Kabul Kabob - Springfield - TravBuddy

Our March 2008 meal at Kabul Kabob in Springfield was great. The quiet, plain looking restaurant served delicious appetizers, Chopan lamb chops, and lamb, chicken and Peshwari Chaplee (spicy ground lamb) kebabs and with white and spicy green yogurt sauces.
* The Chopan lamp chops were an outstanding deal, providing three perfectly seasoned and grilled lamb chops for $15.
* An excellent appetizer is the Boolawnee, which is a plate-sized triangular pastry filled with a spicy potato, onion, garlic filling for about $4.

Kabul Kabob promotes itself as "Authentic Afghan Cuisine." They are not misleading you when they say that. It is every bit as good as the Afghan food I have had in Kabul. The restaurant sits in a typical suburban strip mall, and there is no evidence from glancing at the place that this place is a direct transplant from Afghanistan. Even when you walk in, nothing screams Afghanistan!" and the decor is classic middle-budget international style (the red table cloths, with a white tablecloth on top, fake flowers in plastic vases at each table, starchy white napkins, and plain metal chairs with plastic cushions, you get the picture). But it should not be surprising that they got the food right, especially with an almost exclusively Afghan clientele. In fact, Springfield, VA could easily be called "Little Kabul" and the owners are members of the large expat Afghan population of the area.

The restaurant is known for its Mantu (meat-filled ravioli-like pasta usually dipped in a yogurt or sour cream sauce). I had the buffet, which unfortunately did not include any mantu. But I did have some wonderful Kabli Pulao (yellow rice with carrots, nuts and raisins), Afghan style spinach (heavy on the garlic, as it should be), Kofta (ground meatballs in spicy sauce), and a wonderfully delicious roasted chicken dish. Just writing this review is making me hungry again!

My only dissapointment was the bread. It was not as soft and fresh as the flat bread served at every meal in Kabul. And to my surprise the waiter was from Nepal, and did not speak a word of Dari! The owners would certainly do better to hire an Afghan from among the thousands of Afghans in Springfield.

Still, I highly recommend this place, if you are interested in tasting authentic Afghan cuisine.