When the weather gets cold we head down the street to BISTRO ARACOSIA as the food is filling, tasty and being Afghan on the heavy side, so pefrect for winter.
Four of us headed over the other night and got our amazing warm welcome and the manager Steve immediately sent out an appetizer plate of Spicy Beef & Lentil Dumplings(with powdered sugar & cardamom called Sambosa), Butternut Squash dumplings(Kadu), Roasted Eggplant dumplings and Shabzi, the wonderful dumplings filled with greens.
The phyllo on all was perfection and the garlic/yogurt dipping sauce with dried mint was supreme.
We had ordered several "do you love yourself more than you love me" drinks(they have a new drink menu) which was Casamigos Reposado tequila, Chichicapa Mezcal, Agave Nectar, Spicy Bitter and Lime which were a huge hit. The wine was recommended by our French server Floriane, who was a gem. The Domaine Bruyeres 2017 Viognier "Les Monestiers" was full of earth tones and perfume and the intensity was great with the spice, especially with all that Afghan bread and the four dipping sauces!! They start mile with avocado onto mango-spice, then go green with tomatillo and ultimately spicy red chili. YUM!
Our red wine was a Cune 2016 Crianza from Rioja. They have many new wines in the 30-$50 range which makes me happy as well.
We decided to skip the appetizers as we had so much and indeed some of us ordered appetizers for mains such as the Pumpkin Dumplings with mint & cayenne yogurt dipping sauce. I had two: Quail in Spice which was charbroiled and while delicious, not as good as the ones I had previously there. My other appetizer was a revealtion: Zubaan or braised tongue with a sauce of beans, chickpeas and roasted peppers. The Red Beet Tosh Payra comes veggie or meat filled and Will went with the latter for these spicy beef dumplings in a rich red beet stew. Veal & Mushroom Sabzi Lawaan is another superb stew and one of the best dishes always on the menu.
There was space for dessert:
Baklava here is made with cardamom, Tres Leches Cake is an Afghan take on the Mexican treat. Ricotta with Pistachio cake is another hit and Cardamom Ice Cream is refreshing.
Whatever you have here it's a hit and the service is super friendly and generous. We are happy to have Aracosia here and the new location in McLean is scheduled to open this month or next! Another great idea is that the bill comes with each person's choices itemized and a total by person; a novel thing that should be on every tab!
