My friend Ray and I were stood up by all our friends for Thursday night Happy Hour last week. We’d planned for a raucous* night over at Whitlow’s on Wilson. When we figured out it would just be the two of us, we decided to put notions of bar food and beer aside and hit up Delhi Club for an official Welcome-To-The-Neighborhood dinner.
We made a good choice. We still managed to get a little tipsy on a couple of glasses of Pinot Grigio, but the food certainly beat any hamburgers or onion rings our other options would have offered us.
Our tastes didn’t run particularly adventurous: I went with the Chicken Malai Tikka ($12.50), distinguished from the classic dish by its hint of cardamom, while Ray couldn’t pass up the chance for a good butter chicken (also $12.50). My tikka was more assertive than I expected, with the yogurt marinade tenderizing the dish nicely, and I inhaled it quickly. I definitely snuck my way onto Ray’s plate more than a few times to dip our chewy garlic naan into his butter chicken sauce. Ray compensated for my thievery by asking for seconds on the flavorful rice we got with our main courses; the kitchen was more than happy to oblige.
The decor is intimate, casual and classy and you can’t beat the location, directly across from the Clarendon Metro. Next time, I’ll experiment with some of the lamb-options, perhaps – and I’m definitely indulging in the Indian Ice Cream with pistachios and almonds.
Delhi Club
1135 N. Highland Street
Arlington, VA 22201
*Language has been slightly exaggerated to make my friends sound wilder than we are.