“Merrifield Kabob (inexpensive). Kebab shops are popping up all over. Few are more than a grill with a few tables and chairs, and the quality of the product varies a great deal. Merrifield Kabob sets itself apart with a more attractive place to sit and eat and the use of fresh Halal Meat. The range of offerings is small--seven kebabs, a gyro platter or wrap, a daily stew, a few vegetables, rice, salad, and bread.
The kebabs are marinated, aggressively seasoned, and cooked over an open flame. And the prices are right with kebabs, including rice, fresh baked bread, salad, and a vegetable, starting at $6.75 for bone-in chicken and topping out at $9.95 for lamb chops. Also available are kebabs of boneless chicken, beef, lamb, and ground beef as well as few combinations. Baklava and a custard are the desserts; beverages are soft drinks and juices. Merrifield Kabob, 8428 Lee Hwy.; 703-204-4400. Open daily for lunch and dinner ”
Fairfax Times (Dec, 2006)
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com
Members of an older generation may recall youthful cigarette-smoking movie stars like James Dean and Marlon Brando embodying the very definition of all that was "cool" in their time.
For some in today's 18-and-just-a-little-older set, attaining a similar level of cool may still come from smoking - but not from cigarettes.
Lately, more young American adults are inhaling tobacco smoke from hookahs, and a place where many of them feel the most at home while puffing the fruit-flavored vapor that emanates from ornate glass and metal water pipes is MK Hookah Lounge in Merrifield.
"It's relaxing and comfortable," said one of four 18- and 19-year-old women seated together, all of whom wished not to be identified.
The children of immigrant parents from Sudan, the four friends said they come to MK at 8428 Lee Highway in Fairfax to smoke, which they do from a flexible felt-laden tube attached to an approximately 3-foot-high hookah resembling the base of a decorative table lamp, only thinner.
The tobacco they selected, which was flavored with strawberry and mint and blended with honey, is heated from above in a small pot at the top of the hookah. Inhaling through the tube's disposable plastic mouthpiece draws the scented and flavored smoke bubbling through ice-chilled water in a glass chamber at the bottom of the hookah. The smoke tastes and feels cool and smooth.
The women said they come to MK because it is near their homes where they live with their parents. They also come to be with their peers.
"If you're not 21, there's not much to do for people our age, especially in Fairfax," said one friend.
"The mall gets really old really quick," chimed in another.
The four women have regularly kept coming back for about a year now, they said, because they feel welcome and are always greeted warmly by the Khaliq brothers - Nadeem, 24, Faheem, 22, and Waseem, 19 - who own and run the MK lounge.
"People are ridiculously friendly here," said one of the friends. "They have young workers here so they can relate to us."
The ladies also offered a word of advice to anyone who wants to keep their hookah smoking a secret from their parents.
"You should keep Febreze on hand when you go home," said one, referring to a brand of fabric freshener sold in a spray bottle.
Nadeem Khaliq, the eldest of the MK brothers, said that hookah, or argeela or sheesha as it is known in other parts of the Middle East and South Asia, has become a fad among college-aged people. Many of his customers are students from George Mason University and Northern Virginia Community College who found out about MK through word of mouth or from the Web sites www.mkhookah.com and www.myspace.com/mkhookah, he said.
The brothers originally opened their business as a restaurant named Merrifield Kabob in the summer of 2005. The restaurant did, and continues to do, a brisk business for lunch but had few dinner patrons. Revenue increased substantially after the introduction of hookah at the start of 2006.
"It just took our business through the roof," said Nadeem Khaliq, who graduated from GMU last May and now works full time in the IT field. Like his two brothers, he is originally from Pakistan.
MK Hookah Lounge currently doubles as an eatery serving mostly South Asian-style cuisine prepared by the brothers' mother, Raheela. In addition to the popular kabobs and gyros, other dishes like chicken biryani made with rice and yogurt and desserts like rasmalai, which are sweetened cottage cheese patties with cream syrup, are also available.
MK serves two types of tobacco -- Nakhla, imported from Egypt, and a higher-quality, honey-sweetened brand called Alfakher, from the United Arab Emirates. Ironically, the tobacco used in Alfakher is grown in Virginia.
Flavors include apricot, banana, cappuccino, cherry, grape, jasmine, lemon, mango, orange, peach, pineapple and plum. MK also prepares custom flavors. Double melon is melon-flavored tobacco in an actual melon slice, and triple-apple is tobacco flavored with white and red apples prepared in a hollowed-out apple.
MK does not serve alcohol and the brothers have no plans to start. The music served up is international and ranges from Arabic to Hispanic to Punjabi.
"Sometimes even Russian music," Nadeem Khaliq said. "We have a diverse crowd so we play a diverse selection of music."
With the popularity of his restaurant and lounge on the rise, Nadeem Khaliq, whose family sold their home in Burke so they could invest in their business, said he may need to expand soon. But first he would like to get permission from Fairfax County to stay open later and to increase the maximum seating capacity.
"If you have so many restrictions against you, why should small businesses invest?" Khaliq said. "We've invested a lot into the business in hopes that it would come back to us down the road."
©Times Community Newspapers 2007
