I may have mentioned in a previous post that I’ve been wanting to try a restaurant on State St. called the Mediterranean Café. I have seen a line out the door to that place and have been curious about it since.
I confessed this curiosity to my loving husband who then proceeded to take me there. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday and they were closed. So, while we were there (on State St. I mean) we decided to work on broadening our palates by having lunch at a place called Kabul Restaurant.
Kabul serves Afghan cuisine and from what I had heard through the grapevine was that it was pretty good. Neither of us had tasted Afghan food before which made the experience really fun and interesting.
Let me start with the atmosphere of the place. It’s pretty small on the inside, maybe 10 tables total. I’m almost positive that the tables used to be really basic fast-food-type booth tables, but they have nicely covered them in a cushiony material and then put a very decorative textile over the top. The rest of the place was decorated well with a middle eastern theme to it. It was quiet, but not too quiet, an atmosphere suited to small groups for lunch or dinner.
Onto the food!
Ok, I just have to say, this place made me fall in love with chutney! I had never had chutney before, but it is a simple dip/topping for bread or even to have on your food. At each table sits 2 bowls of chutney. One red (pimento) and one green (cilantro). They were completely different in taste, but both were equally delicious. The flavors are very strong, so if you don’t like cilantro don’t eat the green one. I happen to love cilantro though, so I found it amazing. We ate the chutney with the Afghan bread we were given, which was pretty good too. Really soft, flat, and moist, had a good chew to it (you can see it in the pics below).
Each entrée comes with a side of their Mashawa (Soup) or their salad with curry cucumber dressing. We ordered one of each and then shared. The soup was great. it contained:
Chick PeasIt also had a yogurt mint sauce on top of it. It reminded me a lot of chili with sour cream, but the yogurt mint sauce really gave it the flavor of the middle east and the chick peas gave it some crunch. I usually don’t like chick peas, and I hate hummus, but I could handle them in this dish. The salad wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t amazing. There isn’t much to expect from a side salad, but the dressing was a little overpowering and there was a lot of it. That’s not to say it wasn’t good, but I think they used too much.
Kidney Beans
Split Peas
Rice
and I can’t remember what meat was in it. (Sorry we ate here quite a while ago)
Ok, onto the Entrees. I ordered the Beef Korma Chalow which consisted of medallions of beef cooked with onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, green peppers, and spices. It was served over white rice. It came to me on a plate looking like this..(On the left)
It was very brown. It didn’t look as good as it tasted, which is great. The beef was deliciously tender and everything was seasoned pretty well, but I soon found out that the flavor shot out the roof when you used a little of that chutney on the dish. Wow! Both worked well with the dish. I just put a spoonful on the side of my plate and took a little with each bite. That added so much more depth to the dish. I wish someone would have told me sooner because I only realized it once I was almost full.
The hubby ordered the Lamb Kabobs (On the right). I only tasted them near the end of our meal, so I can’t say much about them, but I do think that the chunks of lamb were too big, and I’m pretty sure it was a little overcooked. The sauce that came with it was again, a yogurt/mint sauce, and the kabobs were also served over saffron rice, which I remember him saying was pretty yummy.
We had a great time at Kabul and had a lot of fun experiencing a new cuisine. That really was the best thing about Kabul. It opened my mind and my taste buds to something new and provided a chance for me to understand a different culture and their food. I love to try new things, and Kabul offered a delightful and delicious opportunity.
P.S. Hopefully soon AJ will be here to guest blog about some of his eating experiences. He recently ate at a place I’ve been wanting to try called Jamerica!
