I love the flavours of all the Afghan food I've had in the past so I was looking forward to the opening of Kandahar Kabab in Pickering, close to home.
They have a fairly big menu to choose from, including chicken, beef, veal, lamb, fish, and vegetarian dishes. I decided on the Chaplie Kabab, which was two ground beef patties, rice, salad, and naan. At only $12.50, it was a great deal for the generous portion size. It was spicier than I had anticipated but the flavour was good. This was a good meal.
Unfortunately, the rest of my experience at Kandahar Kabab left a lot to be desired.
Upon walking in, one of the first things I noticed was trays and litter on a lot of the tables. They hadn't been cleared. I later saw a young girl clearing and sanitizing tables while frequently checking her phone.
Their order/pickup counter is located across the back of the restaurant, with the menu displayed on a cluster of six TVs. It looked attractive until I tried to read it. The fonts were so small, I was squinting. To make things worse, the screens kept changing content. The people behind me had the same problem. Luckily, I spotted a page taped to the counter which had a QR Code that I scanned to access the menu on my phone.
I placed and paid for my order and joined the other people waiting around at the counter. Apparently, some of them were getting frustrated with the wait time. It was easy to see in their expressions. The wait turned out to be 25 minutes for me. Yes, they were busy, but they also didn't seem to know what they were doing. Some of the staff seemed to be standing around waiting for instructions.
The noise level was fairly high, with a lot of echoes, due mainly to the hard wall and ceiling surfaces. This could easily be fixed with sound absorbing panels. The counter staff shouting out pickup numbers didn't help.
I finally got my food and found a clean table near the entrance. While eating, I noticed a man and woman kinda wandering around the restaurant, occasionally puttering around with taping up signs and then sitting and eating. I assume they were managers. She was nicely dressed while he was very casual in sweatpants, running shoes, and baseball cap. Neither was wearing a mask.
Am I being too harsh? Were these issues the result of new inexperienced staff? Maybe some of it, but with the experience of their other locations, they could/should have been better prepared. I liked the food and I'll be back at a later date. Hopefully, they will have corrected most of these issues. read more