Shamshiry
Shamshiry, web site, 8607 Westwood Center Drive, Vienna, VA, 703-448-8883. Off of Route 7, near the Dulles access road. Not visible from any road. Turn left at the right place, and head towards the back. Near Oriental Regency, down a bit from United Airlines. (Metro Trip Planner - opens in new window) [zabihah | Washingtonian | City Paper | food-plan | openlist | Citysearch | Gayot]
An excellent Persian place. Kabobs only, which I usually find dry and unexciting, but this place is a winner. Best rice in the area, very fragrant. The Barberry Rice and Cherry Rice, with chicken or beef respectively, are highly worthwhile. The Barberry Rice is wonderfully tangy and sour and the berries are luscious. What kind of rice you order is the real decision here, not what kind of meat. Ask for the beef medium rare, or even rare, if you order meat. The salmon is my favorite, with Zereshk Polo, make sure you rub Maast Moosir (a kind of thick yogurt sauce) into the whole thing, liberally. Excellent people-watching also, if you are interested in the Persian upper-middle class.
Comments
Tyler, I also enjoy the rice dishes at Shamshiry. I particularly like the Baghaala (Baghaali?) Polo with the dill weed and the chicken.
But I sure wish they also had an Adas Polo on their menu...Adas Polo has lentils and other veggies in the rice. The long-since closed Persian restaurant Pars, on Lee Highway across from H Mart (now called Cuzco, a Peruvian restaurant...the building's 3rd or 4th incarnation after Pars closed) used to make an absolutely delicious Adas Polo. At the time of this writing, I don't believe there's a Persian restaurant in town that serves Adas Polo to the public. Which is entirely too bad. I sure wish there was some way to get word to Shamshiry's management that it'd be a great addition to their menu.
Posted by: Evan | September 15, 2008 10:39 AM
Forgot to add last week, that Pars restaurant also used to serve Kuku Sabzi with their Baghaali Polo.
Kuku Sabzi are basicall little "omelet cubes" of egg, dill weed, spinach, and/or other green leafy veggie. Pars' Kuku Sabzi were GOOD. Unfortunately Shamshiry doesn't include these with their Baghaali Polo. Sure wish they did.
Posted by: Evan | September 22, 2008 09:32 AM