This place is easy to miss! Snuggled in a corner of a dying strip mall in Manchester, Kababish is a wedding reception/dance venue that appears to moonlight as a Pakistani/Indian restaurant.
I've never had Pakistani food before and thankfully my waiter suggested Chicken Karhai ($12.99) as his favorite meal to eat here. The chicken was moist, and mildly spiced in a tomato sauce that caused the bone-on chicken drumsticks to seemingly melt off. Maybe a little too much, since shards of chicken bone made their way into the sauce, but nothing i'm not used to in similar dishes.
The tandoori naan (separate cost, $1 USD) was warm and soft- there were two large pieces. The basmati rice was generous and about $3 USD, but nothing special- cooked correctly, but lacking in spice. Compared to other Indian-ish restaurants the most I found was a brown bay leaf.
I had a few concerns however: First off, why did some meals have rice included while others did not? I overheard a conversation which implied that this was a restructured pricing due to Covid, which is understandable, but it didn't make much sense to still include it with other meals.
It's been awhile since I had water from a bottle served in a restaurant, usually because our water treatment facilities in Missouri are fairly reliable. Was there something wrong with the tap in Manchester? Thankfully, I wasn't charged extra for it.
Lastly, the waiter seemed really eager for us to pay in cash if possible. Before I ordered, he tried to convince the customers behind me if they could pay in cash too, so I made sure to check that they accepted credit card before dining. He seemed surprised that I didn't have any cash on me whatsoever, but they did have a machine available to take it anyway.
Its reasonable to ask I guess- payment processors are stingy- but it also felt desperate. There were about one family and one couple when I arrived, and two other couples entered while I finished my meal, so at least they have consistent revenue.
To end, I asked the waiter if he would mind boxing up the remaining rice to bring home. He brought over a container and a bag for me to box the food, but after clearing my plates and inquiring about cash, he started pouring the rice into the box anyway...
...I mean, I'd like to believe that was just a courtesy, but at the time I interpreted it as being rushed out of the restaurant. It wasn't particularly full.
Mmm, I could be mistaken. He was the only person on waitstaff duty so maybe he was just trying to be expedient. Maybe future visits will illuminate his behavior. read more