Date Visited: 8 August 2010Meal: Lunch
Diners: 2 - Me & Wendy
Experience: Another new restaurant in Leesburg has risen from the ashes of an old one. Zara Kebab features Turkish Cuisine and is located in the Marketplace at Potomac Station, in the spot where Zpizza used to be. They join the growing number of restaurants there, which currently includes the Greene Turtle, Subway, Manhattan Pizza, James Cafe, Arby's, and Moe's. Zara Kebab joins the family of restaurants in Leesburg serving kebabs, along with Red Kabob (Jordanian) and Doner Bistro (German-style). In the U.S., people are fairly familiar with the term Gyro (Greek), but not so much with Doner (which is the original Turkish version). They are very similar, differing a bit in the specific spices and proportions used. Gokhan said that their Doner was about 80% beef and 20% lamb, made fresh daily - never frozen, and cooked on a vertical spit. You can read up on the Doner Kebab phenomena on Wikipedia; amazingly, Leesburg is mentioned in the article as one of the few places in the U.S. where Doner Kebabs are known and served!
Zara Kebab co-owner Gokhan graciously helped us through the menu, making suggestions giving us background on many of the dishes. On this visit, we started off with an appetizer called Cigar Borek ("Feta cheese with parsley wrapped homemade dough and deep fried"). The feta was very mild, and they were perfectly fried, hot, and fresh tasting. Gokhan explained that this dish is very common in Turkish homes.
For my entree, I got the Shish Kofte ("Ground beef gently spiced and grilled served with rice, lettuce, pita bread & cacik sauce"). The "shish" means it's grilled on a skewer, and the "kofte" is the ground beef, which is served on top of the pita, and looks somewhat like a large sausage. Gokhan said that the secret is that the meat has been marinated for at least 24 hours, and I could tell - it was juicy and delicious! Most of the dishes at Zara Kebab come with their homemade Cacik sauce ("Plain homemade yogurt with chopped cucumbers, fresh mints, dill and garlic"), which was good and refreshing. Most of the dishes also come with two kinds of rice: white rice with orzo pasta toasted in butter, and whole grain rice (kind of yellow-orange). Gokhan said the whole grain was the healthy one!
Wendy got the Doner (Gyro) Kebab ("Thin sliced marinated beef, cooked with an open flame on a vertical spit, shaved-off in tender thin slice, served with rice, lettuce, pita bread & cacik sauce"). Like my Kofte, it was very juicy and wonderfully marinated.
There are plenty of other dishes to try at Zara Kebab, and we'll be back to try 'em. Gokhan and the rest of the staff were very friendly, making our visit a pleasure. We can enthusiastically recommend that you give Zara Kebab a visit, and support a local Leesburg business!
Location: 659 Potomac Station Dr., Leesburg, VA 20176, 703-777-3515
Web site: none (yet)
Total bill: $30.75 + $6.00 tip = $36.75
5 comments:
My family and I went to Eat at here, the portion was large you get 1 pita, a salad, and 2 kinds of rice. When we got our order it smelled quite delicious. Boy was I wrong. The food was bland, the meat was VERY tough, the rice was comepletely mushy and flavoured with butter, and the menu was overpriced. we bought 4 entrees and spent around $60. Take my advice and dont even think about going here. If you want good Middle Eastern food goto Darya Kabob in Sterling, VA. The food is cheap and VERY delicious, trust me im Middle Eastern.
Heres the Website CLICK HERE
http://hstrial-daryakabob.intuitwebsites.com/menu.html
Look Under Traditional Kabob Entrees
I agree that the Cigar Borek were unique and delicious, but I love the food at Red Kabob. The meats are freshly marinated and grilled there, and the rice is sublime.
Yeah im from the sterling area.. and Zara Kebab is defiantly better than Darya Kebob, you must be kidding me! Its only been open for a few months.. and by far beats every kebob restaurant ive been to. Everything on that menu has great taste and flavor and that fresh taste.. plus it Halal.. you must go try out the Restaurant. and plus last time i went there, they had so many specials! extra meals and sides that arent even on menu!
I truly enjoyed Zara. There are Turkish dishes that are not easily found elsewhere, for example, simple baba ganuj. Also the borek, and they'll make imam bayildi if you call in advance. Do you know that Red Kebab is no longer under the former Jordanian ownership? The new folks are nice and deserve a fighting chance, but it is hard to replace the lovely Jordanian couple. However, the Turkish proprietors here are kind and gentle-mannered and I like them.
This place is lame. Bad food, awful location, terrible service. DO NOT EAT THERE.
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