Friday, August 03, 2012

Thrillist: Cusbah Opens Tonight (4pm)

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The lights will be on tonight at Cusbah 

Thrillist has some info on the soon to open Cusbah. As previously discussed, they will serve Pakistani and northern Indian food. Thrillist reports that they will also offer eight beers on draft (Lagunita's Lil Sumpin Sumpin is among these), and fancy cocktails. The space at 1128 H Street has looked pretty close for a while, so it's nice to see that they are ready to roll. Opening menu here.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

the link for the opening menu doesn't work, for me at least :(

DC_Vagic said...

That building is soooo ugly - it would be nice if they did something with that tower looking thing in the front - like paint it - or put in some windows.

Anonymous said...

Try the red go button in the thrillist article for the menu.

poo said...

...or just add a "g" at the end of the link. it should read ".jpg"

Anonymous said...

Can somebody PLEASE explain to me what a 'Cusbah' is?

tonysmallframe said...

Someone let me know how small those small plates are - is it going to be like Indian tapas? Will I have to spend $40 + swing by h&pizza to be full?

Anonymous said...

Agree that restoring that tower would improve the image of the restaurant %100 and increase the value of that historic property enormously.

If it is the right place, I think I came across information once that that building was famous waaaaay back in the day as a historic watering hole (I mean like back before prohibition).

CAAAAAAAT said...

"All dishes are prepared spicy" is a great start to a menu :)

Anonymous said...

seriously people? like the slumlord gives a shit about making his tower more aesthetically pleasing? rent, check. tower, fail.

Anonymous said...

your mom was a famous watering hole

Anonymous said...

Anon 1053 on that note why don't you rant about the slumlords of little miss whiskey for not giving a paint job to their decrepit facade.

Anonymous said...

Anon 11:20: I *LOVE* me some Little Miss Whiskeys, but damn, they DO need to paint that building. It looks terrible!

Anonymous said...

Totally agree on painting the facade of LMW. Love the bar, hate the exterior.

Anonymous said...

i like it. it's a throwback to the gritty old days of H street

Anonymous said...

Those are great prices on bottles of wine for H st. Five dollar stella pints and two dollar naan bread! That's not bad either. I think they will do great if they stick to this price point and have reasonably priced main dishes. The space looks great inside.

Anonymous said...

tonysmallframe - plates are not small like tapas. They're just smallish portions and come with rice. Actually the portion is probabily is the amount we should be eating anyway.

My partner and I shared an appetizer and one small plate each with naan and we were satisfied. The food was excellent!

Servers were nice and friendly. Kitchen and bar were backed up, but that's to be expected on opening night. Owner came around introduced himself and apologized for the wait.

This is a great addition to H Street. I will go back.

inked said...

Tried it tonight with two friends. We tried the speciality margarita (which is pretty savory), and it was tasty. One in our party was a vegetarian, so we chose to eat all vegetarian food. That includes two apps, and two small plates. All of the food was quite good, and you could really tell that the ingredients were very fresh. With three people (one guy) we finished most of the food, and felt like we had eaten a bit too much. One small plate would definitely be enough for me, and the veggie small plates are $6. So that seems like a bargain to me.

poo's fan said...

Margaritas at a pakistani/ indian joint??
That's very authentic...

Andrew said...

I always thought that the tower looked like it was about to "slide" right off of the side of the building.

inked said...

Poo's Fan,
It's Pakistani & northern Indian, but with craft cocktails (which as pretty tasty).

Anonymous said...

Went there last night for a couple beers and some food with a friend. was pleasantly surprised at the A: beer menu and prices B:Music playing (Like they gave a shit at picking stuff that was somewhat hip while still being accessible) C: outdoor bar /window thing - gives it a very open feel and D: the food. Pakora and samosa were both good (although our bartender called them "kaporas". Ha. Said bartender was a super nice guy, but the lady bartender couldn't have been more cold and standoffish... We both commented on how we felt like we were at her house and she wanted us OUT OF THERE.... Would totally go back. Liked it very much.

Anonymous said...

Went there Friday night about 4 hours after they opened. Kitchen was backed up which is understandable as it was their first night. The owner came around and introduced himself and helped with the heavy lifting as things were backed up. he was very pleasant and friendly. There were three in our party and we each had a small plate and had the H-street special appetizer. We weren't so hot on the appetizer - perhaps because it took so long to come out and was kinda cold when it arrived plus it came all of 2 minutes before our small plates came. The small plates were all amazing! Loved, loved, loved their food. The drinks were great as well. Pricing was fantastic - I hope they don't increase it too much once they come out with their final menu. Their pricing reminded me a bit of Toki's pricing which is very managable for the amazing food one get's there.
Will definitely be going back. Well done!

heyktb said...

LOVED it.
delicious margheritas and amazing food. yeah! i am sooo glad this place is good cause it is around the corner from my house and i love the venue with the bar openning to the outside.
and the food was good but not a gazillion dollars. i wil definitely go back!!

IMGoph said...

The fact that they haven't done more to make this building beautiful is very disappointing. I'm less inclined to spend my money at a place that has no interest in making the neighborhood look nicer. And I love Indian food. A shame.

Wonder if they could be convinced to do more work if the restaurant is successful.

h streeter said...

IMGoph- they have at least tried to make it presentable by painting and new signage. May be they don't own the entire structure to be able to make changes to the tower. Perhaps you should also ask Little Miss Whiskey to at least do a paint job! It's the worst storefront on entire H-street.

IMGoph said...

h streeter: I agree that LMW could stand to do some exterior work, but given the nature of that bar and JVLHC on Bladensburg, I think that the owner wants the bars to appear less-than-active from the outside.

Sure, the folks at Cusbah got a good start. Here's hoping we can push the landlord to finish the job.

h streeter said...

The blatant neglect of the storefront by LMW is actually detrimental to the structure. Over the long run the peeling paint and lack of waterproofing is going to cause moisture and long term damage to the facade. Its the owner's prerogative if he wants the establishment to be less-than-active which can be achieved by other means such as no signage and less than flashy exterior paint however, a decent paint job will not take away from the objective. Besides, personally I think it stinks of snobbery for the sake of being "exclusive"

kurt_mickle said...

I miss Naby's. Yet I wish the new place lot's of success. Hey, not another theme-parky bar.