Thank you, thank you, thank you, Bistro Aracosia, for preparing such delicious meals, especially during COVID. When we finally decided to start doing curbside pickup at restaurants, you came to the rescue. We continue to love your pumpkin dumplings (and especially enjoyed them again with minced meat). The lamb shank moghuli falls off the bone in a wonderfully spiced sauce--very tasty. The butternut squash is rich in taste as well. You prepared everything with love, and you treat your customers that way, too. We are very grateful to you for being there for us right now. We look forward to being with you inside the restaurant again when we can all be safe without worrying (post-vaccine for us). In the meantime, we will be back on many occasions and appreciate your great culinary talents as well as efforts to make this work curbside for us. We know you put a great deal of work into that, and we are very, very grateful. read more

Got a recommendation from a friend to try this restaurant. Made reservations (highly recommend) for a Friday night at 6:30. Our waitress Hannah came up and we immediately ordered drinks, had bread and chutney (green avocado was awesome) delivered and she told us her favorites. The menu is divine, as is the atmosphere. We started with the hot mazza plate and then ordered the chicken rheynna and beef/chicken kabobs. WOW!!! Just wow!! Everything was glorious, tender, tasty and service was fantastic!! Best meal out in ages. We boxed up half our food and took a dessert to go. Had such an amazing night. Would go again in a heartbeat. Run, don't walk. And make a reservation. read more

Neighborhood restaurant serving some of the best afghan food I have ever had. Waiters are attentive and know the menu very well. Instead of ordering off of the menu, I asked that they prepare a plate of their specialties instead of ordering off of the menu. Couldn't have been happier with the results. Highly recommend! read more

My family and I dined at Bistro Aracosia last night and it was delicious! We showed up around 6:30 without a reservation, they were very busy but managed to seat us very quickly. The wait staff was very sweet and accommodating with our girls (4 and 7). The kitchen was a bit backed up since it was the first night of Ramadan, they were getting take out orders ready to go. The manager came over and apologized for the wait. Within a few minutes the food came out and it was fabulous. My 7 year old daughter tried everything we ordered and asked for seconds. We ordered the Hot Mazza Assortment, Qabuli Palou (with lamb) and Rumi's Chicken, all very, very good. They have a really nice beer and wine list too. Highly recommend this restaurant!! read more

I have never eaten Afghan food but a good friend recommended it. It was amazing! The staff was wonderful and answered all of our questions. I can't wait to go back! read more

Amazing new restaurant in town. We went for an anniversary dinner, and were truly impressed. Exceptionally tasty food -- Afghan cuisine. We tried the leak dumplings, lentil soup, and lamb shank. All were very fresh, very clean, and with strong and delightful flavors. The management was if anything even better. I would highly recommend going -- particularly when it's quiet on Sundays (before they no longer are open on Sundays). read more

I fell in love! I haven't been this wowed by food in a long time. I tried it on the first time on Friday when my coworker and I shared the eggplant moghuli and the chicken and beef kabobs. We couldn't stop eating! Today, I recruited two other coworkers. We split three dishes the eggplant moghuli, the hot mazza appetizer, the szabzi, and the chicken kabobs. We had bread with three chutneys. The bread is just ok once it cools off but the rest of the food more than makes up for it. It smelled so good other coworkers came down to try some. We ate that food so fast. One of my coworkers is incredibly picky about food. She wrote a review for other coworkers who hadn't tried it yet. The people are incredibly nice and gracious. It's worth the drive. read more

Very special restaurant that after only being open for 10 days was full of diners on a Thursday evening. We quickly saw why. The menu was huge with a wide variety of dishes from stews to chops and an extensive vegetarian section. Very good wine and beer menu. Also a nice assortment of non alcoholic drinks including a cold excellent yogurt drink. An assortment of chutneys complimented the warm bread and each course was delicious and beautifully presented. We chose some standard items such as the rack of lamb and rib steak kabob which were very good but on our next visit we will try some of the more exotic sounding dishes. The service was excellent and attentive. read more

Finally our neighborhood had a perfect spot for this restaurant space. Welcome to the Palisades. We went last night, the room was packed with happy diners of all ages. The staff were clearly very busy, but everyone was kind, smiling, and delivered great service given it was their first week. Our mixed grill and quail appetizers were slightly overdone, but still the delicious grilled flavor came through. The second courses, a lovely eggplant dish and the spicy lamb shank in eggplant puree sauce were superb. The basmati rice is cooked to perfection, although we thought the bread was not worth the calories (should be warm, soft, while ours was cold, dry, unflavorful). The owners have made an effort to focus all of their attention on this establishment while their Virginia space gets a makeover. We look forward to going back soon, really happy with the diverse and large menu they offer. read more

Outstanding and inviting place to enjoy a wonderful dining experience. The staff are friendly and attentive...the meal begins with a delicious variety of curries served with warm fresh bread...each sauce is delicious. The entrees are perfectly prepared and scrumptious! read more

Truly outstanding! Loved it. I anticipate much success with Bistro Aracosia. Try the lamb shank and the vegetarian dumplings. Cozy spot, excellent service. Amazing menu. Loved our server, Gillian. So lovely and sweet read more

Wonderful restaurant. The food is well prepared with complex flavors. The ambiance is comfortable yet chic. The service is top notch. Will definitely go back soon! read more

This place is incredible, and will definitely be back. I would say five stars, but our service was pretty slow and we were seated about 20 minutes after our reservation. The people at the table we were supposed to sit at stayed long, so I understand that sometimes it is beyond the restaurants control, but a party of the same size as ours, that arrived after us, was seated before us. However, everything else was absolutely fantastic- our waitress (niece of the owner) was fantastic, and the food is amazing. I had the Sabzi Lawaan which was incredible, and everyone else raved about their entrees as well. We started with the leek dumplings, which I unfortunately was not able to eat because they came with beef (it says so on the menu, I just missed that when we ordered), but plan to try again next time asking them to hold the beef. The portions are huge, so anticipate taking home leftovers. The prices are extremely reasonable and the ambiance of the place is amazing. My only recommendation for decor would be to take down the Listrani's awning that still exists on Dana Place. Looking forward to my next visit! read more

I believe it is from the same owners as Afghan Bistro in Springfield and oh my did it ever hit the spot. Everything was great. Staff was real friendly and constantly checked up on us. The bread and rack of spices/yogurts they gave at the beginning had a unique taste to it which we all enjoyed. We got the Qabili Rice with meat and chicken breast. Both were cooked to perfection and left us wanting to come back try more. Also the presentation of food was on point. probably the best I have seen in a while! It's a must try for any true foodie read more

Three of us dined here on a Friday night ordering 6 things from the menu including appetizers and dessert (cardamon cake-delicious!). The food was excellent, well served and the restaurant is attractively decorated. I will not return, however, on a week-end or any time when they are crowded. The noise level is extremely high and 3 of us at a table for 4 found it impossible to enjoy conversation. I believe the ceiling is tin and perhaps this accounts for it. Otherwise I would have given the restaurant 5 stars. Ideally, the restaurant owners will be able to fix this problem. read more

My wife and I had dinner tonight at the recently-opened Palisades location for the first of what will be many times. We sat at the bar as the place was rightfully packed and were given some great recommendations by the bartender on what to order. The service couldn't have been better and the food was absolutely delicious. The Signature Mix Grill Mazza appetizer in particular was awesome. I've eaten at Afghani restaurants before and they never disappoint but this place takes Afghani cuisine to a whole other level. Between the knowledgable and charming staff and the amazing meal we had, I'd call this one of the best restaurants in D.C. Definitely go, these guys are going above and beyond on all counts. read more

I wish I could give this place more than 5 stars. The food was outstanding. I came in with high expectations, and all of them were exceeded.

Was there with my wife opening night. No "shakeout" problems at all. The food was probably the best gourmet cooking I have had in the last decade. Not the best Afghan food. The best food. Period. Terrific, friendly service. Maybe not as cozy as I might like, they probably need to mess with the lighting a little and maybe have some privacy barriers or large plants to break it up a little. But still 5 stars. And add in Et Voila a few doors down, and Salt & Pepper across the street, and you have three 5 star restaurants in one block. Amazing. If I didn't live a short walk away I would be thinking about house-hunting in the neighborhood. read more

Wonderful food, great wine, and friendly people. Thrilled to have this addition to the neighborhood!

Very,very good! The food is first-rate, the service is fine, the decor is well-done, the prices are ok for this high quality restaurant. What a welcome addition to the area! What needs URGENT ATTENTION is the noise. It's too loud and that spoils the evening and makes one rush out instead of giving the fine cooking the slow appreciation it deserves. read more

Our 2nd time here and it was just as fabulous as we remembered. We're from Seattle and only get to DC a few times a year. We were here in March and heard from a friend that they had a terrific meal here so we decided to give it a try. We had a wonderful meal and our server Hassan made the evening totally memorable. So we brought our daughter and son in law for their 5th anniversary tonight and had another great evening. The initial bread and 4 dips are hard not to over eat, each dip is unique and delicious. The Hot Mezze appetizer was a great way to sample the delicious options. My daughter and I had a seasonal special stew with veal and rhubarb (awesome) and my husband had a veal shank that was also terrific. Our son-in-law had a chicken dish which he must have enjoyed because he quietly cleaned his plate. The owner was so warm and gracious and brought us champagne and a dessert to celebrate the kids anniversary. We'll be back whenever we visit DC. read more

BEST MEAL OF MY LIFE! - I dine out at least twice a week and have most of my life. I have eaten in the fanciest places down to the most casual table service restaurants. I went to Bistro Aracosia on a cold and rainy Tuesday night in November 2017, the 15th day they were open. The restaurant is in the former location of Listrani's, a restaurant that I had been to many times and was a neighborhood staple in D.C.'s Palisades neighborhood for many years. Although I was hoping that this new "Pre-Soviet" Afghan restaurant would be good (I had never been to their Springfield, Virginia location), I was not prepared for how amazing it truly was. The saddest part of writing this review for me is that I feel that this will be the last time I ever eat there on the spur of the moment because the lines will be so long, I will never be able to just walk in there again and get a table. From the moment my parents and I arrived, we felt as if we were a guest in someone's beautiful home. We met Omar, the owner, along with his sister and brother who all work together (with even more family members in the back) to bring their mother's and grandmothers' Afghan dishes to their guests. The freshly baked Afghan bread combined with the four chutneys that were provided was out of this world. Rather than have an entree, I had several appetizers - (1) Sambosa - Pan-fried turnovers stuffed with minced beef and lentils, topped off with powdered sugar and ground cardamom, (2) Mantu - spicy minced beef dumplings, flavored with bistro spices and steamed to perfection with carrots and peas, garnished with yogurt garlic sauce and topped off with crushed dry mint and cayenne pepper, and (3) yummy beef dumplings. I stole some of my dad's Mixed Grill consisting of Lamb & Beef Tenderloin. The tenderloin melted in my mouth and was obviously marinated for a long time in delicious sauces. For dessert, we had Cardamom Milk Cake which was awesome, and Baklava which was as good as any I have ever had (even as good as the amazing Baklava we always order by FedEx every Christmas from Shalila Bakery in Dearborn, Michigan). We finished with Cardamom Tea (black), which as a non-tea drinker, tasted pretty good and warmed the soul in preparation to go back outside into the dreary late-Fall night. This meal knocked the Shabestan Persian Restaurant inside the Radisson Blu Hotel in Dubai off the number one meal I have ever had. I cannot wait to go back to Bistro Aracosia! read more

I'm being generous with the four star rating as I really want to this restaurant to do well. Having said that, I walked away feeling glad that I tried it but left underwhelmed. Having been exposed to Afghan food a lot, I found the flavors to be good but struggled with the authenticity of it all. We ordered the pumpkin boulanee and qurati. The pumpkin boulanee was good but served as a fritter/samosa then a boulanee. Picture boulanee as a stuffed quesadilla. The quarati had good flavors but what makes quarati is the ingredient quarat. It is named after it. They used yogurt. The sholah and qabuli were both good. I ordered the sholah with lamb. The lamb was cooked separately and served as a side dish. Proper way to cook the lamb is to cook it with the sholah so it can absorb all the flavors. Service was great as was the wine and ambiance. Again I liked all the flavors but felt it lacked the authenticity of what Afghan cuisine is supposed to be. I would be more understanding if they billed themselves like Lapis which is a modern take on Afghan food. read more

food was favorful but poor front of house management. i will not be back. went with a 8:30 pm reservation on a Friday, party of 5. walking in the door and the waiting space was crowded...too crowded. soon learned from other waiting parties that there were several large party reservations for the same time. we are seated 15 mins past our reservation time, and given a specials list that was the size of most menus and a dinner sized laminated "regular menu." large menu tells me that the kitchen does not cook based on what is fresh/ seasonal, and needs to edit to remain relevant. sensing a kitchen rush with multiple large parties seated at one time, we place our entire dinner order quickly to try to beat the rush. we get our bottle of wine and 30 mins go by. our appetizer shows up. delicious. devoured. another 45 mins pass. my friends, who are tolerant of a kitchen having a bad night or being "in the weeds" were ready to pay for our drinks and appetizer and leave. a member of the front of house staff had the audacity to bring a resraurant pan with a beautiful piece of meat in it to our table at 10:00pm, not to apologize for the wait, but to not-so-humble-brag about his gorgeous meat. we flag our waitress down and another front of house staff member shows up and offers us a free bottle of wine since our food was taking so long. it was 10:30pm and we had not gotten our meals (2 hours into our reservation). our meals come out and it was good as Washingtonian said it would be. food 4 out of 5 stars. service 0 stars. will not return. will not recommend. front of house please do not take so many large parties for one time slot until you are confident you can turn the tickets. edit your menu - freshness and creativity do not require the front and back of a 11×24 sheet plus a 8.5 x11 specials page. and for goodness sake, don't brag about product to a table who has not been served their meal! read more