This was my first time at this establishment. My brother had been here before many times as this is his favorite place! The décor was very different from other American places and the entire place was very homey and comfortable. There were a few tables of 10+ people, so you know that this place knows how to handle a crowd! As for the food... where to start. We started with hummus and dumplings (Who knew that there are dumplings in the Afghan cuisine!). I had no clue that dumplings were in the Afghan sphere of food, what a surprise! The hummus was like velvet, so smooth with some lovely olive oil to go with! The dumplings were like traditional Asian dumplings, of course with Afghan spices and some meat crumbled on top, v delicious! I had afghan meatballs in a afghan korma sauce, they were so tender! Each entrée comes with rice... but there are four types of rice to choose from! From savory to sweet. My rice had pistachios and orange peels - for sure interesting and I have had nothing like it before! Since we were there for my brothers birthday, we got an ice cream cake before hand and the staff was lovely enough to take it to the back for after dinner before my brother knew about it! The staff gave me the secret nod after our food to get the cake in secret! Turkish coffee to go with ice cream cake was the best! Highly recommend! This place is BYOB as well! read more

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Discovered this restaurant--and what a find! I honestly had no idea what to expect with Afghani food. Is it spicy? Is it bland? Heavy on the veggies? These were things I was thinking about. Almost all the dishes come with a choice of rice (4 options), cucumber and tomato salad, a light and yummy flatbread, and a lentil soup (the most incredible lentil soup!). I had the dinner of delicate beef dumplings with a orange and almond rice. THE BEST rice I have ever eaten! Be sure to get dessert and a chai! The restaurant has a nice cozy ambiance and very nice staff. BYOB. read more

Silk Road - Wonderful Gosh e Fil (elephant ears). So light and crispy and yummy!! - Comfort Food Near Me - Warren, New Jersey

Silk Road was recommended to be from a friend who loves Afghan food. All the entrees come with a complimentary salad and Afghan bread. I love their complimentary salad here! Its chopped up cucumber, onions, tomatoes, and cilantro perfectly dressed and seasoned with lemon and olive oil. Their complimentary home made Afghan bread is so fresh and delicious! I had the Bolahni stuffed with butternut squash and the Ashak. If you like butternut squash you will enjoy the Bolahni! The Ashak is filled with chives, scallions, and cilantro garnish with ground meat and yogurt. It was delicate and full of flavor! For entrees I had the lamb kebabs and the lamb chops. Both meats were really tender and good! The lamb kebab melted in my mouth like butter! It could of used a bit more seasoning though. I had their Kabli Palaw which was good, but I had better at other places. I prefer mine sweater and with more raisins and carrots. Today, I asked for my lamb chops to come with half Naringe Palaw and half Ladam Palaw. The Naringe Palaw was so good! I love the orange flavor it had! I'm not sure if my order was correct because the Ladam Palaw I received had no spinach flavor, and it wasn't even green. It was very bland. Unfortunately, both times for takeout I asked for baklava, but I was told desserts weren't available right now. Hopefully, they can add it to their takeout menu as lots of people love baklava! I recommend Silk Road in Warren for Afghan food! read more

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Located in food complex. Good decor and atmosphere but typically pretty dark. The waitstaff must have overheard our comments, because they offered to brighten up the lights, so kudos for that. Also random slideshow for some interesting conversation starters. The menu structure was a bit confusing at first, but you basically choose one of 4 rices (carrot one is the best) & one entree (protein or veggie). It also comes with pita/naan and we had gotten hummus and appetizers for the table. Everything tasted great and had plenty of rich seasonings, but presentation & ratio were a hit or miss. Some entrees looked fabulous, while others (like mine) was just a humongous plate of rice with a side dish of cauliflower. Like I said, tasted great, but much too much carbs for one meal. Would want to come back to try something outside their lunch set. Or if they could beef up (only figuratively) their vegetarian selections. read more

Silk Road - orange is the new black - Comfort Food Near Me - Warren, New Jersey

Great spot. The food reminds me a bit of morrocco and India. The salads are delish and the rice with orange is amazing. The lentil soup was good as well. But overall the yogurt sauce on the sable takes the cake. It tastes amazing with everything. read more

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My family and I have been coming here for years, even though we've moved away from the area. The ambiance (indoor and outdoor) is lovely and the lunch specials are delicious at very reasonable prices. They come with lentil soup and a Mediterranean salad, plus the best bread you will ever eat (think naan but less oily). For the entree you pair a rice type with a meat or vegetable plate. All the food is halal and the restaurant sources all its own meat (it also doubles as a butcher shop!). Lovely owner and server as well, great hospitality. We're so glad this place survived the pandemic and will continue to visit whenever we're able to! read more

Silk Road - Ladam Palaw with Large Mantu - Comfort Food Near Me - Warren, New Jersey

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Silk Road is my favorite go-to spot for all my Mediterranean cravings. I would highly recommend the Murgh Kabob dish and the lamb chops. The flavors never fail! read more

Silk Road - Murgh Kabob. So good! - Comfort Food Near Me - Warren, New Jersey

I know of this place for like 10 years. Food is excellent no doubt but is been a very long time since I went there, but we visit them 3 days ago and nothing change. Food is still good, service is ok and ambiance is relaxing. Music is nice too. The only one thing I don't know why they turned TV on with picture from Instagram or Facebook. But other than that, I highly recommended you are not going to be disappointed. read more

So delicious! They were hurting during Covid. They came back very strong. Everything I've had just delicious. Their lunch menu is great. They have plenty for vegetarians. I'll definitely be back read more

We stopped there today for lunch. Beautiful day outside. Asked the person at the front of the restaurant if we could eat outside. He said "of course. Do you want to sit in the sun"? They placed a really nice table cloth on the outdoor table. Food was amazing. Service was even better. If you haven't had the pleasure of going to this restaurant yet. You really should do so. The ownership is very involved in the restaurant. They make sure everything is top notch every time. You won't ever have anything but a perfect meal. BYOB. Enjoy! read more

My co workers and I frequently have lunch in this place. The food is really good and reasonable. I would recommend this place if you crave for Mediterranean cuisine. read more

This place is an old timer. Reminds me of a time when I would eat here with fam and friends about 20 years ago. When I went again recently, I was expecting the filet mignon to be a lot more tender than it was in my experience going as an adult. That used to be my favorite thing. However, it just seemed overdone/tough this time. All the chicken and rice dishes we ordered were great as usual. I look forward to giving that filet mignon another try sometime in the future. The service was excellent, the waiter was very kind, and the place was clean. Hopefully they continue to keep up the quality and keep the meats as juicy as I once remember. read more

People who work there are very nice and the food is excellent! It was our first experience with Afghan food so we were hesitant, but they were great! They took the time to explain the dishes. I don't eat meat and can be fussy with some foods but I had no problem ordering and enjoying their food. We will always return for more. read more

Nice place, good food but it's somewhat pricey. I always enjoy my meals there. They're lamb dishes are delicious and they have many vegetarian options. read more

Very good bread, good food, great source. We enjoyed our visit there! Price is not bad. Will not recommend appetizers. Entrées are great!

Conveniently located in a small shopping complex. I came after a massage from the spa across from it. The atmosphere was quite dark (due to the lighting) which I didn't prefer. They started out with a good amount of appetizers including freshly baked bread (that was amazing), a salad and lentil soup. To be honest I was pretty full by the time the main course came out. In my opinion the #1 rice was the best! Also my friend had the meat patties/burgers which I thought tasted the best out of our courses. The combination kabob was quite dry and the mandu didn't haven't any particular strong flavor to it. read more

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I don't usually give 5 stars, but when I do, I choose really freaking good restaurants. I never had Afghan food before and this was the best food experience ever. Try the bread, dumpling entrees and the baklava is to die for. Fresh salad too. Flavorful and delicious. Decor is great too. Good for dates and groups. Also, I lost my wallet here and the host was kind enough to find it and keep it for me the next day. read more

I'm really torn on this review. It's been rolling around in my head for two weeks. The place has been on our list for a long time. We used to frquent an Afghan restaurant in Morristown, Pamir, long ago and that place was really good. Our verdict here? My wife liked it better than I did. We did takeout. Our food was ready when we arrived. For apps, I had a fried pastry filled with leeks, chives and spices. My wife had Ashak, steamed dumplings filled with chopped chives, scallions & cilantro garnished w/ ground meat sauce and homemade mint flavored yogurt. My wife loved her dumplings. My app though, had very little taste. Tasted like eating grass clippings in a crunchy shell. I'll try something else next time for sure. For enteees, I had lamb on the bone cooked w/ Afghan spices in a lentil sauce. My wife had Murg Kofta Kabob, ground chicken breast w/ fresh spices. My dish was not hot and swimming in a watery sauce. Again, I detected no spices. And again, my wife liked her dish very much. Some bland spongy bread was provided to sop up the sauce. Two things saved the meal from my perspective. The hot sauce that was provided and the rice dishes. The hot sauce was so good. Wonder what it was. I would put that s*** on anything.... We ordered two rice dishes. Naringe Palaw rice cooked with saffron, fresh orange peels, almonds and pistachios Ladam Palaw Baghlani rice cooked with Afghan spices and fresh blended spinach Hands down the two best rice dishes I have ever had. So impressive. So, even though I sound mostly cranky about my meal, I'm convinced there is an excellent meal hiding here. We'll try again soon. read more

When I knew that I was going to be in the area, I immediately made dinner reservations for Silk Road. I haven't been here in years because it is a bit far from me, but the food was so memorable that I was excited to return. First things first- call ahead and make a reservation! This place isn't necessarily small but it also isn't very big. It can definitely get crowded for dinner. To start, we were given l complementary warm bread along with lentil soup and a small side salad. The salad is a mix of cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions. You also have three sauces at the table to enjoy with your meal. White is a yogurt base, green is fresh-tangy (my favorite), and red is spicy. Our appetizer was the Mantu steamed dumplings. These were super flavorful and a great choice for a starter. Our main dish was the combination #2 platter (which is enough for two people). It was so delicious and all of the meats were properly seasoned. For dessert we ordered the rice pudding - this was just okay. It was very chilled (straight out of the fridge) and because it had clearly been made hours ago, it was too thick and had a firm layer at the top. The flavor was good, the consistency and the texture were not. Maybe if this were served warm and a little less thick...then it would have been great! In all, this was another great dining experience at Silk Road! read more

Great ambiance! Started off with a soup, salad and flat oven bread, which was amazing. I had the tilapia and was very tasty. The waiters and waitresses were very attentive and often checked up on us. It was a decent size party so you would imagine that they would take a while to meet our needs, but that wasn't the case. The decorations were really nice as they had a slide show on display highlighted nice scenery locations. Great restaurant! read more

Silk Road - Awesome decoration! - Comfort Food Near Me - Warren, New Jersey

I'm not an expert on Afghan food but ours was delicious. Even better than the food was the service. It was raining, but not too hard, when the power went out in the restaurant. We had just ordered and were sad that our meal was going to be cancelled. Our fears were unfounded. Apparently this has happened before and they were prepared. Some emergency lighting kicked on and was supplemented by candles. I don't know how they handled it in the kitchen, but food came out without much delay and tasted great. Our meal went off without a hitch. read more

So disappointed from price to explanation. Ordered 2 entrees and 2 appetizers for 3 people. Based on the price relative to the many other local restaurants I frequent i expected an abundance of food and was hopeful it would taste great. The almost $30 kabob entree had 6 pieces of meat they were all over cooked and under spiced. A $24 spinach entree was the same size as the overcooked Okra side dish but came with rice and a small container of salad. So I called to find out if this was standard or just the to go standard. The person I spoke with was very defensive. I made a comparison to another local restaurant which he proceeded to trash as "junk food" and poorly cooked. This Warren Restaurant survived COVID and has always been consistent and kind. In short, I'm certain that this restaurant will not survive. There food is ok, the prices are way to high and most importantly the owners find it necessary to bash others and complain. read more

We ended up here by accident because we were trying to go somewhere else, but the wait for a table at our original destination was too long. We were so glad we ended up here instead because this place is a true gem! You can tell the owner pays very close attention to detail because the decor, table setting, waitstaff service, and food, were all outstanding! I loved everything, and even though we only came by for lunch, I really felt immersed into the culture of the people of Afghanistan! Everything we ate was just fantastic! We ordered the Mantu for an appetizer, and these are steamed dumplings filled with minced beef & leek onions garnished with cooked lentils & homemade mint flavored yogurt. These were so delicate and delicious, I could have eaten 2 orders all by myself. The entrees we ordered came with a side of bread, salad, and lentil soup as appetizers, and all were delicious. My husband hates vegetables, and he loved their salad. It was diced tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions, but the dressing was some kind of oil and vinegar, but mild. I think there is also cilantro and maybe a hint of mint in there, but everything was so good. You know if a place does a great job on a simple salad, you are in for a treat! The bread was also really good. It is baked in their Tandoor (clay) oven. There are 3 sauces on the table that the waiter explained to us what they were and encouraged us to mix and match with our food, and we did. The bread paired with the white yogurt sauce and green sauce was my favorite combination. The lentil soup was very homey; it tasted like something your mom/ grandmother would make for you. We enjoyed this alot too. For our entree' we had the Chapli Kabob: which were 2 lamb and ground beef patties, and we chose to have this with their Kabli Palaw: brown rice with Afghan spices, carrots, and raisins. This was by far, our most favorite dish! Soooo good! Who would have thought raisins and carrots would be good in rice? Lol. The patties were super flavorful as well. We also ordered the Angus Beef steak kabobs with Chalaw, which is their white rice. My son has nut and shellfish food allergies, so we thought this would be the best one for him. This was also very tasty, and my son enjoyed it as well. And the best part, was no allergic reactions for him. What shocked us the most, was that our bill was around $41! What a fantastic meal and service for this amount of money! We will definitely return again, and bring our friends and family here. This spot has easily made its way to the top of my favorite list. Check it out for yourself! read more

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A really great Afghani restaurant in NJ! I loved my eggplant dish and the narajine rice which is orange saffron flavor. The bread is really delicious as well. I loved the food and service. The owner was really nice and we conversation with him. The only thing is it's dark inside and I prefer restaurants with lots of natural light. read more

We were a group of 4 and ordered appetizers. Guy who was sitting diagonally from me and I ordered the same appetizer and the other two guys ordered different. All the three guys got appetizers but I was waiting. Right when server was about to bring entrees I asked for my appetizer I was told that the other guys plate had two in one plate but we were not told that it's two orders. Anyways my friend asked them to bring me a new order. The other two guys had to wait for their ice tea refills which never showed up. My other friend asked for more bread and the server never told us that they charge for additional bread until I saw my check. To make matters even worse they charge credit card fee. The food was mediocre and the portions for the price charged are very small. I will never visit this place again. read more

Food varies with what your order. Bread is delicious. Hummus is thin, tasteless, and below average. Grape leaves are acceptable; dumplings are good. One type of chicken kabab was tough, but the kafta chicken kebab was fine. It deserves three stars for the food, but the service is abysmal. Greenhorn teenagers -- both male and female -- are working the room. They should not be in customer service. They make every reasonable request seem like an imposition. I hoped service would be better on future visits, but it has remained unprofessional and uncaring. I am not going to return for this reason. To the owners: I imagine you are trying to save money by using young, awkward employees, but they make the dining experience unpleasant. read more

Mixed bag of strong dishes and weak dishes and pretty questionable service. Bholani Gandana: 4/5, fried with tasty vegetables inside Ashak: 2/5, got vegetarian but just didn't work that well together Palaw: 3/5. Got a few variants or rice. The Naringe had a reasonable strong sweetness and Kabli Palaw was OK Murgh Korma: 2/5. Sauce was not the rich flavor I was expecting. Chicken was OK. Was disappointed with this one. Sabzy: 4/5. Strong dish! Just spinach and something orange (squash) but very tasty. Afghan Salad and Bread: 4/5. Fun bread I've never had before. Salad was tomatoes and onions and went really well on top of the bread. It was elevated by a series of sauces. My favorite was the white sauce with ranch like flavor. Baklava: 3/5. Not my favorite backlava. Filling had decent sweetness but wasn't the lovely philo sweetness combo I've had before. read more

Great food, just a little pricey for dinner...much more affordable...I would definitely eat there more if the prices were a bit lower (I.e. closer to Istanbul cafe next door...) read more

Lunch is a FEAST, about $13 gets you soup, tomato cucumber salad, fresh hot Afghan bread, a large plate of scented carrot & raisin rice (palaw), and your choice of beef kabob, lamb kabob or veggie entree. Green cilantro chutney is on the table, yummy. Flatbread comes straight from the oven, crispy outside and hot inside, perfect for scooping up hummus. Large mantu dumplings were stuffed with beef, doused in dill sauce and served with rice, delicious but double starch was overwhelming! Just leave plenty of time at Silk Road for a relaxed lunch (service was in no hurry), and order shir chai (spiced milk tea) to finish. Vegetarian rating: 4 stars for the 4 entree choices to go with your palaw: sabzy (spinach), banjan (eggplant), bamia (okra) and gulpi (cauliflower). Everything mildly seasoned, I found no heat here. Impossible to see from the street, tucked away in a strip mall that's wrapped around a central courtyard. read more

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For someone trying authentic Afghan food for the first time, I must say that this place left a lasting impression on me. The tenderness of the fillet mignon and lamb shank paired with the rich flavors of the rice (specifically the naringe palaw and chalaw) offered a unique and irresistible combination. The owners were also very warm and made an effort to really get to know their customers. Will definitely be back! read more

Food flavors like no other, friendly staff and great service, atmosphere is perfect. Recommend it highly

A nice place to go for authentic Afghani cuisine. They have a good choice of sides. The main course is a combination of pilaf rice with a choice of meats. Good veggie options as well. No liquor served so you can carry your own wine. read more

I've eaten a lot of Middle Eastern food, and at this point I would like to think I have a pretty good palette for this cuisine. Armed with this experience, I had high expectations for Silk Road as it looked to be a fairly upscale restaurant. However, I found Silk Road solid but a bit lacking overall. For starters we ordered the Hummus and also the Ashak dumplings. The hummus was very smooth with a creamy texture, but flavor wise it was quite muted. I would have loved more salt and spice; just something to cut that rich texture (maybe a squeeze of lemon?). In hindsight, I think the ratio of chickpeas, olive oil, and tahini may have leaned towards the olive oil and tahini leading to the extra richness. Ashak appetizer was delicious and probably the best bite of the meal. The dumplings were very light with a smooth soft skin. I could taste all the delicious herbs like chives, cilantro, and scallions, The dipping sauce was addicting with a nice tart yogurt coupled with cool mint. The Afghan bread was good while it was warm, but really took on an unpleasant chewy texture when it cooled. Of note was the complimentary soup which was nice. It tasted like a Chinese soup that is made with mung beans. For my lunch entree I ordered the Chapli with Naringe Palaw and it would be an awesome beef/lamb burger patty, but for what I expected from a Chapli it was noticeably lacking in seasoning. Naringe Palaw was quite good with a pleasant citrus sweetness and exotic flavor from the saffron. I didn't much notice or see the listed almonds and pistachios. Sister had the Murgh Kofta Kabob with Ladam Palaw and it was a pretty good dish. The chicken was very moist, seasoning was alright, and the Ladam Palaw rice had a nice earthy flavor from the spinach. We also ordered a side plate of the Kabli Palaw and (you see the trend now) again the rice was quite lacking in flavor. The carrots and raisins seemed to be just dressed on top of the rice and not cooked with the rice, which would explain some of the aforementioned blandness. I was expecting a bit better from Silk Road, but it was nice to try another Afghan restaurant. PS: Sorry for the poor photo quality as the restaurant was a bit dark and it was hard to grab decent photos. read more

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This place is a gem in my new neighborhood. Came here twice already, and devoured the food so fast that I didn't even realize I forgot to take pictures. I'm a fan of almost everything I've tried so far. The weekday/weekend lunch specials are great combos of soup, salad, bread (nice n hot and fresh), and entree with rice. The soup is a great starter, salad is a bit sour for my taste but still very refreshing, bread is amazing, and my favorite #2 Naringe Palaw rice is unique and tasty. Now for the entrees I've tried, I really like their Murgh Kabob and Lamb Shank. Unlike many other places that serve chicken breast really dry, their chicken breast kabob is juicy and tender. The lamb shank is on the bone and meat is very tender n juicy as well. The Fried Fish was also pretty good. The only two that I didn't like as much were the Filet Mignon Kabob and Chapli Kabob. The Chapli Kabob was interesting, but not my cup of tea and Filet Mignon was just a lot more well done than I like it to be. Overall, service is very friendly, and amazing food. Definitely planning on being a regular here! read more

No doubt the best Afghan food I have had food is decently priced... portions are ample.... incredible taste and the ambiance is like being in your favorite downtown eccentric restaurant without the hustle bustle My husband found the reviews online and took me out for my birthday and I want it to be a YEARLY thing and hopes he can take me again... I just lovee the place its just almost 1.5 hrs away otherwise I'd be there every week! Also, for those who are wondering, they serve halal meat. read more

So I really like Afghan food as it is a simple and flavorable blend of Indian and Middle Eastern cuisines. Silk Road in Warren, NJ delivers on this theme in spades and with style. The restaurant itself has a warm and cozy feel, is elegant and best of all, doesn't get loud during large crowds (a failing of many restaurants today ... acoustics). The servers (we had three of them) were all helpful, friendly and attentive, including taking us through the menu choices and explaining the differences in spicing and flavors. The food itself is the real gem of coming to Silk Road. We had a variety of fare including kabobs, manshu, dumplings, bohtani (yes I know I'm mangling these words horribly), various rice, and teas (the teas at Silk Road are it's own small slice of heaven). Every morsel of every plate was just insanely good and immediately made this restaurant a must-come-back-to place for me. Finally the pricing is almost too reasonable, especially for a Warren restaurant. Great food, great presentation, great service, great ambience, and great pricing. There is literally not an area I can ding this restaurant on. Go enjoy! read more

Silk Road is a family owned business and you are greeted with that familial attitude upon your arrival. We did not have a reservation, table for 4 on a Saturday night, but were seated within 5 minutes. The food came out very quickly and we were given the dumplings on the house which was a nice touch. The pita bread is to die for and the side salad is made with very fresh ingredients. I am not Afghan nor do I eat an immense amount of Afghan food, however I expected more "spice" in the dishes. With that being said, someone who is apprehensive to trying this type of food would have a very pleasant experience here because the flavored are not over powering you by any means. I order the lamb chops and the meat was exceptionally seasoned and tender. Again not as much of a "spice" as I anticipated, but still very yummy. Prices are very comparable to the portion sizes. Anyone could eat here, picky eaters included and be happy as they are willing to make modifications. You'll enjoy your meal at Silk Road! PS it's BYOB. read more

My first try at Afghan food and given the reviews it seems like this is a great place to start. Going for lunch I had a shrimp kabob with the rice that has the spinach in it and it was simply great. Before it arrived at the table we were served a small salad and bread both of which were wonderful. I must say that I enjoyed everything quite a lot and look forward to going again. The mix of three sauces served at the table were great too -- especially the hot one. read more

Silk Road is a bit pricey. Expect to pay around $20 per person. That said, I have been here 4 times and their food, atmosphere, and service is phenomenal. Get any one of the 4 different types of rice and the chicken kebabs. My mouth is watering just writing this review. read more

Wow. Haven't given many 5s. This place deserves it. Went there for lunch. Had the Murgh Kofta Kabob, some awesome bread and Shir Chai to drink. Lots of flavor, the kabob was not overcooked one bit and the rice was right on. Also had a taste of the hummus - very fresh taste I have not had in some time. Tried some other chicken option and it was moist and full of flavor. I'm far form an expert in this cuisinc Decor is quite nice. I don't put suburban NJ together with Afghani food, but I will now. I will be back again and again! read more