Kabob Palace

by Kim H.

YES YES YES! Amen praise Jesus this place gets it right. Located in the "Red Light" district of Crystal City, it's a no frills Kabob heaven. Open 24 hours, I am usually stumbling here after a night of drinking (the food tastes JUST as good when I'm sober thank you very much). The kabobs are made to order, so I would suggest keeping their number on speed dial cause I know you'll be back. I usually get the chicken kabob with a side of rice and chick peas (although i LOVE spinach, they make it a little too spicy for me). Oh. My. God. It's soooo good, but you will feel like a complete fat ass after eating here. The food is super heavy and sits in your stomach for a while. Kabob Palace makes me feel like Kate Gosselin pregnant with sextuplets. Bravo KP!

by Tu-Van L.

After hearing how Karman L., PC W. and Jeff W. among other people rave about this place, I finally succumbed to the Yelp pressure and tried it out.  Under the tutelage of Jeff W. I finally became enlighted to the glory taht is Kabob Palace.Situated in Crystal City not far from the Eads St. "strip," this cramped eatery looks great for late-night munchies.  Place is questionable in cleanliness, but lines wrap around the place and almost out the door and seating is wherever you can find it.Under Jeff W's instruction I made absolutely sure to get NO SALAD with my chicken and kubideh combo platter so I would have room for extra rice and chickpeas.  Them rice and chickpeas complement the meat very well, and the meat was EXCELLENT.  The chicken was flavorful and tender (hard to find places that don't dry out chicken meat) and the kubideh was equally flavorful.  Both kicked a nice punch of spiciness that left my mouth burning yet not uncomfortably so.  If you need more kick, the side bar has Thai chilis you can add on.  All that with a piece of pita/naan left me completely stuffed.  I don't know how I finished the plate, but it was THAT GOOD.Open 24hrs, so this place is great no matter what time of day/night you go.  If I'm in the neighborhood and in a mood for some good kabobs, I know where to go.

by Michelle L.

Once again a place has withstood the Pepsi Challenge. I love this place. Last week my roommate said she was going to get kabobs. Eager to take advantage of not having to walk a mile up the road, I gave her $10 and told her to bring me back the boneless chicken item with extra bread and "green sauce" So she brings back some Kabobs and I immediately say "wtf happened here. did they change owners? it sucks." To which my roommate replied "oh no, we went someplace other than Kabob Palace." This my friends is proof how awesome this joint is. I don't know what it is, but the taste of these kabobs are wonderful. No matter the hour, be prepared to wait for these meals. I can only vouch for the meat menu items, the chickpeas, and the green sauce. I have NO CLUE what the green sauce is but without it, the meal just ain't right. I'm normally not a fast eater but I always find myself getting sick from inhaling this delicious grub. I've tried comparable in the area (i.e. Ravi Kabob) and this place is waaaaay better hence the 5 stars. The fact that it's open 24 hours a day also makes it great because there have been times I've craved kabobs at 9am. This completely makes up for the fact that you have a long wait time and there is no parking. Don't park in CVS... or you will get towed. Also, don't be scared by the man behind the counter. He smiles sometimes. So to give a brief synopsis of Kabob Palace: 1) Amazing kabobs and side dishes 2) don't forget the green sauce 3) don't park in CVS 4) Enjoy!

by tom j.

My first 5-star review. This has been a favorite for years...comes as close to tasting as it does in the home country as any restaurant I"ve been to. The charcoal-grilled meat is to die for, the rice is perfectly cooked, and the beans on the side are nicely spiced. The bread is made traditionally and is hot and crisp right out of the oven. And the spinach side...who would have thought such a nicely spiced vege side dish could be so heavenly?In addition to the usual kabobs, give the specials a try. My favorite is Tues and Fri: chicken jalfrazi(sp)....tender chunks of chicken with green and red peppers and onions.The price has gone up a bit over the years, but still a steal for a full meal at under $10. Best hole in the wall in town.

by Paul M.

A big thank you to the Yelp mobile app for guiding me to this place at a recent conference at Crystal City.Conference was one of those new age affairs with a twitterfall and a hashtag, I tweeted this place and then a whole bunch of the attendees came - and all enjoyed it.Phenomenal value, phenomenal food. Kabob is definitely something I associate with 2am in the morning and a bellyful of beer. This food is just delicious.

by neal d.Peter F.Craig R.Ian R.

Kabob Palace.... Perfect late night craving spot.After a couple drinks Kabob Palace is great if your in the mood for meat, rice and bread.  A nice basic desi meal!  Great crew and great food.Definitely one of my favorite NOVA spotsMeat on a stick. That's the only reason to come here.The lamb (combo number 4) is perfectly seasoned and grilled over a very very hot flame. The bread is prepared authentically and becomes a pillowy mattress that your meat (on a stick) is tucked into in your take-away box. A note to first-timers: skip the salad, you came for meat on a stick and the sides, remember? The chickpeas, served as a side are spicy, hearty, and somehow transcendental. The spinach breathes air back to your lungs after aforementioned chickpeas have taken your breath away. Another note: they make delicious tea with old world spices to be enjoyed next to the plastic utensils in the corner. First, its delicious and reminds me of the stuff you get served on the other side of the world. Second, its free and no one seems to find it, know about it, or try it. 5 stars because I've been coming here since 2004 and every year the meat on a stick gets better and better.The food here is always really great. The lamb and boneless chicken are my personal favorites. I also always make sure to get the chickpeas.For a take-out place, it does sometimes take a pretty long time to get your food. Lately I've been calling ahead and placing my order for pick-up.On a cold, wet rainy day, your correspondent decided he wanted kebabs.**  He therefore braved the elements, wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a "UNH New York" t-shirt, soliciting all sorts of bewildered looks, and trucked over to The Palace.  As a result of his extended exposure to the elements, he is likely to fall ill; such is the extent of his admiration of The Palace.He discovered two limitations which inhibit his enjoyment of The Palace.  One is his own physical limitation, the other is a structural limitation, which The Palace should address, which directly directly impacts the physical limitation.  These two limitations will be expanded on below.Your correspondent's primary limitation centers on his inability to inhale The Palace's offerings as quickly as he would like to.  This is due not to the temperature of the kebabs, as he has scalded the top of his mouth with many a burning-hot slice, but rather the inability to chew and swallow as rapidly as desired.  This can only be overcome with more practice.The second limitation, a 'structural limitation,' requires The Palace to enact one primary hardware change.  The 'dine-in' serving plate is compartmentalized into three sections.  This in of itself is not unacceptable; rather the excessive curvature of the edges of the plate, presumably designed to keep the food in the plate, presents two negative drawbacks.  The high degree of curvature, along with the relatively high degree of surface friction of the plate, renders a considerable amount of food (rice, in this instance) as unusable since the difficulty of removing it from the plate with a fork increases quite measurably.  Unfortunately so does the frustration at attempting to do so.  Your correspondent likes to think he has decent table manners and therefore refuses to lick the plate, although the thought has crossed his mind.For a more comprehensive review of The Palaces' offerings please see my previous two reviews.  Two more visits to The Palace are planned for November 2009.  The Palace is on par with kebabs experienced in the Arabian Persian Gulf monarchies and India.  It really does not get better than this.**Your correspondent knew he would be feasting at The Palace 72 hour before.  His original trip was due to take him traveling through the south, where the weather was forecast to be nice and warm.  He therefore elected not to pack warm clothes.  Later that evening, a better trip appeared which he traded for; despite knowing he would remain in the northeast, he nonetheless elected to rely on the optimistic weather forecast which called for sunny mid 50s, and did not pack warm clothes, rather than the more realistic one calling for cold, rainy weather.  If he gets sick with a cold it will still be worth it.  Your correspondent is a highly motivated individual who will stop at nothing in order to dine at The Palace. Yet another update for The Palace.Arrived just after 10AM and brought two of my coworkers who had…

by Sherry W.

I don't get it. Yes, the chicken is pretty good. Its orange-ish color slightly threw me off because I kept thinking sweet and sour and kept tasting slightly tangy, more than slightly spicy. The impressive thing isn't its flavor, but its ability to be both tender and dry at the same time -- no savory juices, but not tough?! HOW?!Yes, the naan is huge. And yes, it's cool that you get to choose 2 sides. For around $10/entree at a hole-in-the-wall place though, you BETTER get more than just naan and roasted meat. I got the spinach (mushy, bland) and chickpeas (had a slight kick and decent flavor). Kind of underwhelming, but probably my fault for choosing 2 mushy sides.It's filling. It's more exotic than the Chevy's a few blocks down. It'll make you smell like you spent a few hours marinating in a bazaar. But Kabob Palace is nothing to write home about. It's just A-OK.

by Craig R.

The food here is always really great. The lamb and boneless chicken are my personal favorites. I also always make sure to get the chickpeas.For a take-out place, it does sometimes take a pretty long time to get your food. Lately I've been calling ahead and placing my order for pick-up.

by Kristina M.

Kabob palace is as good as it gets. I found it because it was close to my hotel and gave it a try. Damn. I was there four more nights and ate there for three meals. I still daydream about the place.I got the lamb kabob with chickpea curry and an extra side of dressing to help cool off my mouth (I am a wuss).I hope someday I can find a restaurant that has meat on swords near me. Until then I dream...

by Eastie T.

I will stop with just the rating..The food was Awesome, but, i am full now to do a write-up on it