Jump to content

Caspian Kabob, Germantown


Recommended Posts

19911-c North Frederick Rd.

Germantown, MD 20876

Tel: 301-353-0000

Menu

A disappointingly mediocre meal at another Persian restaurant drove me to think why I had not written up this find. One night, looking for somewhere else and finding it closed, we just meandered up the various continuations of Rockville Pike till we found this very nondescript place in a tiny, odd shopping strip dominated by a school on one side and, I think, a gas station on the other. We ahd no expectations of finding good food here, just a desire to eat before everything was closed. We were wrong.

You order at the counter and they deliver the food to your plastic booth that wold be at home in a McDonald's. No alcohol is available. We ordered too much: several kabobs: chicken, koobideh and lamb, a Shirazi salad, torshi, Mast-o-Khiyar and Kashk-e-Bademjan. The Mast came first followed quickly by the eggplant {kashk}. We dove in and these both were fabulous. The mast was tick and creamy, full of cucumber and spice. The eggplant wanted to be too rich but thankfully fell short. The topping was unusually light and really good. We tried to stop eating this and couldn't. Torshi was outstanding, with all the individual veggies retaining some individual characteristics while forming a quite tangy whole. The spicing was assertive without being out of balance. The Shirazi was nice sized chunks and tasted fresh, even though we saw it sitting in the refrigerated case under saran. Then when we were full, the kabobs arrived and we did them justice, finishing about half. The rice was very light and fluffy and the kabobs well seasoned. The Koobideh was the least good but still very good. The lamb and chicken were well above average and made better with a goodly sprinkling of sumac. At this point, we felt like we had stumbled into one of the many Persian restaurants of West LA or the West Valley from our long ago LA days, albeit those places had pretensions of elegance and this was a fast food atmosphere.

The meal was under $30 for two and we carried home many leftovers which were even better the next day. The chalk board near the oor showed that they do a special stew daily, that day Gouret Sabzi, which we will try the next time.

Now having finished off the left overs from last night's meal, We wish we had spent far less for far better food in this tiny place way up north.

There is another similarly named place in Kentlands, but I don't think they are connected. This place used to be an a house in the same area and we ate there when we first moved to MD 12 or 13 years ago, but it disappeared. Now we know where to go to get our Persian jones fulfilled.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the reminder. I used to live nearby and would stop by Caspian all the time...before and after they moved across the street. I enjoyed it but didn't think it was that special. Then I moved away.

I like Iranian/Persian food thanks to an introduction at Caspian and now stop by Moby Dick regularly as its more convenient. But as a simple for instance that illustrates the difference in the two, I don't bother putting much sumac on the dishes at Moby Dick...it doesn't seem to do as much for the dish. We stopped at Caspian Friday night and I remembered piling on the sumac when i used to go, as it was just better tasting at Caspian. It seems saltier but they said it doesn't have any salt added. (I like salty, especially when it doesn't involve more salt).

This time I had the lamb shank special and my wife had the salmon kabobs, which she's always liked. My rice was mixed with a heavy hand of dill and was excellent - we also got lots of tadig for the asking, in both plain and dill, with extra mast-a-khiar. Washed down with an iced tea with some mint added...hmmmm...good.

This is no relation to the one in Kentlands.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...