Aziza's

I finally ate at Aziza's on Main. It seems everyone I know has eaten there, and for one reason or another I've never made it there until this week. After months of listening to people go on about how good it is I couldn't take it anymore! Matt and I went early on Thursday night, but even though it was just after 6pm there were multiple tables seated in this cozy spot. I didn't really want to be writing a review, so I'll skip my petty complaints. The service was fabulous, being relaxed, pleasant and timely. I went with the white speciality pizza topped with Hedgehog mushrooms, Chanterelle mushrooms, truffle oil, and garlic, and it was delicious. For my appetizer I ordered the one vegetarian option that was not bread based. A Manakintowne Farm Greens Salad with pickled turnips and black olives was set before me and the amount of green towering upon my plate actually made me gasp a bit. It lasted through the entire meal as Matt and I ate bites of greens between pizza. My husband really like his pizza as well, and he loved his salad a.k.a. 'The Perfect Egg." This is also one's of Erin's favorite dishes just about anywhere I think. During the course of my meal I tried four things new to me, which is always fun, including pickled turnips. Surprisingly these were also good despite being well, turnips. Apparently pickling really can work magic.
Perhaps best of all for me was the cream puff. I know their famous for this house made extravagance so I ordered one even though I have never in my life liked a cream puff. The few times I've tried one the strait cold sugariness of it had me taking one small bit and discreetly disposing of the rest. I have therefore been avoiding them for a good while now, until Thursday. The Azizas cream puff is so rich and creamy without being too sugary. It's also so big that my husband and I had to split one. This was monumental for me. Obviously I had been damaged by poor cream puffs in the past, but clearly there are good ones out there to be sought out.
Amazingly we have heard from a couple of friends that Azizas has a lemon butter cake they felt was even better than the cream puff. Of course I tried to order that as well, but alas they were sold out. Our waitress talked me into a slice of chocolate cake that she said was made by the former White House pastry chef now in Fairfax. Okay, impressive and that was good too. We will definitely be returning, to sample from their deli case for takeout, or perhaps for small plates on a Tuesday.