Darvish Kitchen

Darvish Kitchen in DC is hands down one of the best Persian restaurants I’ve ever been to. From the moment you walk in, the atmosphere is warm and inviting, setting the stage for an incredible dining experience. Every dish, from appetizers to desserts, was presented flawlessly. The flavors were rich and authentic, with perfectly seasoned kebabs, fragrant rice, and fresh herbs that truly showcased the depth of Persian cuisine. The attention to detail was impressive—even small touches like cleaning the table before serving dessert made the experience feel polished and well thought out. If you’re looking for top-quality Persian food in DC, Darvish Kitchen is a must-visit. I’ll definitely be coming back!

I had an excellent experience at Darvish Kitchen! The food was flavorful and authentic, with perfectly seasoned meats and fresh ingredients. The kebabs were tender and juicy, and the saffron rice was aromatic and well-prepared. Maya was an amazing server who recommended the best dishes—her friendly and attentive service made the meal even more enjoyable. The cozy ambiance and traditional decor added to the charm. Definitely a great spot for Persian cuisine—I'll be coming back!

We stumbled upon this hidden gem because of restaurant week. The interior design is beautiful! Just like their cuisine, their attention to detail is impeccable. The food was absolutely fabulous! Our server May, was welcoming and helpful as it was our first time dining there. She listened and made such awesome suggestions, we abandoned the Restaurant Week menu and ordered from the main menu. We were not disappointed. Everything we ordered was scrumptious! The portions are more than you could ever eat in one sitting. All of the employees were so nice, We felt like part of the family by the time we were done. I would highly recommend this restaurant and I can’t wait to go back!

What a terrific experience all around! 5 of us went for my sons birthday and each had a different dish. All yummy but the kabob Torsh was next level delicious! The staff was super friendly and welcoming. The nostalgic decor was thoughtfully crafted all around the restaurant. We will be back for sure!!

I had a fantastic meal! The food is prepared with the finest ingredients, and the Rollyee was particularly impressive. The restaurant itself has a delightful 70s vibe, and the top floor is absolutely stunning – ideal for hosting events and parties.

Visited in Washington DC with my son, decided to go to a Persian restaurant. Yaser was our waiter, he had great suggestions, great service, very friendly and courteous. The restaurant has beautiful decorations, ambience and the food presentation is fabulous. The food was delicious, one of the best Persian restaurants I have been to. The manager allowed us to look at the second and third floors, they are beautifully decorated. This is a beautiful gem in the center of Washington DC. If you are looking for an experience in a fabulous Persian restaurant with delicious food, this is the place to go in Washington DC. I highly recommend it.

Darvish offers an outstanding dining experience with authentic Iranian cuisine that’s full of flavor! The appetizer, kabab, and saffron rice were perfectly cooked and delicious. The warm and elegant atmosphere added to the charm, and the friendly, attentive staff made the visit even better. Highly recommended!

The food was amazing! The kabob Torsh was exactly what I expected, and the saffron rice was excellent. The Barg kabob was also well-grilled and delicious. We also got torshi, but I didn't like it. The atmosphere was nice. My only issue was that the tables were very close together, and I would have preferred a bit more privacy.

We recently went to a new Persian restaurant and tried several dishes, including Mirza Ghasemi, Kuku Sabzi, Kabob-E-Koobideh (Minced Meat), and Kabob-E-Joojeh (Marinated Chicken Breast). The food was delicious--especially the main dishes. The meat was well-marinated, tender, and full of flavor. The ambiance and customer service were also great, making the dining experience enjoyable. However, one aspect stood out: they don't automatically serve bread with the starters or main dishes, which is something you'd typically expect, especially in Persian cuisine. We had to ask for more bread, which seemed a bit odd. Additionally, the portion sizes for the starters were on the smaller side, so it would be nice if they included bread by default, particularly considering the prices. Overall, it's a lovely spot with excellent food, but a little more attention to these details could elevate the experience even further.

The worst Persian restaurant I've ever been to. The food is overcooked, not Iranian, and way too salty. The servers have no idea what's on the menu so don't bother asking questions. Darvish restaurant was an adventure... if the goal was to survive the worst Persian food on earth. Picture this: the food was so overcooked, it felt like they'd been slow-roasting it since the Achaemenid Empire. And "Persian food"? Nah, this was something from another universe--maybe one where salt is considered its own food group. The servers? Bless them, they looked at the menu like it was written in ancient hieroglyphs. Ask a question? You'd have better luck deciphering the Rosetta Stone. Then came the kabobs. No rice. NONE. It was like ordering a burger and getting handed two patties with no buns--just pure chaos on a plate. But wait, it gets better. After asking for the manager three times (honestly, at this point, I thought maybe he was a myth), he finally showed up, mid-argument with my wife, as if that was the final course in the menu. Suffice it to say, this is one experience we won't be repeating... ever again!

Let me preface my review by saying: I'm Persian, I've eaten at plenty of Persian restaurants in my life, and I'm easily satisfied with food every where I go. This place had a nice ambiance, it seemed clean and wonderfully decorated. We could barely hear any Persian music, but that's not a big deal. It just would've added to the feel of the place. Here's the part of the review that will lead me to never visit again. We ordered the "noon panir sabzi" starter, and it didn't come with any bread. When I asked for some, they said that the complimentary bread they brought earlier with the butter was what we were supposed to use for our starter item. The server said we could have bread with the "noon panir sabzi", it would just cost extra. I calmly and politely showed the server the menu details, and he then acknowledged he made an error, and brought out the bread at no cost to us. Great, no problem. We also ordered "mast musir", but they brought out the wrong kind (mast o khiar). So we got that sorted out as well. No problem. Then, for our entrees we asked if they have "soltani", which is universally understood to be one skewer of koubideh and one skewer of barg. The server said yea as we confirmed what soltani was and that they would provide it. Great. They instead brought out koubideh and "barg torsh", which is not the same as regular barg. I asked the server, and he said confidently that this restaurant does their soltani with koubideh and barg torsh. Okay, understood. But then later the server comes back and says the kitchen made it wrong and it should have been regular barg. So with all these issues with everything that was ordered, you would think a manager would come out and say "hey, I heard that we had some miscommunication with your orders tonight. That's not like us, and not the experience we want for our guests." We never saw a manager, we never got our bill updated to reflect incorrect orders, and we never got anyone to take ownership of their issues with getting meal orders correct. Overall the food and ambience was nice, but the service was weird and messy. This place feels like a wealthy Persian had a dream for a restaurant, but absolutely no idea how to run it well. I have no intention of returning, and have warned my friends and family about this place. There are other Persian places in the DMV that serve tasty food with consistency and skill, I'll stick to those places.

Met some ex-coworkers here for a girls dinner and had a SPECTACULAR time. The service was great, the ambiance and decor are top-notch, and the pistachio espresso martini was nothing short of life-changing (though hella expensive at $22). Still, I rave about it to anyone who will listen.

This place is a real deal You gonna feel home by the time you walk in until the last min before you leave. We got there for Saturday brunch.. we were excited to try a lot of dishes Was an excellent experience.. they mintion that they have a space on the 3rd floor for life music and privet/ semi privet special event space on the 3rd floor and they can do a set menu for that too withch is gonna be our next time visit family plan! Highly recommend

Darvish is amazing! As soon as I stepped in I was entranced with how pretty and welcoming the space was! The wait staff were efficient, helpful and so welcoming. The food was delicious!! I had the beet salad appetizer, the crispy salmon and an order of the rice -every bite was amazing!! I can't wait to go back!!

My husband and I had brunch at Darvish a few weeks ago when we were in DC for the weekend for his birthday, and I liked it but it's still new and is probably addressing some new business issues. We had planned to order their Persian breakfast platter for two that we saw on their brunch menu online. But when we sat down, the menu we were given wasn't the brunch menu we'd seen online - just the lunch menu, I think. They're a new restaurant and I know it's hard to update online menus as often as restaurants need to change items on menus, but I'd definitely recommend for expectation setting that the menus online match with what you're given when you sit down at a restaurant. I was bummed to not be able to order that breakfast platter! We ended up ordering a few things to share: mast-o-musir (yogurt and dried shallot dip), kuku sabzi (Persian herb frittata), and ghormeh sabzi (beef, kidney bean, and herb stew with a side of tahdig - Persian crispy rice). I didn't get much from the shallots in the mast-o-musir), so it really just lasted like good, thick yogurt. The kuku sabzi was good and I appreciated the portion size (quite small). And I enjoyed the ghormeh sabzi). I wasn't feeling any alcoholic drinks with brunch that morning, but I ordered their Sharbate Albaloo (a non-alcoholic cordial of sour cherries, sugar, and water). I adored it. The service was good. I think the decor still needs a little bit of tweaking, but maybe that's only because I used to frequent the restaurant that was in the location before and so the decor still looked a little Russian grandma chic to me (mostly the wood details of the bar and back doors that separate the dining room from the kitchen). It's a huge space and would be great for events (they can fit large tables and they have a whole third floor that can be rented out for events)! Overall, I thought the food was good - and Persian isn't a cuisine that's very easy to find in the DMV (we have a couple of spots in Baltimore but Darvish was the first Persian restaurant I've been to in DC). Definitely a good addition to the restaurants in the city, and I'd be happy to check it out again in the future.

New restaurant clearly with quirks to work out. Went with a group of four for dinner on a Wednesday night at 6 pm and the place was basically empty. First big annoyance was the number of gnats flying around the table. We sat inside and they had the doors closed and the AC blasting but there were CONSTANT gnats bothering us, landing in our drinks, on our food, etc. They had bug killers plugged into the wall so it's clearly something they're aware of but for the price of the food, it was a huge turn off. The Staff seemed pretty undertrained as well. They were constantly asking if they could take away our half-eaten appetizers even when we continually said "no, we're still working on them." The food itself was ok. I had the crispy salmon (skin was perfectly cooked and came with a huge piece of fish.) However, as others noted, none of their dishes come with rice. You have to order rice separately for $9+. The portions of rice that come are huge, but I don't recommend the lentil raisin rice, it's weirdly super syrupy and sweet. The watermelon feta appetizer and the smoked eggplant dip were great. Cocktails were too expensive and not very good. $20+ each is ridiculous for something that tasted like it was made from a drink mix. I hope this place does well because the location is very convenient but I wouldn't return or recommend.

Darvish is a nicely decorated and lofty/airy space for Persian food.  The service is very friendly and accommodating.  Our favorite dish was the Gole Tabrizi caultiflower.    We also tried the kashke bademjam eggplant dip which was fine.  The bread was served nice and hot and they are very happy to bring more upon request.  For entrees, we had the lamb shank which was fine.  We were surprised it was served with little in the way of vegetables but the crispy rice which came with it was very good.  The mahi e branzino was also fine but there weren't many vegetables with this either.   We often like a whole fish but really wish it would be served and filleted at the table.  Trying to work around all the tiny fish bones can really sap the enjoyment from a dish.

Food is delicious. Ambiance is beautiful and cozy. Service is also great. Love this place

Let me start off with saying the decor was perfection. Persian kabob and food is beautiful and fragrant. Which this food was! I ordered a mojito, but it was way too sweet and had to be sent back. The beet salad was delicious and so was the roasted eggplant dip. Neither of these came with a serving spoon, though. For our mains we got the mahiche and koobideh, with zereshk polo and bhagali polo. The rices were excellent, but the koobideh had a smell which made it so we had to mask each bite with chutney and onions. Mahiche was good, but not as tender as it should be. The kids ordered boneless joojeh and ribeye steak, which had a good taste and were juicy. For dessert we ordered the saffron ice cream and napoleon pastry. I am glad we tried it, but I don't see myself returning.

First time here and it was a great experience! I came with a group of coworkers who were all Persian for a team dinner and we reserved the third floor. The Ambiance was neat, elegant seating arrangements and there is a large couch seating area by the table in the back. There is also a bar area to order drinks. We ordered a bunch of starters, entrees, and desserts. Some favorites were the Zaytoon Parvardeh, Panir Hendoone, Kabob-E-Torsh, Ghomeh Sabzi, Adas Polo, Zereshk Polo, Tiramisu, and Rolett. Service was good, with the wait staff brining the orders together and coming to check in every so often. Good place for groups and overall impression was good. I would definitely come back again.

We came to this restaurant looking for an old establishment that had this same location last year. We were pleasantly surprised by the change of ownership. The Persian atmosphere blended in very well with the previous decor. The food was amazing we had the lamb shank that was tender and falling off the bone, paired with the very generous amount of saffron rice. We chose to sit at the bar and received the best service! They were attentive and friendly. We even made friend with a neighboring bar guest. The time we had was so great that we came back the next day just to have an expression martini and catch up with the bartenders. Definitely a gem and will be back next holiday season

I'll touch on the ambiance and service first as that's where they excelled. The team behind Darvish is known for projects like Greenhouse and Lima/Lima Twist, and predictably the vibes here did a solid job of whisking me away to Iran, if only for a brief moment. There's a touch of flair that feels a little more kitsch-persian (the purple ambient lighting behind the bar for instance), but it works here. The servers are knowledgeable in the food they're serving, and on one occasion where we asked a busser for some details about their olive spread, he went back to a manager to get the question answered. Small touch, but pretty neat to see someone making an effort to answer a question on their first day. Beyond this though, service was on point and Nuria deserves a special callout; I dropped a fork inadvertently, and they were quick to replace it. And that was on top of me already having requested replacement utensils after the watermelon/feta salad. The only thing that would've made service exceptional is if they'd swapped utensils and cleaned the table in between apps and main courses, but that's also more of a restaurant-level service decision than an individual one. Onto the food. They ran out of Koofteh at 5:30pm, but the restaurant opened at 5. Kinda surprised by this, but my best guess is that we just caught them before their next supply truck or they may have had a serious rush in the last few days. Unlike the visual aesthetic, the smells and tastes are impacted by cost cutting that impact your nose and tongue pretty detrimentally if you're used to Persian food. Notably absent are: 1) saffron in their rice. 2) rice, at all.... there's like, a literal cup of rice. About 1/5 of what you'd get at cheaper Persian places (Moby's etc) and half of what you'd get at more upscale places like Joon. It wasn't enough for me to pair with the Kabob Torsh, which has never happened to me at any Persian restaurant in the past. 3) freshness in the bread. The table bread had an unpleasant chewiness to it that made it pretty difficult to power through. The spreads (what seemed like honey/butter and an olive spread) were fine though. It was really just the bread that felt like it was previously frozen. Might have been fresh, just didn't taste the part. On the other hand, the starters and mains themselves had some highlights. 1) The watermelon feta salad worked surprisingly well. I'd never had it before (didn't even know it was a Persian thing. Don't hold that against me). It could benefit from a bit less feta or a slightly better presentation. But it worked well, and the actual watermelon itself was crisp and fresh. 2) the chicken kabob was moist. Not out of this world with seasoning/marinade, but it was pleasant to eat. 3) the kabob torsh was fine, a bit tangy for my taste but I was able to finish it despite running out of rice 2/3rds of the way through. Sadly, they managed to overcook the kabob torsh, so it had a more chewy texture than I would've preferred. They use ribeye as their base cut, which is uncommon (Joon also does this, but most others like Queen of Persia in Toronto use tenderloin), but I think the fact that it was ribeye probably helped them out a bit when they overcooked it to well done -- I'd asked for medium. --- A lot of this is attributable to growing pains as a restaurant. In some ways Darvish is pretty solid at least compared to the place I consider to be the current DMV benchmark for Persian food -- Darvish's Kabob Torsh comes in at $32, for instance, which is on the more affordable side. On the other hand, though, there were some low hanging fruit that could've been addressed pretty easily, like food temperature, the bread, and rice portions. Overall, 3 stars for food, +1 for service. 4 stars.

Service, service, service and REALLY strong Persian drinks! What a cultural experience; from the welcoming staff to the savory dishes you can't help but order! I cannot recommend this place enough! What a wonderful experience... bit rough next morning! ( molasses rum drinks are and are not your friend)!! I tried just about everything on the menu and as a picky eater. I loved it all! Come here... you will be happy and satisfied!

Great atmosphere with good service and great food. This place is operated by a real persian.

Amazing Persian food, great service. Loved the chicken over rice!! The restaurant has such a cool vibe as well.

Ambiance and food service great love the service and parking in the back we enjoyed our evening and defiantly going back and redo and for every one Love the bread so much.

I wish I could give Zero review. We had Awful experience. My friend found Praying Mantis in her salad. When we called the manager, he didn't even have simple manner to apologize instead he started giving excuse of how the salad comes from Amish area, so it happened!! we had to call another manager for this misbehave and he apologized, but he said that it's not his responsibility how other manager's behavior. We all lost our appetite. But, they were still expecting to charge us for food. We had to tell the waitress that we are not going to pay for this INSECT food and TERRIBLE Customer Service. After asking twice, they finally voided our bills! The waitress, Victoria was the only one who kept apologizing which should come from the manager.

Food: Food was good. Is it authentic Persian? : very very close. Service: Service was a 5 out of 10. Forgetting drinks, asking you to pass on a plate of food to the person next to you is a no no. They were friendly however the lack of knowledge was apparent. Our waiter said after asking him about a dish: " I am not familiar with this type of food" Ambiance: downstairs is hipper and a better spot. Upstairs is ok. Overall: 6 out of 10

All star goes to Ambiance . Our waiter was super friendly but not good at their job .Our food was very cold we had 5 meal at our table and all was cold . They were friendly to accommodate us with being early . I might go for cocktail but won't eat there again .

Stumbled across this place and was absolutely floored! June and Dino were amazing. Food and drinks were phenomenal. I will dream about the rose flavored martini. There were comfy plush sofas to sit on, live music on the third floor, and the kindest most amazing staff. I would go out of my way to come back here again. 10/10

We saw the social media ads for this place and, as a Persian myself, I had to try it. Unfortunately, it was a huge disappointment. I ordered Koobideh and Basmati rice - yes, they are separate orders because the Koobideh doesn't come with rice! We also got Zeytoon Parvardeh as an appetizer. The Zeytoon was acceptable, but not as good as the ones you get at other Persian restaurants in the area like Rumi. My main complaint is with the Koobideh. It was anything but Koobideh; it tasted more like ground beef shaped into Koobideh. It's clear to me that whoever made this had no idea what kabob Koobideh is, possibly just following some YouTube recipes. The supposedly grilled tomatoes were raw and uncooked. The only thing we liked was the decoration and the design of the restroom, lol.

Best Persian food I've ever had. Pricey but it's worth it. Also amazing decorations and great service.

The food at Bagali Polo Ba Mahicheh, also Kabab torsh and white rice were exceptional, and incredibly flavorful and tender. The service was excellent, with attentive and friendly staff. The ambiance was beautiful, creating a perfect setting for a delightful dining experience. Strongly recommended.

This was an amazing dining experience from start to finish--the interior design/decorations are beautiful, the service was very mindful, and the food was amazing. Highly recommend and had a great time.

The restaurant is beautiful. Waiters are friendly. But that's all. The food was ordinary. Prices are unreasonably high. Nothing special about the food there.

Fantastic new restaurant, accommodated a moderate size party late in their brunch hour. Very friendly and efficient service! Everything was delicious.

Insanely and unexpectedly good. May is the best server I've literally ever had in my life. I didn't know know I needed this place until i came here. I will never be the same. Everything is PERFECT-- from the food, to the atmosphere, to the service. 100/10 recommend

Similar to other reviews: the service was awful. Our waitress didn't know anything about most of the menu, was slow, took forever to bring us water. They need to strengthen their training clearly. Food and ambiance were good. But they won't survive with service this poor.

Nice Ambiance, over priced 1/2 cup rice no flavor and cold,no saffron, bread was stale it needed to be fresh & warm. Appetizers were tasty but cold. Waitstaff was not to helpful. Good luck hope you can improve.

The ambiance is great! The service was awesome- the naan and lash badenjan are must try. The fish and kebobs were tasty. The saffron ice cream was must try!

I hosted a dinner at Darvish Kitchen on Saturday night, 9 Nov, for 4 Persian guests. They all reported the food was delicious and found the restaurant to be excellent. Following a nice array of appetizers, the guests enjoyed the restaurant's ghormeh sabzi (herb stew), shishlik (lamb chops), Kabob-E-Joojeh Ba Ostokhan | Marinated Cornish Hen, Kabob-E-Barg | Filet Mignon, and Kabob-E-Torsh | Marinated Ribeye Steak. We all enjoyed the Faloodeh (v) Rose water granita rice noodles as dessert; reportedly a specialty of Shiraz, Iran. Our server, who hailed from Mecca, provided excellent service. We also met the owner of the restaurant, who was very gracious. The restaurant spans three levels, which offer different ambiences and sound levels. We were on the first level and at 9 pm the sound level was 80 dB, which though loud proved acceptable for conversation. I highly recommend Darvish Kitchen, as my guests enjoyed the experience and cuisine very much. Thanks!

Went to this restaurant last week as I'd heard a new Persian place had opened up in the area. We had the kuku sabzi, tahchin, cornish hen kabobs and the adas polo. The flavors were delicious and the meat as very tender. I appreciated that both the tahchin and the adas polo were cooked so that they each had their own tahdig. Not given as separate pieces on top of the rice but with their own crust. Staff was helpful and responsive.

A very beautiful restaurant with three separate floors, each having its own unique design. The staff is very friendly and polite. The service was good and friendly. ETHIe was very courteous and managed the third floor very well. We even had the experience of live music from a young Iranian man with a beautiful voice.

The food was VERY GOOD. Tah-chin is unbelievably delicious. Appetizers were nice. Loved the saffron ice cream and faloodeh. Staff were super friendly. I loved the ambiance. The cocktail drinks are watered down and not worth drinking. However, everything else was amazing. Would definitely go back again.

Amazing ambiance all around and probably the best Persian food I've had in America so far. Our waitress was incredibly kind and funny!

I was nonplussed to learn that rice does not come with dinner offerings at this restaurant. I've been cooking and eating Persian food and eating at Persian restaurants for over 50 years. I've never heard of such an absurdity; serving regional dishes without rice. To further magnify this dining insult the restaurant owners maintain that with holding rice is somehow a measure of fine dining. How can this be fine dining when there's no food, in this case rice, to dine on? This is how a restaurant goes out of business. Cancel my reservations for good.