We had lunch at Afghan Palace on Friday, June 5 to celebrate my safe return from Baltimore the evening before. I had Friday off work as a travel day. My wife heard about the restaurant from Restaurants.com when they had their offer to buy gift certificates for restaurants all over. Afghan Palace is within a 10-20 mile radius of us, though only $10 gift certificates were available. Still, it looked interesting and I had heard about Afghan food while looking up Baltimore restaurants in the Fodor’s guidebook. We figured why not just try a local Afghan restaurant.
To get there we drove east on the 210 and exited south on Carnelian Road. We drove a ways down to Baseline Road, the cross street near Afghan Palace. We were looking for a shopping center on the left side where my wife planned to take an exam in August. We ended up passing it, doubling back and then finding it back near Baseline Road. Afghan Palace is in a shopping center on the southwest corner and across Carnelian from where she would take the exam. We parked in some angle parking on a bit of a slope and entered the restaurant. It was a small place in a storefront with slightly dim lighting inside. On the window was a poster for dancers that looked like belly dancers. Inside there were many tables and Middle Eastern décor. A map covered much of one wall. On it were the words “British Army in Bolan Pass near Khyber Pass (1839).” The Khyber Pass sounded familiar. It may have been mentioned in the book Three Cups of Tea that I read late in late 2008. The subject and coauthor of the book, Greg Mortensen, named his son Khyber. Also on the wall was a relief sculpture of that famous photo of an Afghan girl that appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine in the 1980’s. There were some shiny white mobiles hanging from the ceiling and in the back it looked like there was a stage and curtain for performers, though it was dark at that time. When I went to the back to find the restrooms later I noticed there was a kind of lounge with Persian rugs and Middle eastern-looking chairs.
The hostess/waitress allowed us to sit anywhere. There was no one else there though a couple of other parties would show up while we ate. We sat down at a table towards the back that was covered with burlap and clear plastic. The menus were contained in what seemed like burlap-covered photos albums. They had several pages and different sections for appetizers, kabobs (more Persian than Afghan food; the place actually serves both Persian and Afghan), vegetarian entrees, sandwiches, soups, salads, side orders, desserts, and beverages. Beverages included tea with Afghan spices (no surprise since I’ve read Three Cups of Tea) and one of the desserts was homemade Afghan ice cream (silky road). As stated, the kabobs and sandwiches seemed more like Persian or Mediterranean food so we stuck with the Afghan-seeming appetizers, vegetarian entrees, and side orders. All the Afghan items seemed to be vegetarian but that was OK because it made them less expensive. We placed our orders and waited.
Over the speakers they played rhythmic Middle Eastern-sounding music that was fast and had a lot of drumming. I think we heard the one song with vocals at least four times. The first thing the servers brought was a basket of slightly crunchy pita bread with a small bowl of green sauce. It wasn’t something we ordered but I guess they bring it for everyone. It was good! Next they brought my order of Kachaloo Gulpi that came in a medium-sized glass bowl. It’s made with chunks of cauliflower and potatoes cooked in a spicy ginger and curry sauce, and it was very delicious. It wasn’t too spicy, bland, or too anything, but flavored perfectly. It was filling and actually more food than it seemed but that was OK. I couldn’t get enough of it. It tasted like it had a bit of crunch in it, too, making it even better.
They brought our appetizer order next: Bollanee, or grilled turnover filled with cooked leek and spices. It was shiny with oil and looked like a quesadilla. It came with its own green and white sauce and was also very good. For entrée my wife ordered the vegetarian platter that came with lots of basmati rice and four small portions of vegetable dishes. They included eggplant, kachaloo, cooked spinach, hummus, and a tomato sauce on another kind of rice. She enjoyed it and gave me some of the hummus to have with the pita bread. She couldn’t finish everything, though, and took some home. She also didn’t have room for the Afghani ice cream that she had wanted to try. This gives us an excuse to return.
We paid our check and made sure to leave before they played that song a fifth time. On the way out we saw a photo on the wall of the chef and/or owner with Tom Hanks and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Wow, celebrities come all the way out to Rancho. Maybe the photo is related to the 2008 film Charlie Wilson’s War in which both of them starred and was about a congressman who works to aid the Afghans in the late 70’s and early 80’s against the Soviet invasion of their country. Well, I’m glad we can easily get a delicious taste of the country.
To get there we drove east on the 210 and exited south on Carnelian Road. We drove a ways down to Baseline Road, the cross street near Afghan Palace. We were looking for a shopping center on the left side where my wife planned to take an exam in August. We ended up passing it, doubling back and then finding it back near Baseline Road. Afghan Palace is in a shopping center on the southwest corner and across Carnelian from where she would take the exam. We parked in some angle parking on a bit of a slope and entered the restaurant. It was a small place in a storefront with slightly dim lighting inside. On the window was a poster for dancers that looked like belly dancers. Inside there were many tables and Middle Eastern décor. A map covered much of one wall. On it were the words “British Army in Bolan Pass near Khyber Pass (1839).” The Khyber Pass sounded familiar. It may have been mentioned in the book Three Cups of Tea that I read late in late 2008. The subject and coauthor of the book, Greg Mortensen, named his son Khyber. Also on the wall was a relief sculpture of that famous photo of an Afghan girl that appeared on the cover of National Geographic magazine in the 1980’s. There were some shiny white mobiles hanging from the ceiling and in the back it looked like there was a stage and curtain for performers, though it was dark at that time. When I went to the back to find the restrooms later I noticed there was a kind of lounge with Persian rugs and Middle eastern-looking chairs.
The hostess/waitress allowed us to sit anywhere. There was no one else there though a couple of other parties would show up while we ate. We sat down at a table towards the back that was covered with burlap and clear plastic. The menus were contained in what seemed like burlap-covered photos albums. They had several pages and different sections for appetizers, kabobs (more Persian than Afghan food; the place actually serves both Persian and Afghan), vegetarian entrees, sandwiches, soups, salads, side orders, desserts, and beverages. Beverages included tea with Afghan spices (no surprise since I’ve read Three Cups of Tea) and one of the desserts was homemade Afghan ice cream (silky road). As stated, the kabobs and sandwiches seemed more like Persian or Mediterranean food so we stuck with the Afghan-seeming appetizers, vegetarian entrees, and side orders. All the Afghan items seemed to be vegetarian but that was OK because it made them less expensive. We placed our orders and waited.
Over the speakers they played rhythmic Middle Eastern-sounding music that was fast and had a lot of drumming. I think we heard the one song with vocals at least four times. The first thing the servers brought was a basket of slightly crunchy pita bread with a small bowl of green sauce. It wasn’t something we ordered but I guess they bring it for everyone. It was good! Next they brought my order of Kachaloo Gulpi that came in a medium-sized glass bowl. It’s made with chunks of cauliflower and potatoes cooked in a spicy ginger and curry sauce, and it was very delicious. It wasn’t too spicy, bland, or too anything, but flavored perfectly. It was filling and actually more food than it seemed but that was OK. I couldn’t get enough of it. It tasted like it had a bit of crunch in it, too, making it even better.
They brought our appetizer order next: Bollanee, or grilled turnover filled with cooked leek and spices. It was shiny with oil and looked like a quesadilla. It came with its own green and white sauce and was also very good. For entrée my wife ordered the vegetarian platter that came with lots of basmati rice and four small portions of vegetable dishes. They included eggplant, kachaloo, cooked spinach, hummus, and a tomato sauce on another kind of rice. She enjoyed it and gave me some of the hummus to have with the pita bread. She couldn’t finish everything, though, and took some home. She also didn’t have room for the Afghani ice cream that she had wanted to try. This gives us an excuse to return.
We paid our check and made sure to leave before they played that song a fifth time. On the way out we saw a photo on the wall of the chef and/or owner with Tom Hanks and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Wow, celebrities come all the way out to Rancho. Maybe the photo is related to the 2008 film Charlie Wilson’s War in which both of them starred and was about a congressman who works to aid the Afghans in the late 70’s and early 80’s against the Soviet invasion of their country. Well, I’m glad we can easily get a delicious taste of the country.
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