Aracosia McLean — Restaurant in McLean

Aracosia is an authentic Afghan restaurant that offers both indoor and outdoor dining. Regardless of indoor or outdoor dining, all staff are wearing masks, all patrons must mask up when not eating or drinking, hand sanitizers are available on every table, and plate, napkin, and silverware are wrapped in plastic. If you choose indoor dining, the tables are socially distant. If you choose outdoor dining, there are heater to keep you warm. When we entered, we were greeted by several guests and guided to the hostess stand to check in for our reservation. All of the staff were polite, friendly, and hospitable.

Shortly after being seated, our server Justina filled our water glasses and brought us a basket of Barbari bread with four different chutneys (avocado, mango, cilantro, and red pepper) that varied in level of spiciness (mild to very spicy).

For drinks, they have quarantine-theme cocktails. Throughout the night, I tried Quarantini, Masked Identity, and Me, Myself, and Isolation. The Quarantini consisted of vodka, lemon juice, and cardamom syrup shaken, served over the rocks, and garnished with an orange zest. The Masked Identity consisted of aged rum, maple syrup, cinnamon simple syrup, and orange juice shaken, served over the rocks, and garnished with an orange zest. The Me, Myself, and Isolation resembled a Manhattan and consisted of bourbon, bitters, and cherry preserve, served with a block ice cube, and garnished with a citrus zest. Among the three cocktails, Masked Identity was my favorite. It would have been nice if they offered sangria by the glass.

For appetizers, everything sounded delicious but we decided to get an order of Pumpkin Dumplings, which consisted of six steamed dumplings filled with seasoned/spiced pumpkin puree, drizzled with yogurt garlic sauce, and finished with crushed dry mint and cayenne pepper. It was a sweet and savory delight.

For dinner, my best friend ordered Beef Tenderloin, which consisted of chunks of beef tenderloin charbroiled and served with seasoned long grain basmati rice and potato bouranee. It was tender and quite flavorful. His only compliant was it was pricey for one kabob and would be of better value if there were two kabobs. I ordered the Lamb Chop Duo, which consisted of a combination of two frenched rack rib chops and shoulder chops and served with seasoned basmati rice topped with julienne carrots and raisin and roasted eggplant finished with a mint yogurt drizzle. I liked how the lamb was cooked to perfection. The lamb was juicy, tender, and flavorful. The carrots and raisins added sweetness and cinnamon flavor to the basmati rice.

Since I overheard that their ice cream is not made in house, we were most interested in their cakes. For cakes, they had the following flavors: Toasted Almond, Chocolate Hazelnut, Pistachio, and Tres Leche with Cardamom. According to our server, the most popular flavors were Toasted Almond and Chocolate Hazelnut. We ordered the Chocolate Hazelnut and Pistachio Cakes with Cardamom Green Tea. The Chocolate Hazelnut Cake was sinful. I wasn't too impressed with the Pistachio Cake, which was a pistachio crusted three-tiered cake - layer of pistachio, cream, and cake - dusted with powdered sugar and drizzled with raspberry sauce and creme anglaise. It was alright as the pistachio flavor was too subtle. I'd definitely return to try their...

Far exceeded my high expectations. I had heard good things about Aracosia McLean and had been looking forward to visiting. I haven't had Afghan food before, so keep that in mind. That being said, this was an exceptional experience and culinary bounty both in flavour and quantity. I will certainly be visiting again in the future.

SERVICE: We were a party of 6 and had requested a reservation for 5:15p. We were quickly seated by a friendly hostess and were soon greeted by our server. In Virginia Beach a week prior, we had visited a much hyped upscale facility and were a bit disappointed especially as the staff seemed bored and was going through the motions.

In contrast, we had an amazing experience during our visit at Aracosia. It was immediately clear that the staff cared about the experience of their diners. This is the epitome of what a fine restaurant experience should be.

I am sure I am completely misspelling his name, but our server, Kamyar (Spelling?) was the consummate professional. He was attentive, genuinely friendly and efficient without being overbearing. He had the gift of making each table he was covering the focus of his attention. I wish all restaurants had waiters like him. Well done.

FOOD: Excellent. Every dish. We started with lentil soup and the dumpling sampler. Wow. It was obvious that much care went into preparing the items and that the ingredients were fresh. Our food choices ranged from various meat stews to vegan options, and all were good. To me the spicy foods were perfectly seasoned, without being either too spicy or too bland. The flavours were subtle with multiple layers that would entertain your palate at different intervals as you ate. Not sure if that makes sense, but that was my experience. The quantity of food was enough to ensure that we would have leftovers for the following day. My mouth is watering typing this!

ATMOSPHERE: Upscale without being pretentious. Interesting quotes from Afghan poets and magnificent murals made for a delightful backdrop to our meal. The noise level was low despite a full restaurant. There is an option to eat outside which we did not try.

END NOTES: To our surprise, they acknowledged my parent's anniversary, which was the occasion for the dinner with a touching gesture. Completely unexpected but very much appreciated. We will visit again and consider this one of our go to restaurants. Thank you, tashakkor,...

I dined at their Springfield restaurant, Afghan Bistro, pre COVID and suspect the full Aracosia menu under normal conditions would likely be the same. As it is the Aracosia pared down menu has a limited selection of classic dishes.

I was surprised how busy the restaurant was last Saturday night when I arrived at 7:30 PM. I dine out a lot and since limited reopening most restaurants I go to have been scarcely populated. Last Saturday night was my first visit to Aracosia so I don’t know if the crowd was an anomaly or not. Though I also note the crowded dining was outside on the walkway. Looking through the windows into the restaurant it appeared to be less than 50% capacity and that is under the condition of some tables having been removed which is an assumption on my part seeing significant amount of bare floor space and a good amount of distance between tables. I chose to be seated inside that required walking through the crowded alfresco area. Those tables were not distanced. Propane heaters made it an attractive choice for many evidently on a chilly night.

Fall and winter are seasons for savory/umami dishes. Sambosas and Qabuli Palou I ordered were flavorful. Layered and balanced ingredients of Aracosia’s QP recipe - lamb shank, long grain rice, julienne carrots and raisins, in my taste opinion, combine giving a distinctively enjoyable umami taste. The lamb shank was perfectly cooked. Lamb meat was tender, juicy and fell off the bone. QP was accompanied by eggplant that was also very good. Same for the Sambosa appetizer though I don’t particularly care for powdered sugar sprinkled on top and on the plate. It was not overwhelming amount of sugar and did not interfere with overall enjoyment. The Sambosas were perfectly crafted and flavorful. Use of cardamom, cumin, turmeric and pepper are, I think, signature seasonings of Afghani cuisine.

The bartender was kind to use my Nigroni recipe - 1 shot gin, 1/2 shot Compari and 1/4 shot Sweet Vermouth on the rocks, stirred to drink while waiting for the Sambosas. I paired a glass of Mader Pinot Noir with the QP that...