Kabuli For You: Lucky Street's Punjabi Owner Debuts Afghan Restaurant

For much of the past year, Gireesh Chaudhury has been feeding us updates on this Afghan restaurant, housed upstairs from Punjabi, his long-running Indian restaurant. “Soon,” Chaudhury would reassure us. Happily, the waiting is now over and the eating can begin.

Superficially, there are similarities with Indian cuisine – curries, vegetable sides, kebabs, bread and rice – but the dishes tend towards lighter, creamier flavors. There’s nothing approaching the spice of a vindaloo here. Yogurt and mint are used liberally, and to great effect, in the borani banjan (RMB 42), which is sautéed eggplant and peppers in tomato sauce, served with strips of naan. The galouti kebabs (two, RMB 48) – minced lamb patties with cinnamon, cardamom and cashews – ease us into some serious meat eating.

The essential dish is the nihari (RMB 78), a lamb shank curry stewed for eight hours and featuring more robust, complex flavors including coriander, trips of ginger and a few mint leaves. Order a naan to finish off the leftover sauce, or try the kabuli pulao (RMB 35), basmati rice flavored with caramelized sugar, carrots, raisins and saffron. If there’s room for dessert, the firni (RMB 32) makes a sweet, creamy rice pudding-style finish to cap off a meal you won’t find anywhere else in town.

Bamiyan
Daily 11.30am-midnight (kitchen 11.30am-2.30pm and 5.30-9.30pm, tea and shisha during non-kitchen
hours). 3/F, C-8 Lucky Street, 1 Chaoyang Gongyuan Lu, Chaoyang District (5867 0223) 朝阳区朝阳公园路1号好运街C-8号3层

Also try: Mughal’s, Punjabi

Photo: the Beijinger