Eat Great Cheap 2016Hit a strip mall in Northern Virginia and chances are it’ll have a quickie kebab house. What sets Ravi apart from the competition? A devotion to short-cut-free cooking, for one. The round of naan that comes with your kebabs is so hot and fluffy because it was slapped into the tandoor the minute you put in your order. And of course, the halal meats, marinated for 18 hours, threaded on sword-like skewers, then charred over a flame. If there’s a more lavish feast in a Styrofoam clamshell, we haven’t found it.
Cuisine: Pakistani
Where you can find it: 350 N. Glebe Rd., Arlington, 703-522-6666; 250 N. Glebe Rd., Arlington, 703-816-0222
Also good: Bone-in chicken; lamb chops; chana masala (chickpea stew).
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.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
