The Observer Newspapers | Charcoal Kabab Serves Up Tasty, Homemade Meals

Oct. 3 , 2008

Charcoal Kabab Serves Up Tasty, Homemade Meals

Since 1995, the four Arghandiwal brothers have served up delicious kebobs and vegetarian dishes at their casual dining restaurant in Herndon. Each day at Charcoal Kabab, two of the four brothers are on duty and ensure that the restaurant produces consistently good food—all of which is made from scratch.

Charcoal Kabab is a self-serve restaurant, so it does not offer much in terms of ambiance. Restaurant patrons place their order at the main counter and pick up their dishes when their order number is called. Seventeen entrée choices are offered, and a steam tray, which is located behind the counter, showcases a couple of meat dishes, as well as several vegetarian options.

Some of the choices that are usually featured on the steam tray include two lentil dishes, potato and cabbage in curry, spinach, chickpeas, and chicken and beef curries. The spinach is delicious, as are the beef and chicken curries. The restaurant also offers many kebobs, which are marinated meat that has been skewered and cooked over a flame, and it only serves halal meat.

Tandoori chicken is one of my favorite entrées, and the lamb is also excellent. I would not recommend the ground beef kebob, also called keema, and I would note that the restaurant serves a marinated thigh, not breast meat, in its chicken curry dish. If you do not know what to order, I would recommend trying a vegetable combination platter.

All meals include the main entrée, Tandoori bread, a small salad, rice and one side dish. The salad contains little more than iceberg lettuce, but the rice and bread are exceptionally good. And if the food is too spicy for your taste, you can cool it off with the yogurt sauce that is included with each meal.

The restaurant offers two appetizers and one dessert, and it serves traditional sodas, low-carbohydrate and low-sugar sodas, as well as mango juice.

Overall Charcoal Kabab offers delicious meals at reasonable prices—most dishes cost between $8.50 and $10.50—and there is great variety on the menu. The restaurant is very accommodating and many families patronize the establishment.

Charcoal Kabob is located in the Herndon Centre shopping area, and the restaurant was recently remodeled. New marble countertops and tile floors were installed and a private room with seating for 24 was constructed. Additionally trash receptacles that contain recycle bins were installed. The Arghandiwals have always been involved in the community, from collecting money for The Children of the War, an organization that provides education and skills training to children in Afghanistan, to their current concern about the environment.

The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.