Why go: Forget the plastic tablecloths. Where it counts, this Afghan diner delivers, with excellent breads, well-tended meats, and richly layered stews.
What to get: Fried sambusa and bolonee appetizers filled with meat or potato and served with a vinegary cilantro dipping sauce; gablie palou, tender lamb chunks with rice, shredded carrots, almonds, and raisins; dal chalaw, curried lentil stew; cardamom tea.
Best for: A quiet lunch—servers pretty much drop the food off and disappear.
Insider tip: At $7.99, the lunch buffet is a great, quick deal, but the regular menu, also inexpensive, is the thing to zero in on.
Open daily for lunch and dinner.
>> See all 2009 Cheap Eats restaurants here
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
