Editorial Review:
During my years reviewing neighborhood restaurants, I have come to associate Afghan food mostly with bare-bones carryouts, plastic plates and plastic cutlery. So Silk Road in the Lansdowne Town Center in Leesburg is certainly a treat. The floors are carpeted in lovely burgundy and gold pattern, the walls are a golden yellow with accents of burgundy that form arches on one wall. The dark wood tables are clothed in white, with good heavyweight cutlery and handsome white porcelain dishes in interesting shapes.

There is a bar in one corner, and its backdrop is a wall with small pieces of ornate, embellished Afghan fabric arranged in a stunning collage. The room is not large, but it is broken up into separate seating areas that feel intimate.

Chef and owner Walli Nadim cooks the food of his youth, learned at his mother's side. He learned well.

Nadim's wife, Mariam, tends to the dining room, welcoming diners as if they were guests in her home. Under her tutelage, the menu items become more clear.

This is the Nadims' first restaurant, though Walli Nadim grew up in the business, beginning as a busboy at 16 in his uncle's restaurant. He worked his way up to manage Old Angler's Inn in Potomac for 10 years, in two five-year stints. He left about 18 months ago and opened Silk Road in December.

Nadim was born in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, but grew up in the northern part of the country, where food is more elaborately spiced than in Kabul, he explained. Spicy doesn't translate into hot but is more flavorful, more rounded and satisfying. Many of the dishes are tempered with yogurt, others are enhanced with a tart cilantro sauce. Zucchini pakawra is accented with both. These golden coins of zucchini are battered, then deep-fried until they puff up. They arrive hot at the table, and their slightly sweet flavor marries well with either the yogurt or cilantro sauce.

Meals begin with squares of black sesame seed-encrusted flatbread, served with butter, but tasty on their own and perfect for picking up the last bit of sauce with any dish.

The menu includes an Afghan-style hummus, served with naan. But the standout appetizers are the various dumplings that are the hallmark of Afghan cuisine.

Aushak are silken ravioli stuffed with chives, scallions and spices, then topped with seasoned yogurt, ground beef and dried mint. Mantoo are steamed dumplings, with the same finely textured dough as the aushak but stuffed with seasoned ground beef and onions, then topped with yogurt, bits of carrot and green peas in a savory sauce, and then dusted with cumin.

Boulany and sambosa are fried dumplings. Boulany are stuffed with mashed potatoes and scallions, and sambosa are filled with ground beef and mixed vegetables. Both are served with the spicy cilantro sauce. We were served all four dumplings as part of an appetizer combination platter.

Mantoo and aushak are also available as entrees, and a vegetarian version of aushak, sauced with tomato instead of beef is offered.Kebabs are a mainstay of Afghan cuisine, and lamb, chicken or beef kebabs are available. A tender and flavorful lamb kebab was gently spiced but had that slightly fuzzy texture on the outside that comes from staying too long in the marinade. The kebab was served with several side dishes: eggplant baked until it was molten and topped with yogurt sauce; butternut squash, sweet, succulent and seasoned with yogurt and tomato; baked turnips; and baked carrots and split peas. A mound of basmati rice completed the plate.

The Karahi entree combines lamb kebab with fried eggs, sauteed onions, green peppers and tomatoes.

Nadim said the most popular menu item is kabuli palaw, baked rice topped with sauteed carrots, raisins and almonds, served over chunks of lamb stew. Another favorite is samaroq palaw, sauteed button mushrooms and breast of chicken served with tomato sauce and a little sour cream.

Everything is made fresh in the kitchen, which means items sometimes aren't available. On both of my visits, the spinach dishes were unavailable.

Desserts include a simple rice pudding and an Afghan version of baklava, drenched in a sweet sauce and dusted with ground pistachios.

There is a luncheon buffet, which includes most of the dishes on the menu. In addition to the full bar, there is a small wine list. Belly dancers perform Friday and Saturday nights.

--Nancy Lewis (July 26, 2007)