FOOD: Meat in a Box — The Lighter Side of Kebabs

In Northern Virginia kebab restaurants are practically as common as delis and pizza places.  But most of them are also annoyingly similar.  They offer up a mammoth portion of meat with a heaping mound of rice and maybe some stale bread and a salad.  Many of them are tasty, but they can also be heavy and greasy.

Meat in a Box, the City’s shiny new Persian-style kebab takeout joint at 312 S. Washington St., is doing something refreshingly different.

Every kebab is only available in sandwich form.  It’s essentially the area’s first semi-Americanized Persian to-go deli.  And the food is fresh and not nearly as oily and butter-laden as that of the competition.

Shish kebabs, ground beef, chicken, or veggies can be had in two, four, or ten sandwich boxes (yes, the meat does literally come in a box).  Customers pick which sandwiches they would like in their box and then wait while the food is grilled and then assembled on a deli-style counter top with homemade bread and fix-ins.

Instead of twiddling your thumbs while the food cooks, you can stand at the counter and watch it being made.  I’ve never been to a place with such a wide open kitchen.  Its lunch and a show!  The bread guy is especially fun to watch as he lifts fresh discs of dough out of a piping hot tandoor-style oven.

In my two visits the meats in the chicken and ground beef sandwiches, though not as succulent as some of the area’s kebab kings, have been well seasoned and not too dry.  The sandwiches themselves are enlivened by parsley, tomato, onion, and a liberal dusting of sumac, the quintessentially Persian spice that lends a mysterious lemony tang to anything it touches.

But served as they are, there is still something missing.

That’s what makes the side salad a must order in my opinion.  Though it is a simply dressed mélange of cucumber, tomato, parsley, and avocado (or green pepper, depending on availability), when spooned onto the sandwich like a salsa it adds great moisture and crunch, elevating the sandwich to another level.  An order of two sandwiches with a side salad makes a great lunch for one hungry person, and could even be split between two light eaters.

The excellent house-made yogurt dip is another good condiment to have along with the sandwiches.  It’s a satisfying portion of shallot-flecked, tangy goodness that is a great foil for just about anything.  I’d order it if I was eating with a large group as something to smear the sandwiches with, but it may be too big for a solo diner.

There are still some items I have yet to try that look promising- the homemade saffron ice cream sandwich and baklava are especially tempting- but I’ve had enough of this little takeout operation to know that the food is light and tasty.  It’s a great change of pace from the oily rice and sinewy meats at other kebab joints and certainly a step up from greasy subs and turkey clubs.  The staff is also unbelievably nice, somehow managing to greet everyone walking in the door while simultaneously dancing around the kitchen like crazy to fill orders.

Meat in a Box is a worthy addition to anyone’s lunchtime rotation.