Having driven past it numerous times commenting to Mrs Halal Bytes that "we really need to try that place", last night I finally paid a visit to Afghan Cuisine on the curry mile as part of a group of 7 adults and 5 children!
It's not the biggest of places, despite being on two floors and if you're in a large group it will be difficult to sit together, especially on a Saturday night as the place was packed, which is always a good sign when turning up somewhere you've never tried before!
Once we'd overcome the logistical challenge of seating we perused the menu which contained a lot of what I expected e.g. Kobeda, Lamb Chops, Chicken Tikka (on or off the bone) alongside some items I didn't seen like Manto and Aushak, both traditional Afghan dumpling dishes.
The one thing I did not expect to see in an Afghan restaurant was Hummus, which clearly took a wrong turn on its way to Beirut and ended up in Kabul, but I suppose it works well with grilled meat so why not?
The key thing I went for though was Kabuli Pulao, other orders in our party included boneless Chicken Tikka, Lamb Chops and Sultani which was a mixture of Kobeda and Chello Kebab on rice.
Kabuli Pulao, arguably the most famous Afghan culinary export, is a rice and lamb dish with slivers of carrot, raisins and nuts. This version didn't include nuts and was served with a bowl of lentil, potato and meat sauce. The rice was well cooked, the raisins were juicy and the subtly spiced sauce provided a nice warmth to the dish which added flavour without setting fire to your palate. The meat was tender to the point of falling apart on touch and I polished off the entire plate single handedly!
Not content with devouring my own meal, I also tried some of the lamb chops which were unbelievably tender and juicy. I've come across poorly cooked and chewy lamb chops so many times in the past that I've written them off whenever we go to a desi establishment. However the chefs at Afghan Cuisine appear to appreciate the meat and treat it with the respect it deserves. The chops weren't cooked to death with the meat still retaining its pinkness and each morsel was delicious wrapped in warm soft naan.
The Sultani was served on the same rice mix as Kabuli Pulao but without the sauce. I didn't try any but my sister did and said that whilst it was nice and that she had no complaints, it wasn't as nice as the version served at Caspian, the long standing Iranian eatery, also located on the curry mile.
Was it worth it? All adults had a main course each and the kids shared 3 mains between them and yet somehow we only paid £61, that's little over £5 a head and we ate to our heart's content, some more so than others!
I was hugely impressed with Afghan Cuisine and would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves meat. Unfortunately I couldn't see anything that would be of any interest to vegetarians, nor would I recommend it to anyone who likes their food fiery hot. If you're after unpretentious, wholesome, delicious food then this is well worth a visit. The only downside is that it's a little tight on space but that's just me being picky!
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