Exotic eating in classy Kabul

10 April 2012

The sign on the wall halfway up the stairs advertises 'tooth jewellery' and features a smiling girl with a diamond glinting winsomely from one of her front teeth.

Visiting the Himalaya Shopping Centre is like stepping into another world, with its beautiful bolts of silk embroidered with gold thread, incredibly complex and implausibly cheap gold chains and a background of wailing CDs that Amazon has probably never heard of. This is just the place to buy those last-minute, seriously original Christmas gifts. It is also a terrific place to have lunch.

Kabul fills an entire shop space at the top of the escalator on the left-hand side. It's spacious, with comfortable chairs, dark blue tablecloths and a series of banquettes running along the wall.

At one end of the room is an open kitchen where the chefs work quietly and without fuss. The menu is in two sections - Afghan and Indian. Curiosity compels you to try some Afghan dishes, but the cooking is of a high standard whatever you order. Portions are large and prices competitive.

Start with dumplings - ordering the Afghan starter called mantu gosht (£5.99) brings a dinner plate covered in large savoury dumplings filled with spiced lamb. The skins are thin and they've obviously been steamed before being smothered in a spicy, tomatoey sauce. You get a lot of dumplings for your money.

The ashak are also dumplings - choose either meat or vegetarian (£4.99) - and amazingly good. Again, the portions are challenging and the dough so thin you can see the fresh-greens-and-coriander filling through the slippery casing. Also notable is the showr-na-kath (£1.99), which consists of a bowl of chickpeas in a thin, herby, chilli-warmed liquid. You eat them with a spoon or, more sensibly, with some of the excellent Afghan nan bread (£1.20).

For mains there is the quabuli murgh (£5.99), which is a delicious rice pillau made with plenty of sultanas and garnished with shreds of carrot. On top there is a chicken drumstick which has been poached in stock (it turns out very tender) and, as a side dish, there is a bowl of curry with a large minced lamb cake hidden in its depths.

Another winner is the karahi tukham (£2.50), which is a small karahi full of buttery and spicy scrambled eggs. Stray onto the Indian side of the menu and you will not be disappointed ? karela gosht (£5.40) is well seasoned and the striking taste of bitter melon acts as a perfect foil to the richness of the other dishes on the table. Even a simple choice like methi aloo (£4.20) is precisely seasoned with plenty of potatoes but plenty of fenugreek, too.

Service is friendly, and although the Kabul is unlicensed, it is open from noon until midnight seven days a week, which makes this a great place for an opportunist meal. And what could be more perfect as an after-dinner treat than a browse among the tooth jewellery?

Kabul Restaurant
The Broadway, Southall, UB1 1JY

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