About Amoo's Restaurant
Half a lifetime ago, Masoud Oveysi was the pilot for the shah of Iran. When the government collapsed, Oveysi fled to Northern Virginia, eventually opening a successful Persian restaurant, Cafe Rose. Amoo’s is a worthy successor, and Oveysi has handed over operations to his charismatic son Sebastian, who runs the kitchen and works the dining room. Though the younger Oveysi was born too late to have any memory of the royal family, he has brought a triumphal flair to this strip-mall effort. The humble kebab is exalted here—witness the magnificent kubideh, its minced, onion-flavored meat so light you could lay your head on it at night, or the hunks of lightly charred salmon (wild, not farmed). No visit is complete without an order of shirin polo, its delicate rice perfumed with saffron and strewn with candied orange peel and currants.
Cuisine: Persian
Where you can find it: 6271 Old Dominion Dr., McLean; 703-448-3868
Also good: Lamb kebabs; saffron ice cream.