Excellent Afghan Food and Great Ambiance
My husband and I came here last night for a great big Afghani dinner planned by Gur E., so I will add to the onslaught of reviews today.

We started with salad and flatbread with yogurt. I ate too much flatbread and was already pretty full by the time the main dishes arrived: pumpkin, lamb, beef, chicken. Lots of meat, which my husband loved, but unexpectedly, he liked the pumpkin dish best.

They brought around a rice dish, which our server said was his favorite: it was a long-grain rice pilaf with raisins, carrots, and bits of slow-cooked lamb.

Where I come from, rice is white. And sticky. And contains no real nutritional value. Or flavor. Carrot and raisins in rice? Where I come from, this would be rice blasphemy, I tell you, blasphemy . . . mmmm . . . blasphemy . . . delicious, perfectly seasoned . . . blasphemy . . . oh never mind.

Actually, everything was perfectly seasoned, with perhaps the exception of the pudding we had for dessert. Mine was fine, but Linda T. and LaSha G. encountered an overabundance of rosewater in a section of theirs, which made some spoonfuls (but not others) taste soapy. The ice cream had a rosewater flavor, too, though not as strong as the pudding, and it isn't hard to imagine how too much rosewater might make the desserts taste as if they were inspired by Bath & Body Works.

This was my first time trying Salang Pass, but my sister noted that my mom hadn't cared for the desserts either when they had come here. The desserts tasted fine to me, but I guess rosewater is an acquired taste, and if it's not your thing, you might skip dessert. There will probably be scarcely any room for it in your stomach, anyway, given the number of other great dishes on the menu.

Gur E., thank you for planning this dinner. I will be eating at Salang Pass in the future.    [30 Jan 2008 18:56:48]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Bolani, Mantu, Chicken Kabob

     ­Carol B., Fremont, CA