Bistro Pasargad

As fellow Unilocalers said, great décor and a nice little water fountain/​stream running in the middle of the restaurant. I was here for lunch. I was extremely hungry. Still the chicken kabob did not impress me. Bread and the sauces were as usual. I was the only one at lunch at 1 pm. My love for Kabob’s keeps me taking to all the kabob places around. So far the Rose restaurant in Vienna on 123 is the best. If you are looking for good kabob’s go some where else. Ok food and a lot a privacy, yeah this place will help you get the max out of your lunch/​dinner.

This rating is based on the service rather than the food. I purchased a
gift certificate for Bistro Pasargad that they would not honor. I’ve had this happen once before and I think it’s an incredibly sneaky, dishonest business practice. Needless to say I will never dine here and will make sure none of my friends or family do either.

Ok. So my opinion on the pasargad place is goin to be very very biased! Coz I love the décor. it looks very green! there is a lovely water fountain running right in the middle of the restaurant. They have lovely couches with beautiful pillows! If you go here ask for the booth! Its a great place to take your date! I think its my best kept secret coz the place is never ever crowded!
As far as the food goes, as soon as you step in they give you pitas and cucumber sauce dip which is delicious! the entrees have large portions of rice! but the rice is less spiced but they have this paprika looking spice in the table that has a very tangy taste and brings up a a good flavor to the food. The chicken id fairly good. i’ve had better. The veggie dishes come in smaller platters. But its good to get them as the meat dishes are quite dry by themselves. The yogurt drink (without the soda) is awesome! well spiced and has a lot of herbs in it.
Cons: It is family owned and everytime i’ve gone here a group of ppl (owners/​realtives i guess) sit around in a table and practically watch you eat… which kinda hiders your privacy a bit. But they are very friendly the come and ask if you like the food etc. But sometimes. you know the food is ok. and you are there only for the cozy couch! so back off and let me relax =P
All said, if you want to eat so-​so food in a very fancy special place. this is it!

Because we had a $ 25 gift certificate for it, my boyfriend and I had dinner there a few nights ago. We had the feta cheese appetizer, which was fresh and tasty, and he ordered the jujeh Cornish hen and I had the eggplant stew. I agree with some of the other comments that the flat bread was kind of bland, but it was okay. The chicken was really flavorful and my stew was salty and oily but good. It’s pretty strong tasting so mixing it with some rice made it less strong. I would go back and order it again.
For dessert, we had the Persian ice cream and it was fantastic. It was so flavorful and delicious that I couldn’t bring myself to share it.
The décor and service were great. I’d go again and order the same thing.

The eggplant stew was AMAZING. Even better though, was the PERSIAN ICE CREAM. I raved about this ice cream to my friends afterwards. There is an aftertaste of rose water in your mouth when you eat it. It’s divine.
This place closes at 7 on Sunday. I’m not sure what their other hours are. We were the only patrons in the restaurant, though i guess people might have been at Oscar parties.
This place has gorgeous décor — the pictures don’t lie! There is comfy bench seating and a fountain in the middle of the restaurant. The lighting was a bit bright for my taste though. They should dim it for a bit more ambience.
My friend and I did feel a bit rushed when the owner/​server came to the table and said that they had somewhere to be. He prefaced this with the fact that he wasn’t trying to rush us. Aside from that, the service was very good and he was helpful in explaining different dishes, etc.
The menu is enticing though with descriptions like, this is the chicken that would be served in heaven and other things along that line.
I am not very familiar with Persian cuisine, but Bistro Pasargad was a wonderful experience.

My husband and I brought his mother here for a late lunch this past Sunday. As other people have stated, we were one of two filled tables, but I think that was on account of the odd time we were there.
We were immediately served bread with yogurt sauce. I found the bread tasty, not flour-​like. Because this was our first time eating here we decided to split three entrees: Eggplant Stew, sirloin Kubideh, and the chicken kabob (can’t recall the exact title, but it was the one that states «if chicken where eaten in heaven»). We also decided to try to yogurt drink, Dough and a side of the pickled veggies.
Well for those of you who don’t know (like me), Dough isn’t sweet. It’s hard to describe, but almost like drinking a salad dressing. Don’t get me wrong, it is not unpleasant, it just wasn’t what we expected. The pickled veggies were INTENSE, these are not a quiet side dish, but make a great counterpart to the meal.
As for the entrees. Yes, there is a lot of rice. Know this upfront and you wont freak about it’s proportion to the meat. It is well prepared rice, enjoyable. The chicken was OK, but mostly unremarkable. I enjoyed the sirloin kebab, especially with a bit of the pickled veggies. The true winner though is the eggplant stew. It was nothing short of phenomenal! even my non-​vege husband was in love and hasn’t stopped talking about it.
For dessert we ended up sharing the Persian ice cream. The staff was nice enough to put three small scoops in individual glasses for us, which I thought was a nice touch. The ice cream is saffron and rose water with a sprinkle of pistachio on top. It was very good and not too sweet.
Overall I think this is a great place for a dinner out. The décor is funky and bold, but not overwhelming. The fountain in the center is actually a really nice touch. Relaxing. As for the service, our waitress was nice but very timid. I would have liked her to come back to the table to check on us and refill waters, but the service wasn’t so terrible as to count against the restaurant.
I definitely plan on bringing others here, but in the meantime will likely get some eggplant stew to go…

There’s no way this restaurant is less than 4 stars (so I gave it 5 to make up for the moron who deducts points because there’s no alcohol).
My family and I have eaten here (or had carry out) on a regular basis since it has opened. We have not been disappointed in the food — generally ordering the chicken kebab, kubideh, and barg. Rice is the foundation of the persian cuisine, so you should expect (and do receive) a lot.
The restaurant is clean and aesthetically-​pleasing. (I do wonder if they are turning a profit, as I have never seen it full.)
The waitresses are quiet and friendly.

The food was tasty enough. Our server was sweet and a bit timid. The décor was different (a bit too 1980’s art deco meets clearance area at pottery barn). The eggplant appetizer was delicious, and my kabob was great though nothing remarkable. They lost big points for not serving alcohol. I need a cocktail after work!

***UPDATED***
Unilocal guys, please mark this place as CLOSED since it was replaced by Mazadar Kabob (also reviewed). As I suspected from my initial review, this place tanked just a few months later. Just goes to show that price and customer service play major roles in being successful.
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I’m going to keep this review «short» and to the point. I will have to agree with most of the previous reviews that have given this place 3 or less stars. I am not a mean or masochistic person, but I have to «keep it real» in my reviews, otherwise, what’s the point?
Chad hit a lot of important topics right on the head, the ambiance is fantastic, much better than Amoo’s in McLean (picture Superman’s fortress of solitude with red velvet curtains). The intricately designed fountain in the middle of the restaurant is very tasteful and fits in with the overall décor perfectly. The food on the other hand needs some serious work if they plan on charging their current prices and staying in business for another year! I have seen many kabob joints come and go with the wind and this one is on the top of my list of going under sometime in 2009 UNLESS they listen to the critics.
The chicken is bland and served in very small portions relative to the rice they give you. If you are going to try and cut costs, please don’t do it with your core product. The steak and kubideh kabobs are average at best, once again, they need to modify their recipe to cater to people with actual taste buds. Lastly, from an operational standpoint the serving staff (which is the owner’s family I can assume) needs some serious customer service skills. I have stopped coming here due to them refusing to fully cook my friend’s bleeding steak kabob because they insisted the chef knows best! Tell that to the salmonella. This isn’t France buddy, this is Fairfax.

I received a coupon in the mail for this place and decided to check it out. I never say no to kabobs at all. So I’m typically use to kabob places being quick, usually order take out and eat at home. I was thoroughly shocked when we got there, I had no idea it was mainly a sit down place. It was decorated nicely, though you could tell they JUST opened and the design of everything was still very fresh and carefully planned out. So after being greeted we decided to just eat there (honestly it was because I was a little embarassed to ask for take out)…
Anyways we ordered our dishes and everything came out promptly and was presented nicely. The seating was very comfortable too, with many pillows and fluffy stuff. The only thing that was a little uncomfortable for me was that besides the person I was with there were only two other pairs of people eating. And mainly the server stood in the corner staring at us the whole time. I know this is to be prompt with service but it created a very uneasy vibe for me to enjoy my food.
The kabobs were great. I ordered the chicken and it wasn’t too dry. Nice place, not sure I would go back there to dine in, maybe carry out. But I still much rather prefer Moby’s carry out over these guys.

I went to Pasargad yesterday based on the reviews here, my friend really likes Kabobs and then I saw Kimberly D.‘s mention of the Vegetarian Eggplant stew and I knew I had to go. So we went there and I looked at the menu and as she stated did not see the eggplant stew, I resigned myself to the vegetarian kabob which looked okay but like nothing special. I asked the waiter and he pointed to the front page where it lists the specials by day, and underneath has an Everyday: Eggplant Stew. Boy was I glad I ordered that.
The eggplant reminded me a bit of Indian Baingen Bharta but it was softer and not spicy. The food felt like it melted in my mouth. While they gave me tons of rice and I tried the eggplant stew with it I found that I liked it better when eaten with just the bread. The bread was really thin but still soft, I liked it a lot although I think I tend to prefer thicker breads.
My friend ordered the chicken kabob and while he said it was okay I think he was overwhelmed by the quantity of rice and felt the meat was avg… Hence 4 stars not 5, my meal would have totally rated a 5.
We were too full to order any desserts but the home made ice creams looked delicious.

My boyfriend and I are addicted to
coupons, and we bought one for Bistro Pasargad when there was a sale. Never having heard of it, we went with absolutely no expectations.
I am a vegetarian, my boyfriend is not. Of course, he has his pick of the menu, while the menu I had only had a veggie kabob listed. Luckily, I had looked up their menu online before I went – and their online menu stated that they served eggplant stew everyday. I asked the waitress if they stopped serving that dish (since it wasn’t found on the menu). She said that they still serve it everyday, but didn’t explain why it wasn’t on the menu or anything.
OH. MY. GOD. I was floored. It was so much better than I ever expected it to be. My meat-​eating boyfriend felt sorry that HE hadn’t ordered it himself, as he said it was much better than his lamb kabob!
We are going there again tonight, because I bought yet another
coupon for Bistro Pasargad. This is the first time we have repeated a
coupon. Really, if it wasn’t for the eggplant stew, I wouldn’t have been too impressed with their food. I highly recommend this dish to vegetarians and non-​vegetarians! Definitely the secret of the menu!
The experience is marvelous though. Atmosphere very relaxing and pleasant. Service very helpful. Bathrooms marvelous (no joke!).

I drove past this place a few weeks ago and thought «hmm… I’d like to try it out». The inside looked very well-​decorated, so I thought I’d save it for a date with my girlfriend.
First things first, the name of this place made me think «what the fuck is that!?»
Bistro Pasargad
But it sounded so weird I had to give it a try.
So we were seated promptly. There was a huge party opposite of us sitting on the tables, about 15 to 20 people. We were seated on the other side of the room, in the booths/sofa’s, which were very comfortable and definitely date atmosphere. The ambiance of the whole place was very well complimented by the extremely fancy water fountain sitting in the middle of the room. I was tempted to take a bath in it.
Sounds good so far? No, here’s why this place gets two stars:
We ordered a Lamb Kabob entrée and a Chicken Kabob entrée. First of all where the hell is my tandoori bread? PITA!?! Where do you get off trying to give me pita with Kabob. Take this crap back. And the kabobs themselves were dry and, aside from lacking any interesting flavor, were just overall bland. Very small pieces. The only upside to the lamb was the texture; it was very firm. But, again, flavorless. The rice was decent, but I came for the kabob. The Mast-​o-​Khiar was good, but I can’t really give any credit for that because it’s impossible for that stuff to not be good. Any moron can make yogurt and cucumbers taste good.
The service here is polite and efficient, the atmosphere is great, and it’s a fantastic place for a date if you’re looking for something out of the ordinary as far as the atmosphere is concerned. The Persian classical orchestra playing in the background wasn’t a bad touch either. But I’m very critical of food, and I think whoever owns this place should spice up the menu and stop focusing so much on the ambiance of the restaurant.
My girlfriend loved the place, loved the ambiance, and didn’t see anything wrong with the food. So as long as your date isn’t too critical about the food, or too picky about the authenticity of it, this is definitely a chill and classy place to bring her. Just don’t expect anything spectacular so far as the food is concerned. Personally, I’d rather eat at a hole-​in-​the-​wall with great food than at a fancy-​schmancy place that serves dirt on its plates.
If I ever do come to this place again, I will try the Kubidah, which is a basic enough recipe that I am assuming (and hoping) the folks at Pasargad at least got this one right.

I hate to give a place one star but for this place I must. The one star is based solely on the food since I got my meal to go. Sure the ambiance looked interesting but I didn’t sit and have a meal there. Maybe if I had, I would have given it two stars. But the meal that I got deserved no more than one star. Two complaints… the first is the mountain of rice that I got… if you’re a rice lover, this is the place to go. For $ 10, you’ll get what seems to be a never ending portion of rice and very little lamb kabob. That leads me to the second complaint… the lamb kabob lacked juiciness and flavor. The pieces of kabob were very small and were almost lost in the rice. As for the bread, I took one bite and that was it. Very disappointing indeed.
If you want good Kabobs, there are so many better places to go to (Kabob Palace or Ravi Kabob)…granted, those places will not have the nicer dining that this place had, but what’s the point of focusing your attention on the décor and forgetting about the food.

Yes, the place has interesting décor. But what do I care about the décor is the food is so unimpressive? I guess I’m spoiled by all the other, more authetic kabob places I’ve been to, but 70% of my meal was white rice. No sauce, no flavor. I got the veggie kabob. There were very little veggies on a sea of white rice. My fiancé got the lamb kabob; same story. Small amounts of lamb on a sea of white rice. The bread is usually one of my favorite parts of the kabob meal; this bread tastes like i’m eating flour. I was really looking forward to this meal so I was VERY disappointed. At least they didn’t gouge us on the prices.

I joined Jade T. and her husband for dinner to check out Bistro Pasargade, and I’ve gotta follow up on her review and say that this place is not really for kabobatarians, either.
I walked in and immediately fell in love with the space. It’s open — no, seriously. Open. As in there are absolutely no walls — it’s one giant open room with tables on one side, and bench seating along the other. There’s a pleasant burbling fountain serving as the centerpiece to the entire room. The décor is great, but if you’re agoraphobic, you might want to pick another dining establishment (say, Saravana Palace next door).
On to the grub. I had a lamb kebab, and when my plate came out, there were six little chunks of lamb, some sliced red onions, and a GIANT heap of rice. The meat was decent, but nothing to write home about — I’ve had better at Charcoal Kebab or Reston Kabob.
The service, on the other hand, was friendly and prompt. There was always a waiter on hand, but they never were never in-​your-​face.
I’d come back and maybe try some of their other dishes, but I can’t recommend the kabobs here.

Bistro Pasargad is not for vegetarians.
However, if you’re here with your non-​veggie friends, then you’re not quite out of luck. The restaurant offers one vegetarian kabob dish. The dish itself wasn’t half bad. The mushrooms were absolutely yummy and tomatoes were nice and juicy. If you’re not in the mood for kabobs, then there’s salad.
(I don’t know about other veggies but I’m bored of salads. Yes, it’s true.)
Bistro Pasargad is a gorgeous restaurant. There is a jeweled water fountain, shimmery tiled floors, black and white silhouette chairs, flowery white wallboards, cute cushions and other decorations (and pretty-​pretty bathrooms). Absolutely gorgeous ambience.
The service was great. The owner/​manager was super friendly. No complaints here.
I’m going to give Bistro Pasargad three stars, although I just wanted to comment, not rate. I am feeling extremely neutral about this restaurant. I definitely enjoyed the atmosphere and the service, but the food was so-​so.
This place has so much potential.