Rounding up from 3.5 stars…read more
I got the Sultani Platter, with came with one tikka and one shami kabob, rice, salad, and naan. I chose chicken tikka and beef shami. I also upgraded to qabulli rice instead of just regular, and Salang salad instead of regular. I wanted to try the Qabulli rice because it's Afghanistan's national dish. It had the addition of julienned carrots and sultana raisins, and I believe it typically has sliced almonds as well, but this one didn't. The Salang salad had the addition of feta and kalamata olives, along with the iceberg and romaine Lettuce, cucumber, tomato, red onion, and pickled pepper. The platter had some weight to it!
The salad came with both ranch and Greek dressing. They were fine, though I wish there was some other house dressing. The chunks of feta were great, softer than I expected and less dense, less salty. All in all, the salad wasn't anything special, but I did appreciate the fresh component to the dish.
I'm not usually a fan of chicken breast, but the chicken was very moist and flavourful. Beef shami is always a safe bet for me. This one was a little more done/drier and saltier than I would've liked, but still good and the flavour was there. Both had the grill flavour that I enjoy. The tomato chutney that came with it was nice. It was almost like a fresh salsa but not chunky, and with a little spicy kick to it.
The kabuli pulao (though they spell it "qabulli" rice) was tasty. They were very generous with the raisins and I wasn't big on the sweetness. The carrots were cooked and tasted a bit sweet to me also, but not sure if it was just the raisins cooked with them. Maybe the almonds would've helped cut the sweetness. I really liked the basmati rice itself, which was flavoured. It was great to try the qabulli rice, but I think I'll get the regular rice next time.
The plain naan was good, nice a fresh, crispier on the outside and doughier on the inside. If you've never had Afghan naan before, it's not the same as Indian naan. Indian naan is thinner, flakier, and larger, whereas Afghan naan is thicker, denser. I do wish I had something to dip it in or had it buttered or something, but it's great bread and I had already filled up on the rice, so I actually split it and saved the other half to use in a sandwich later.
My husband got the beef shami platter, which came with two shamis, and an upgrade to garlic naan. I tried some of the naan, and while good, I found salty. Maybe they used garlic salt?
I also got the ayran/doogh to drink and the firnee for dessert. Doogh is like a salted yogurt drink that I've only tried maybe once in the past, so I thought I'd try it again. It was okay, but I couldn't finish the whole bottle. The firnee was homemade and very tasty. Not at all as sweet as I expected, and I loved how creamy/milky it was, and the crushed cardamom and finely chopped pistachios on top. It was perfect.
Will definitely order from here again.