Halal Grill is the latest ethnic-food hit in Arlington

Las Brasas was the first of a new batch of ethnic restaurants to open in a strip mall just north of The Parks at Arlington mall. Although the Peruvian restaurant lasted less than a year, it paved the way for several other ethnic restaurants to follow, the thriving Havana Bar & Grill and El Mofongo among them.

Helping cushion the blow of Las Brasas’ departure is the arrival of Halal Grill, which took over the space in December. In addition to a daily lunch buffet, this charming, family-run spot offers a full menu of good and affordable Indian, Pakistani and Mediterranean cuisine.

The best place to start is with the Chicken 65 appetizer ($4.50), consisting of cubed, deep-fried chicken coated in a fiery, crisp batter and served on a bed of curry leaves.

The name of the dish is an homage to 1965, supposedly the year it was introduced to the public. But it may end up being named after the number of times you’ll reach for your water, because the chicken’s jackets of ginger, onions and red chile peppers pack so much heat.

Impressively, naan bread is made in-house, baked in a tandoor oven, and comes in three varieties: plain, butter and garlic.

We opted for garlic ($2) and found the long plank of bread, cut in two and served in a basket, to be a little thin in both flavor and texture. It was like a super-thin pizza crust, cracking and crumbling easily; the garlic was so strong, it was all we could taste.

But it was great when we dipped it in our entree of butter chicken ($7.99). The dish was composed of chunks of marinated chicken breast submerged in a bath of red, velvety curry, made of yogurt and butter.

It was wildly rich and creamy but required us to take breathers between bites, as there was a wickedly spicy aftershock. After exhausting the naan, we ordered pakoda ($2.99) — fried fritters stuffed with mixed vegetables — to sop up the rest of the curry.

Vegetarian entrees, nearly a dozen, ranged from bhindi masala (fried okra in onion-tomato curry) to mutter paneer (peas and housemade paneer in tomato sauce). We opted for aloo gobi ($6.99) and mostly liked the simple assemblage of cauliflower, peas and diced potatoes, spiced with garlic, onions and cumin.

There are several desserts, from mango lassi (a whipped yogurt drink dotted with mango pulp) to rice pudding. It would be hard to beat the rasmalai ($2.99), a pair of housemade paneer patties drenched in sweetened milk, then topped with pistachios. It’s the perfect dessert for those who like sweet or savory, as it finds middle ground between the two.

This story was originally published March 1, 2017 at 8:42 AM with the headline "Halal Grill is the latest ethnic-food hit in Arlington."