Kabul City – Edgware
Kabul City has carved out a bit of reputation since opening in Edgware in 2010, particularly over the last year.
Not only was it a finalist for the Best Takeaway in North London at the British Take Away Awards 2016, but was also a top ten “Tried & Tested” winner, receiving a certificate from online delivery service, Just Eat, which reads: “Loved locally, and rated by you for consistently great quality.”
The place itself has a busy decor with large, blood-red disc-shaped light shades, cream cushioned upholstery, and a cosy Afghan-oriented seating platform for eight with its own wall-mounted TV.
For those seeking extra privacy, there’s an area at the back adjacent to the kitchen with a partition barrier too.
But, what we were interested in on the back of said recognition, was some good quality food.
Finalist 2016 – Best Takeaway in North London
Tried & Tested – Top Ten Winner 2016
KABUL CITY SPECIAL
Kabul City Special (2-3 persons) – Choice of 1 Starters, 1 Skewer Boneless Chicken, 1 Skewer Chicken Wings, 2 Skewers Shami Kebab, 2 pieces Chapli Kebab, 2 pieces Lamb Chops, 1 portion Qabili Palow (served with 2 Naan Bread & Salad) – £38.00
These large jumbo wings were a touch dry, but with a light lemony marination and a nicely charred exterior.
Extremely poor chapli kebab this.
Chapli kebabs are supposed to be large and succulent and beautifully fragrant as a result of the spices.
This, however, was just a confused chewy mass of tasteless, greasy meat!
Slightly dry, but these large lamb chops were well marinated, well charred, and with a hint of salt, pretty good had with the mint sauce.
Well charred with a good barbecue taste, these lamb cubes were satisfying.
This was just a greasy piece of poorly seasoned and mildly spiced meat.
Nothing more to say.
Large chunks of chicken that had a good smoky, barbecue marination, badly let down, though, by its cooking – bone dry!
This was considered by all three Lions to be the best part of this humongous platter.
A simple dish no doubt, but with the sweetness of the carrots and the raisons, the rice was fragrant, the meat soft and succulent. Had with the minty sauce, this we thoroughly enjoyed.
Namak Mandi £12
Default is 500g, but ours was 250g.
While one Lion considered it to be salty, the others insisted that the mild spicy and oily tomato base helped balance things out.
The meat was soft and beautifully cooked though making this a decent dish.
SIDES & STARTERS
Banjan Burani (Veg) – Aubergine, Tomato, Herbs Mixed with Thick Yoghurt or Quroot & Garlic, £4.50
A tad oily, but this aubergine starter was good – soft textured and tangy tomato and onion base.
Mantoo – Steamed Pasta filled with Mince, Onion & Herbs, Served with Special Sauce (1 Portion = 8 Pieces), £7.99
What a delightful dish this was.
The pasta was soft, the tomato and onion mince well spiced with hint of sourness. Thoroughly enjoyable dish and arguably the best of the evening!
Jumbo Prawns (BBQ) £13.99 with rice £14.99
Terrible! Dry, tough, chewy and poor. AVOID!
Humus (top-left) – Crushed Chick Peas, Tahini, Lemon Juice, Garlic & Olive Oil
Sabzi Bourani (top-right) – Steamed spinach mixed with our special thick Yogurt and herbs (Served Cold)
Olive Salad (bottom-left) – Black and Green Olives, Feta Cheese, Red Cabbage
Mast-O-Khayal (bottom-right)- Yoghurt Mixed with Cucumber & Herbs
£4.50 each
The humus standard humus, albeit bland.
As for the Sabzi Bourani, then it had a strange slimmey texture with a taste that’s okay.
What do you get when you add yoghurt to cucumber? A Mast-O-Khayal.
And the Olive Salad is what it is, and that too your standard ones.
Afghan Salad £4.50
Your basic salad lacking any vinaigrette; thus, it desperately requires a squeeze of that lemon.
Naan £1.00
Premade naans that can be bought from any good store or supermarket.
And these were barely warmed up!
Chilli Sauce (left), Mint Sauce (right)
The chilli sauceseems like the standard stuff you can find at any good cash ‘n’ carry. Hot, but with a vinegary undertone, not bad.
The mint sauce is the one to get though. With a strong, vinegary kick, this watery sauce is particularly good.
DRINKS
Dough (Drinking Yoghurt) £1.50 (Jug) £9.00
Aka lassi; and that’s what it is. Refreshing. Would be better if there was ice perhaps.
Mango Lassi £2.00 (Jug) £15.00
Thick, very thick in fact; almost milkshake in texture.
Ergo, far too much mango pulp.
Orange Juice £3.00
Fresh orange juice that’s nice and sweet.
DESSERTS
Apple Dutch Flan – Comes with custard, cream or ice cream, £3.50
Cold! We received this… cold, which was a pity because the cinnamon came through well enough.
With premade, standard custard, this was a disappointing let down.
Baklava £4.50 (5 pcs)
These soggy, non-crispy baklavas had obviously been sitting around for some time
Both types were sweet enough with the sticky green pistachios soft and gentle in taste, and the other with a subtle hint of cardamom.
- NO/ NO
- CHILD SEATING
- JUST EAT
Anyone who's been following FtL's reviews closely will know that whilst we'll always praise good food innovation, and criticise mediocrity, what we can't stand is claims made that border on delusion.In this case, it was the claim, as printed on the front of their menu card: "Fine Dining Afghan Cuisine"!
With an informal setup, jugs of lassis, and food which, though at best wholesome, wouldn't qualify as gastronomically adventurous, let alone cutting edge, Kabul City is NOT "Fine Dining" by any stretch of the imagination.
There was one dish which we'd definitely go back for; otherwise, the rest was, at best, standard, and, at worst, edible.
Drink - Dough
Starter - Mantoo
Main - Qabili Palow
Dessert - Baklava
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Ali Imtiaz
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I regularly order takeaways here. It used to be good but slowly has declined. With the only real halal option around, it’s the best thing in Edgware.
13 Mar '17