Why go: This office-park restaurant has all the elegance of a cafeteria, but its traditional Persian cooking—expertly grilled kebabs and heaps of basmati rice with jewellike accents of sour cherry, saffron, and pistachio—is a marvel.
What to get: Pilaus, rice dishes such as the carrot-topped shirin polo, sweet with rosewater and orange peel, and baghali polo, softly flavored with fava beans and dill; charcoal-grilled skewers of lamb, bone-in Cornish hen, or spiced ground beef; two appetizers—a square of feta cheese with fresh herbs, and thick, dilled yogurt—to accompany the kebabs (you can craft a fabulous lavash sandwich with a hunk of meat, a little yogurt, and a few leaves of mint and basil); Salad Shirazi, a finely chopped cucumber-and-tomato salad; saffron ice cream with cherry juice; shaved ice with glass noodles, rosewater, and lemon juice.
Best for: A big, platter-passing feast with family and friends.
Insider tip: Shamshiry doesn’t serve alcohol; try an icy pitcher of doogh, a lightly fermented yogurt drink that tastes like a savory, slightly fizzy lassi. Plain saffron rice comes with most entrées—you can liven it up with a raw egg and a shower of sumac—but the specialty pilaus are worth ordering.
Open daily for lunch and dinner.
See all Cheap Eats 2008 restaurants
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.
