As a rule, I tend not to believe claims of anyone being the king of a foodstuff. King of the Ring, sure. King of France? Some people might dispute it, but I’m in. But I entered King of Koshary in Arlington with no faith in the restaurant’s royal cred. How wrong I was. Owner Ayob Mentry deserves the title, indeed.
The nautically themed white-and-blue restaurant has style, but the atmosphere quickly gives way to attention on the aromas coming from the kitchen. Service is exceptionally helpful and friendly. The King’s Koshary may be Egypt’s national dish, but it’s also unusually complicated to eat correctly. Our server took us through how to add the zesty tomato-based sauce, piquant garlic oil, and a little bit of thin-but-mighty hot sauce to the bowl. The oversized portion is composed of rice, elbow noodles, lentils, and chickpeas, all of which are ideally al dente. The scent of cumin and coriander rise from the bowl of vegan comfort food. Crispy fried onions provide a crown to the royal dish. For $8.99, the portion could easily feed two or three people, but guard it fiercely. The savory flavors only build when served as leftovers.
I could wax rhapsodic about the flaky feteer bread when dipped into the creamy, smoky babaghanoush. I could tell you how refreshing the mint lemonade is. But dishes like the okra tajin with lamb must be experienced for themselves. The stew may well be my new favorite dish of the fall, and will warm me through the winter. The heated pot holds a tomato sauce that’s oily with rendered lamb fat, but the fall-apart-tender cubes of meat are more punctuation than centerpiece. That honor goes only to the melting chunks of slippery okra. Spoon the stew bite by bite over the elegant flower-shaped rice presentation with vermicelli. The petals will disappear more quickly than you would hope.
King of Koshary? Yes, but also king of tajin, rice, and all else he surveys.
5515 Wilson Blvd., Arlington
Feature image by Alice Levitt
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