Souk

Nice little neighborhood gem that I was happy to stumble upon while in the area. I ordered some pastries and some of the best coffee I’ve had in awhile. The agava liquid sweetener they offer is just tops with the almond milk

I hate to do this, but this is purely customer service related… It’s 8:20 on a Friday, they open at 8:30, and they said they couldn’t let me in or make my drink sooner, while they let another employee in the door… Its piled high with snow outside and cold, not even asking someone to come in and sit and wait for 5 or 10 minutes? So I stood waiting outside behind the door.
Now it’s 8:30 and there’s another customer standing behind me, … At 8:32 they let us in… The employee walks behind the counter and just looks at me… Never once an «I’m sorry, thanks for waiting, what can I get for you»… None of that…
There’s poor reviews about customer service in other posts, & what’s sad is I’ll probably still go back because their products are great and I was to support small business’, but the truth is, I myself am a small business and try very hard to be engaged with my clients and aware of them…
Oh well… Just felt disappointed.

This spot has a relaxed vibe. The lemon scone was so good. The hot green tea macchiato was amazing. There are so many options for tea or coffee. Super clean with a fresh smell. Highly recommend to stop in for a snack and beverage.

It’s a cute little spot, operated by the same people who own Sweet Lobby. They do not have much of a selection of black teas, which is odd — they could offer at least one other, and an oolong. They have an extensive list of herbal infusions, so why not other caffeinated teas?
I haven’t tried their coffee yet, so I will update this review once I have had that.
As for their pastries, I tried one of the pistachio buns, which was quite good. Flavorful, in fact. I have had their plain croissant, which should be a signature item. Good croissants are difficult to make, so if you make a good one, most everything else should be good. If you can’t, then why bother with the rest?
The croissants here suffer from a lack of taste, which results when you are skimping on the butter. There are many ways to improve it – a bit of whole wheat flour, or a bit of wheat germ will add a depth of flavor, but really, butter is at the heart of any good croissant. This one just isn’t worth the calories — it’s more of a light bread than a croissant. If they would at least offer a pat of butter that would help. At $ 3.50, why not sell them for $ 4 a piece and use enough butter?

Perfect little spot for a latte and a pastry. The Rosemary biscuits are phenomenal. I got one yesterday with a chai latte and craved it so much this morning that I came back for the same thing again! Like others have said, it’s also part spice shop with a cool vibe. Its fun to just look around at what they have while you’re waiting for your latte. And the things that they have for sale would be perfect housewarming or shower gifts for someone who loves to cook and entertain.

I, unfortunately, must lodge a complaint this evening. While I would rather do so in a less public forum, there seems to be no email option on your website or on the order form I filled out before stopping into the shop.
I’ve been a regular patron of both Souk and the Sweet Lobby and have always been very pleased with the service.
Today, I was excited to take my largest order for spices yet to be filled. (10 items) When I arrived, there was no one in front of me and Chris, who was on duty by himself apparently, was very cordial and appreciated that I brought my own apothecary bottles for the items I needed.
He began to weigh one of the bottles but then asked me if I would be okay with him taking the order of a gentleman who had walked up behind me. He seemed to value a drink order over mine. To be neighborly, I agreed.
The patron had to go outside to confer with his wife when told that the shop was out of chai. The transaction took quite a while.
To take the pressure off Chris, I said that I would go walk my dog (who was outside with a friend) in order to give him time to complete my order.
We went around the entire block and, while I did not time it, I can say we took a leisurely pace.
When I returned to the shop, Chris had not even looked at my order, but had obviously served several other patrons sitting in the shop. He was in the middle of stirring, what I think was green tea, for two young ladies.
Again, I waited.
When it appeared that Chris was in no hurry, I began to collect my bottles. Chris kept saying it would only be two minutes and he was so sorry.
It had been more like 20 minutes all told, not counting my walk from north of Eastern Market.
I don’t know if it was because Chris is clearly very young and the other patrons were of similar ages (I am not) or if the shop actually does value drink orders over the spice business, but I was sorely disappointed.
I have been thrilled that there is an option in the neighborhood for fresh spices but can see no reason to try this again when I can take the train to another store.
I would MUCH rather patronize a local business, so this is truly a shame.

Great coffee, cool vibe and a few truly amazing pastries. Beautiful gifts for foodies if you need something special for a host.

When you enter Souk you will notice how lovely the shop is. The walls are lined with interesting and different spices, there is a long farm table in the center of the shop, and there are beautiful pastries lined against a glass case. The overall feel of Souk is inviting, friendly and warm. I loved going in, and will continue to go in despite a few annoyances including wait time for a coffee. I stood in line behind 3 other people while 3 employees were in the shop. I watched my watch tick tick tick as I was in shock that even though 3 employees were «working» only one was actually making drinks. Of course this frustrated me, especially that the other two employees seemed clueless as to the fact that they should step in and help their fellow worker. Another annoyance was the price of scones around $ 4-​$ 5. I ended up ordering a scone, probably because I was hungry after waiting and yes, it was delicious– but I don’t think I will buy another one in the future solely based on its price. The delicious food and coffee offset my little annoyances– and I must give this shop 4 stars!

I had read about Souk a few months back but hadn’t really remembered about it until recently when my friend brought it up.
I stopped here after getting a cupcake from The Sweet Lobby since both are relatively close to one another and affiliated with the same owner.
The number of people working (aka standing around) was… something. I was greeted immediately by a girl who pointed me to the honey pistachio kouign amann for $ 4.50. Although I was still trying to finish my cupcake, I decided to try the pastry since I was already here and no one else was seated at a long beautiful wooden table with my favorite farm metal chairs. On top of that, I’ve been searching for a good kouign amann and since the owner is an award winning baker, and Souk is a marketplace/​bakery, this seemed like a logical choice.
I really enjoyed the kouign amann. The hard, crunchy sugar caramelization coated the croissant/​doughy under layer and crackled when broken off and consumed. The dough is a cross between a cake and croissant and was topped with crushed pistachios. This has been my favorite of 3 — 4 tastings of the kouign amann although this might have been the most difficult to consume given its complex composition.
Souk also has tableware (think wooden cheeseboards, mortar and pestles, marbled cake stands with glass domes, and hand woven baskets) and a wall of spices from around the wall, mostly sold by the ounce.
Vigilante Coffee is served here as well as a variety of pastries such as canales, biscuits, spice buns, turnovers, croissants, and scones.
This is a beautiful place (I’m a sucker for minimal, reclaimed wood and metal piping, farm metal chairs, and natural light). I wish they had water to wash down the kouign amann but other than that, this is a pretty nice place with a nifty center piece of spices at the long table (one side had the farm metal chairs, at the head of each end was a chair, and the fourth side had one long wooden bench) and two additional window tables, with two seats each.
Not entirely sure if there is wifi here though…

Delicious cold brew coffee AND very technically beautiful pastries. If you’re looking for ‘mamas chocolate chip cookie’ and trendy cupcake flavors, no dice. If you want honey pistachio Kouign Amann that was obviously baked in-​house by hand on the actual day it is served, this is your jam. A little confused about what it aims to be (part retail, part spice, part coffee, part bakery), but that doesn’t mean there aren’t talented people paying attention to how and what they’re baking.
If you like Room 11 pastries and Maketto’s hybrid retail/​food establishment, you’ll like this place.

Lovely little shop to have coffee and pastries but what separates it from the rest is that it also have a wonderful selection of bulk spices. #zerowastehome

If you like cooking, you will love this spice shop. The prices are way lower than what you’d pay at a grocery store, and the selection is much more extensive. Plus, they serve great coffee and mouth-​watering baked goods.

As everyone else mentioned, it’s ½ coffee shop and spice shop. I’m not sure if this is an issue, as they seem to pull through on both aspects, at least for me. I was extremely pleased to find an essentially empty, clean, cute spot with WiFi on 8^th St on a Saturday afternoon to work.
Souk, the coffee shop: They serve Vigilante coffee and a select number of uniquely tasty pastries. I sampled the rose pound cake, which struck a pleasant balance between light, flowery, and buttery-​ness.
Souk, the spice shop: My friend has sent me a recipe a few weeks ago that called for garam masala; since I rarely make it to ethnic shops, I thought this would be a good place to see if I could get my hands on this. It was! And even better, the friendly staff offered to grind it up for me. Although I don’t buy spices too often, I paid $ 4/​oz for this particular spice, which I thought was a good deal.

They are pretending to be a spice market, but don’t let it fool you. Its actually a fabulous little coffee and pastry shop. The pastries are excellent — I just had a tremendous pear spice bun along side a very nice cup of coffee (fairly light bodied and mild — only a single size); I have eaten my way through the biscuits and scones which are also very good. In keeping with the theme the pastries are more savory than you might initially expect, with various spices and sharp flavors often poking through.
There aren’t a lot of places on the Hill like this — its currently my favorite place to go in the morning.

Cool new spot from the owner of The Sweet Lobby down the street. Very eclectic array of products, from pastries to spices to selected kitchen implements. A nice space, good for a casual coffee or studying. Very sunny and open, with a single large central area for customers to sit. Staff was very friendly and helpful in explaining their offerings. Probably a good go-​to for local foodies who love cooking at home and want a place where they can grab a spice that’s extra-​fresh or unique.

3.50 stars. The newest Barracks Row storefront comes from the same team that brought us the beloved Sweet Lobby. Souk houses an impressive array of spices as well as some baked goods. So far, I’ve only tried a croissant and a biscuit. The croissant wasn’t as buttery of flaky as I would have liked, but it was certainly filling. The cheddar scallion biscuit had its moments, but it was a bit on the dry side, and, as another reviewer pointed out, rather dense. Still, it was rather flavorful overall. Both items were reasonably priced. Service was very friendly, and it looks like this place is rather high on potential. It’s certainly worth a look if you want a quick coffee or bite while shopping in the area.

I had high hopes for Souk. It’s owned by my favorite bakery in DC (Sweet Lobby) and it’s on Barracks Row right in Eastern Market. I had a work from home day so decided to try their baked goods and wifi.
It’s a small bakery/​spice store that happens to sell drip coffee. I grabbed a coffee and their scallion scone for some breakfast before getting to work. The coffee was average and the scallion scone had good flavor, but in general the dryness of scones always turns me away. Having an addiction to chocolate, I was sad they had no chocolate pastry options. Their baked goods are more unique and mix currents with savory (pastries like that).
They have three options for seating. One big community table in the center of the room with eight chairs around it and a long bench. I did not see a power outlet near the community table. Two small, individual tables are near the window. Each of the small tables has two awkwardly tall chairs and there’s one outlet nearby.
The wifi was not very strong.
I do still have high hopes for Souk so hopefully they work out some of the kinks in the next few months.

Part bakery café, part spice market, Souk offers bakery made fresh in-​house daily, a small selection of coffees and tease, and dried spices and kitchenware.
I tried two bakery items: The cherry vanilla scone and the cheddar scallion biscuit. Both had great flavor, if a little dense. I’ll be back to try them again on a dryer day and will add additional reviews.