Annandale may be known unofficially as the D.C. area’s “Little Korea," but it also happens to boast a number of other noteworthy ethnic eateries—from Afghan to Bolivian to the Pakistani delights at Shiney’s. Shiney’s Sweets & Restaurant somehow persists as an unlikely tenant at the Seoul Plaza strip mall.

Shiney’s may seem like a bit of a dive with the halfhearted string of burnt-out Christmas lights dangling from the ceiling and the few scattered tables for those patrons willing to eat in. But linger at the counter for just a few minutes on a weekend afternoon, and their brisk catering business, as evidenced by party platter after party platter being disgorged from their kitchen, is an apparent testimonial to their excellence.

Although most of Shiney’s patrons seem to opt for the buffet, we decided to forego the steam table fare in favor of ordering off their short menu of entrees and “Light Snacks."

We started off with their chat papri, a salad that’s a refreshing jumble of chickpeas, chopped potatoes and tomatoes, fried crisps, and fresh cilantro swimming in a blend of tart and spicy yoghurt and tamarind sauce. Shiney’s rendition easily supplants Kebab Palace’s version at the top of our chat papri rankings. And just in case you think we’re joking around about maintaining rankings for something this seemingly obscure, chat papri (it also seems to be known as papri chat) is easily one of our favorite starter salad formats of all time. Chat papri is really an overachiever as far as salads go, mixing textures that are soft, crisp, and crunchy in a sauce that manages to be savory, refreshing, and in Shiney’s case, fairly spicy. They also get bonus points for not stinting on the fried crisps.

We had heard good things about Shiney’s green pepper pakoras, which are basically batter-coated, mildly spicy pepper fritters. They weren’t offering them that day, so we decided to try out their dahi bhalla. Unfortunately, this dish turned out to be a lackluster reprise of chat papri with several bland and starchy matzoh ball-like dumplings nestled among the chickpeas and yogurt.

Our disappointment was short-lived, however, as their goat karahi, Shiney’s signature entree, absolutely blew us away. The goat karahi is substantial enough for two to share, and even comes with two pieces of Naan, still piping hot from the tandoor. This is an utterly decadent dish, as rich and fatty pieces of tender goat, still on the bone, are mixed in a fiery sauce of sauteed tomatoes, cilantro, prominent strips of fresh ginger, and green chilis. The modest salad accompaniment and yogurt sauce are necessary coolants when the heat becomes a bit too intense.

And the proprietor, who noted our abandon as we hunched over our plates in focused silence, was not shy about proclaiming its excellence. “Goat karahi at Shiney’s is the best around,” he declared. We might normally be dismissive of such statements, but we merely nodded our heads in assent as we tore another piece of naan and used it to capture another piece of goat.

We washed everything down with cans of Pakistani sodas like Apple Sidra, a bit too sugary for our taste, as well as Pakola, which is easily one of the most bizarre sodas that we’ve ever had. Though Pakola turns out to be a rose-flavored cream soda, it’s tinted an otherworldly shade of green. Shiney’s also carries Pakola’s lychee soda, but we had already reached our exotic beveraging threshold for the day.

As we were paying at the counter, the proprietor surprised us with two complimentary gulab jamun. As he handed them over the counter, we inwardly groaned. We were, after all, stuffed with goat and couldn’t imagine consuming anything more that afternoon, let alone one of their numerous buttery sweets. And in addition, gulab jamun, a golfball-sized South Asian sweet, has consistently underwhelmed us whenever we’ve tried it previously. It’s always been an unappealingly dry and brittle lump of sticky sweetness.

But Shiney’s gulab jamun was a revelation: dense, moist, creamy, and fresh with just the right amount of syrupy sweetness. In other words, it was heavenly. We shouldn’t have been surprised at its excellence, given that sweets are one of Shiney’s specialties, with the many pink, green, orange, and white halwas and burfis stacked neatly in one of their display cases. But we expressed our astonishment nonetheless, and the beaming proprietor took the opportunity to express another bit of entrepreneurial pride. “You want fresh sweets,” he said, “you come to Shiney’s.”

Shiney's Sweets & Restaurant
4231 Markham St.
Annandale, VA 22003
(703) 642-0460