In a nutshell:

If u r a nonvegetarian  living in Delhi & haven’t yet been to this place, u have surely missed something.

Address & Other details: Kabul Delhi Restaurant

Meal for 2: Rs. 400 onwards

Cuisine Type : Predominantly nonvegetarian but also have vegetarian options.

Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:

I had read somewhere about food from Afghanisthan – ‘Where the people are tough but the meats are tender’. Never knew I wud get such a hands on experience of Afghan food sitting in Dilli!!!

We started off from home with friends to eat at an Iranian Roadside joint in Lajpatnagar, Delhi. On reaching the place we found out that the shop had closed down 2 months back!!!! Bewildered, we were discussing an alternate place to have a rustic dinner & it was then that a Good Samaritan suggested – Why don’t u try out the Afghani Shops in the road besides the Bata shop?

‘Afghani’food is something that rang a bell – We had earlier quite liked the food at Afghan Durbar, Saket. So we started off towards the new destination. On entering the said road we first came across Afghan Durbar (I guess it is the same Chain – same look). A few steps away was Kabul Delhi Superstore – A full Kabuli Grocery store. Just above it was Kabul Delhi Restaurant & we decided to walk in.

All guests other than us were Afghani – We felt like we were in Kabul!!!!! There were restaurant seating as well as the ‘bed’ kind of sitting. The basement floor also had the ‘bed’ kind of seating.

A huge poster of Camel fight formed the backdrop of the ground floor of the restaurant. Photographs of Kabul, Kabuli decorative pieces & inscriptions on metal adorned the other walls.

The guy who came to serve us food, was shy, always had a smiling face & quite smart. We asked for kababs – He said ‘that will take 40 minutes. Do u have time?’ We said – ‘Pls serve us the rest of the dishes & while we eat, the kababs will be ready’. He agreed readily.

Food was mindblowing good. The kababs were bursting out with taste & flavour. The pulao was way better than the one at Afghan Durbar & the meat in the pulao was softer than the softest mutton I have ever had in my whole life!!!! The mutton Korma was outstanding again. For Afghani dessert however we had to go to another joint 10 minutes walk away.

Detailed Description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:

To see Day 2 pics pls click here.

Day 1.

We started our dinner with a wonderful Kabuli Uzbegi – A Mutton Pulao with long supersoft but independent grains of rice, partly orange due to addition of saffron & the rest white. It had thin juliennes of carrot & generous helping of raisins strewn all over. The raisins & the carrots gave a totally new dimension to the pulao – different than any Indian Mutton Biryani. It was interesting to note that this dish was much less oilier than its Indian counterparts.

The reddish meat pieces were unbelievably soft & melt in the mouth – softer than any mutton piece I have ever had. Taste of both the rice & the meat & both together was marvellous. Superloved this overall & reordered another one.

The Mutton Qorma was orangish red in color.& in the gravy looked not ‘thick’. In fact it looked tomatoeee. The first sip of the gravy gave a tomatoee feel as well but post that it turned out to be a very fine mutton curry. Again, very non greasy, light gravy & super soft mutton pieces.

We finished off the Qorma gravy till the last drop with some excellent square Afghani naan made with atta (wheat flour). It was soft, fluffy & non elastic.

As mentioned before, our kababs came in the end. We had asked for mutton chopan. It turned out to be similar in some ways to burrah kabab but the pieces used were not the same. The meat was not soft, very juicy, charred at the corners, flavorful & very tasty.The flavors were unique & I cud not remember anything Indian to compare it with. Super loved it – Outstanding.

Post this meal we asked for some Afghani dessert & the guy smiled – ‘sorry sir, we do not have’. However, he was very nice to tell us about another Afghan eatery ‘Mazaar’ who served Afghani Desserts – Sheer Yakh (icecream) & Jala (icecream & Falooda).

Surely look forward to revisiting this place in the near future. Will keep u updated.

Day 2:

Revisited this place & tried two new dishes –

Jigar kabab (we were told it is Goat Liver Kabab) – Soft, full of flavor of the liver, spices & stunningly ‘subtle’ but awesome. This was totally new to me & was awesome, Never b4 did I have a kabab so subtle yet so good.

The other kabab that we had was Mutton tikka. This was several times less spiced than its Delhi version. The taste was very subtle as well. The meat was juicy, not melt in the mouth, a bit chewy but thoroughly enjoyable. Loved this as well.