Kabob Place

I spend a lot of time staying only a block away from this place, so I eat here quite often. As a tough critic, I’ve been consistently impressed and pleased with nearly everything I’ve eaten here. There are also a few minor negatives that I’ll address.
As far as the positives, I have tried most all of the sides they offer and would recommend the following: sautéed spinach, pumpkin, chick peas, and eggplant. The sides are made fresh daily and I am consistently impressed with the flavor and quality. I had never heard of Afghan style pumpkin, but it is especially good. The kabobs are also excellent. To be honest, I’ve only had the lamb and and chicken kabobs, but I get them all the time, and they’re always great. I’ve asked the owners about how they season the kabobs and apparently the meat is marinated overnight and stays in the marinade until it gets skewered and grilled. My other favorite here is the gyro. It is large enough for a meal for two people and it’s only $ 7. It comes with standard beef/​lamb combination gyro meat on a grilled pita with tomatoes, onions, green peppers, lettuce, and a homemade parmesan sauce (I also like to get it with feta, which doesn’t come standard). This isn’t the standard Greek style gyro, but it’s great and obnoxiously large. It takes about 10 min for anything to be cooked since it’s all freshly made, but I find it worth the wait. The only other item I’ve tried from here is the chicken sandwich, which is made from grilled chicken kabobs and is very good. Another thing I like about this place is that they offer a lunch special, which they seem to honor at any time of the day or night, where you can get a chicken kabob with just rice for $ 6. For a chicken kabob with rice, a salad, bread, and two sides, I believe it is about $ 9, which is still a pretty good deal. The lamb chops are a few dollars more for the same meal with two sides, but I find that to still be a great deal. I also enjoy getting milkshakes from here every once in a while.
Now the negatives. As another reviewer noted, this place seems to be under new management as of about a year ago. I noticed this too, as I used to go to this place to get great cheap Indian food. It turns out the Indian family that owned the restaurant sold it and now an Afghan family owns it. I knew something had changed when I ordered the chicken tikka masala, which was nothing like what it used to be under management of the first owners. I asked the current owners about the change of ownership etc., and they told me that they wanted to keep some of the popular items on the menu that the previous owners had, such a palak paneer and chicken tikka masa. The owner told me that as Afghans, they have no idea how to make those Indian dishes, so they just try their best. Unfortunately, the tikka masala here is now basically flavorless cream with some tomato sauce with chicken in it, which makes for a bland, unappealing dish, and it brings down the restaurant’s overall image. As one reviewer noted, he/​she used to be a regular customer, but when he/​she noticed the now clearly unauthentic Indian food, he/​she will no longer eat here. I think the owners, as Afghans should stick to making Afghan food, which they do quite well, instead of trying to serve Indian food they have no idea how to make. As far as the review by Tony S., which said the chicken kabobs are horrible, that would have been the kabobs under the previous owners, which I never tried. I only tried the Indian food before the new owners took over.
Overall, I highly recommend this place for excellent value and very good quality food. Just keep in mind that this place is no longer owned by Indians and therefore the Indian food offered here is not recommended. Stick with the Afghan food, it’s great.

i eat kabobs 3 to 4 times a week in northern virginia, Ravi, charcoal, khan, moby, food corner, etc. Street parking was easy to find but i went late on a week night, don’t know about regular hours. Looks like a regular take out place when you come in. Ordered the Salmon and chicken sekh kabob. it was no good. they poured a sweet and sour sauce over the rice and vegetables, really bad. The chicken meat tasted like it came from frozen food box, definitely not real meat. the salmon didn’t taste like salmon either. don’t wast your money. Haven’t been able to find a good kabob place for $ 10 in B-​more yet

This place is on point.
Came here for dinner and got the lamb kabob platter for 9.99, and my friend got the lamb sheek kabob (which is ground lamb, then reformed into like, lamb balls) for the same price. Though the interior is relatively undecorated it is clean as a whistle. I was also heartened by the amount of middle-​eastern diners present, which for a ignorant sap like me is always perceived as a good omen.
The food took about 15 minutes, and was well worth the wait and money. The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars was it was supposed to come with a side salad that was nowhere to be found. The lamb was perfectly seasoned, the the kabob veggies were ample and the side of palak paneer was tasty, especially over the extra cubes of lamb that it covered. Also, the naan was the size of my head, which means it is some damn big naan.