genuine sadness came over me. Fantastic atmosphere, food that was beyond delicious anytime, and great staff. It will be a truly missed part of my DC dining.

This place looks more like a night club when you walk up so you may just pass by when you are looking for a serious Brunch spot…
If you have… turn around and go back!
Friendly service, HUGE selection of eats and decent «brunch» drinks to make you not WANT to eat for a few days so not to forget the great brunch you had on Sunday!
Whether you come as a group or just a couple or hell even alone this place delivers the goods for brunch. It’s NOT the cheapest place for Brunch hence 4 stars but for the money its a decent value.

I am giving this place 2 stars, but I am only doing that because the dessert that we took with us was really good.
started at a table, only going there because we have been looking for a tapas place and there was a living social deal that we thought we would try.
Got there, really early. before 6pm. couldn’t find any info on the happy hour, though we knew they had one. Asked, and despite there being nothing on the website, or in the restaurant, was told that happy hour was only available at the bar. We moved up there, planning to have a couple of appetizers, a few drinks, then move to a table and finish up with some tapas that we can have for dinner.
We had $ 50 to start with. I figured we would start with that and go on to probably spend about $ 150, which is about average for a friday night.
Anyway, we didn’t make it very far. Had a pitcher of sangria, which I have to admit was pretty good. Only bad part was the fruit that was added was not quite ripe. ok, though, it was pretty good, and a decent price (at half price for happy hour).
then, we ordered one each of the appetizers on the happy hour menu. Of course, that was after we waited 25 minutes for the bartender to come back and wait on us, and after we asked a few times for menus, etc.
appetizers showed up, with only half being what we actually ordered. they were ok. calamari was fresh, tender, and lightly breaded, which I like. Unfortunately, the «aoiloi» which was like water and the same sauce for everything, was horrible. Besides that, we didn’t get anyone to refill drinks, ask about any other food that we were interested in, any other menus, etc.
Got so tired of waiting, finally gave up and asked another bartender for the check (hadn’t seen the one that was supposed to be our waiter for almost 45 minutes at this point). I was willing to leave getting less than what I paid for the $ 50 coupon ($ 25) worth of food.
Wife decided that we should at least check out the dessert menu. Since our waiter hadn’t even been within view for the past 45 minutes, we asked the other bartender, who seemed to be doing a good job of paying attention to other people and taking care of them, for our check, and to see a dessert menu.
in comes the only real redeeming qualities of the restaurant at all. She did a good job of trying to take care of us for the last 10 minutes we were there. Desserts looked good as well. Ordered the desserts (will get to that soon), and got the check.
Bartender was really confused about the coupon (which we paid for), and tried to tell us we couldn’t use it for food that was purchased during happy hour. When informed that there were no constraints on the coupon when I paid for it, they agreed to take it, though it took another 15 minutes for them to figure it out (though the owner was standing right there and had to help them).
Anyway, we had the mascarpone cheese filled fried cheesecake cannoli type item, and the chocolate covered strawberries, which were both very good after we got home.
I seriously came as close to leaving no tip as I have come since I was able to pay for my own meals.
And that is much worse than it seems. I am a 20% guy, for bad service, and 25% for great service, believe it or not. If the female bartender hadn’t started taking care of us for the last 20 minutes they wouldn’t have gotten any tip at all.
To add insult to injury, they initial tried to tell us that the coupon could not be used on happy hour items, which was clearly not what the coupon said at all.
Whole experience was a joke, and despite the fact that the food was ok, the drinks were pretty good, and the dessert was actually heavenly, none of that was worth the BS that it cost.
I won’t go back there, which is disappointing to me, since it is very close to our place and exactly what we were looking for in a restaurant, style wise.
DON’T go here…
If you are worried about my review, consider that my experience might be the anomaly. I can’t say that for sure.
I can tell you that I don’t do too many reviews, and they are usually when a place REALLY impresses me.
I will never go back here. realy sad…

I’ve been here twice — once for happy hour (great deals and free lil hot wings) and once for dinner. I’m not crazy about tapas, but they do it well here. The service is some of the most attentive I’ve experienced in this city, without being annoying or over enthusiastic. It was also super easy to get outdoor seating on a Saturday evening without having to wait.

Their happy hour specials are fantastic. $ 5 Martinis, terrible martinis, but for $ 5 you’re set for the night!
The Tapas was pretty good too, but they advertise $ 5 Tapas for Happy Hour, but when you go in to eat, you find out that you’re limited to just a selection of 4 things to choose from.
The music tends to be too loud.

Poor tapas served with attitude. They say the brunch is pleasant…

We went for the Sunday Brunch.
Very tasty spanish cusine. The staff are friendly bit snobby.
Close to the redline metro. Has nice outdoor seating.

My boyfriend and I went to catch dinner before a movie, and it was the perfect choice! We’re vegetarians doing South Beach phase I, so it’s been a little tricky finding food, but the tapas here were perfect. We got the three egg omelet, vegetables, hummus, and calamari. There was a woody, roast-​y flavor to all of the hot dishes, and the sauces were good.
Our waiter was one of best I’ve had in DC, and he was super-​quick with the check when he heard us talking about movie times.
I definitely want to go back for brunch and cocktails when the diet is done. Their bread smelled soooo good.

You know, It looks like a lot of people really liked this place, but a friend and I went there for happy hour and it was entirely lame. We sat at the bar, had glasses of wine, and asked if the appetizers were half off for happy hour like we’d seen, and she said yes so we ordered two things. They were over priced and extremely small portions, and weren’t that good. There was no one there which was extremely creepy and the bartender paid almost no attention to us despite there being no other customers. I will not be returning here.

This is one of my family’s favorite restaurants. It’s almost always quiet (which is a plus for my parents) and the staff are friendly and eager to explain their menu.
The food is fantastic, whether you order tapas — my personal favorites are the patatas and spanikopita — or if you order a full-​sized entrée. The salads are fresh and delicious, and the desserts are absolutely to die for. They have an excellent selection of wines and a creative list of cocktails. I always leave satisfied and VERY full!

My wife and I came here looking for a quiet, romantic place to have good food and wash it down with good wine. We split four tapas and an order of the mussels, and shared a bottle of wine.
The food was consistently very good. The mussels are a generous portion, served in a bowl with the delicious white wine based cooking liquid. The only thing that would improve on them is a side order to bread to sop up the liquid in the bottom of the bowl.
Tapas we ordered included artichokes sauteed with Serrano ham, empanadillas filled with chicken, grilled calamari, and spanakopita that my wife reserved all for herself. All three are tasty, and I would order any of them again. The artichokes are particularly addictive.
Service was friendly and capable (the small crowd made it easier for the wait staff). As we were finishing our meal, the live music began; two guitarists playing flamenco stylings provided a festive backdrop, not too loud for conversation, but enough of a presence to help create a getting-​the-​party-​started atmosphere.
We’ll be back.

I have only been here for weekday lunch so I cant say much of what the restaurant is like during the weekends.
It is pretty empty most of the time even though they have a good lunch deal. For the buffet and a coffee, expect to pay about $ 12. The food on the buffet is decent enough — mainly starches — paella (more rice than seafood), pastas, beans etc. There are at least 2 meats and some anti-​pasti veg stuff. Think — going to a family pot luck.
I suspect the service is not that attentive only because they only have one or two waiters for the whole lunch service during weekdays — since they are not that crowded and it is a buffet afterall. The configuration of the restaurant does not make it easy to catch the attention of the waiters as well — it is more like hide and seek. They hide, you seek!
Have not tried having dinner here — but was never really inspired to after having tired their lunch.

I don’t really remember the food because we had a liter of the red sangria and it’s delicious and VERY strong. I do remember that the sangria was kind of pricey ($ 27 /​liter = pitcher).
What I remember before the sangria:
— The hostess was a high school chicklet who gave us a little snoot on the way to the table, and apologized for it later.
— The waiter was really professional.
— We were sitting outside because it was nice, but in retrospect, I’m not sure if this was a good idea because there are these grates in the floor (presumably to the basement, but maybe smelled faintly of the metro line that runs right underground there).
— The patates braves needed salt, but were otherwise the best I’ve had in the DC area.
I don’t remember much after that. Thank god the Friendship Heights metro is across the street. Go, drink, and take the red line home.

You can always tell a lot about a place by how good the bread is. At Bambule, they serve wonderful bread with their olive oil. Our server took our order from memory, which I thought would end up w/​all the wrong tapas, but surprisingly, he got it right. We ordered a salad, fried calamari, quesadillas, empanadillas, some pork thing, anchovies (oops, that wasn’t intentional, menu was unclear (it’s #4 for future reference)). All were good (minus the anchovies, but for $ 10, you bet we finished them). The quesadilla was SO good, as was the guac it was served with (I am craving more right now). The white sangria was refreshing.
It was nice to sit outside. The service was decent.

A group of us met up for dinner on a random Thursday night. The weather was lovely and we very much enjoyed sitting out on Bambule’s cozy, cute terrace. The drinks were good, both the sangria and the mixed cocktails. The bread, served hot with olive oil for dipping, was quite delicious.
So why only three stars? The food did not impress. Nothing was great or terrible. My patatas bravas were the blandest I’ve ever had, my chicken empanadas were overcooked, and I had a taste of someone’s shrimp only to find that they were oily and underseasoned.
I’d be willing to go back and try other dishes. The place is great for large groups, the service was good, and as other Unilocalers have mentioned, the ambiance is very pleasant. But overall I wasn’t all that impressed.

Bambule was the site of my college graduation lunch, and a few Sunday brunches with the ex, but I never really felt as though Bambule lived up to its potential. Having only been there for brunch, I can testify to the fact that they have some high-​quality and tasty options for their customers, but it’s really not as great as it could be. That said, I passed a yellow Maserati in Potomac this weekend with the license plate «BAMBULE,» so perhaps they are doing just fine…
They have smoked salmon filet, which is a great thing to have at a sunday brunch, as well as eggs, bacon, omelettes, french toast, etc — you know, the usual for a brunch. Their service is alright, but I get the «skeezy second-​rate operation» feel to this place, and I don’t know why… I just don’t get the impression that these people are professionals and I don’t feel «welcome» there — it’s just kind of like «oh, you decided to come to Bambule? Ok… here’s a table.» I wouldn’t say it stands out much, but give it a shot to form your own opinions. I will probably never be there again, as I don’t live near it and if someone said «i’m staying in Friendship Heights, where can we go to catch up?» I would probably suggest Maggiano’s, Chadwicks, Lia’s, or Clyde’s ahead of this.

With the exception of Jaleo, this is my favorite tapas spot in the city. I like Bambule’s selection and the quality of food. Where they lose a few points is the service.
I found it odd that our waiter was encouraging us to order four and five tapas each all at one time. What I love about tapas is ordering a couple to start such as my old standbys of a chorizo dish and patatas bravas and then depending on how tasty those are and what my friends order.
Our waiter here rushed us through our order, then all of the plates arrived at once (and for a table of 5 there was A TON of food on the table at the same time). Then, oddly enough my wine arrived well after the tapas did.
But, Bambule does tapas right. For me, the tapas snob, the best ones were the marinated pork, the ham and artichokes, the sesame hummus and the grilled calamari. The fried calamari was just OK. too bland for my tastes.