Growing up we ate your typical American food. When my dad wasn’t eating dinner at the Fire Station my mom would cook steak, pork chops, ribs… you know, typical American family food. When my dad wasn’t around for dinner it was grilled cheese, hot dogs, spaghetti-O’s, etc. Simple stuff my mom could make for us kids who she knew wouldn’t appreciate the steaks and such. Come to think of it, maybe that’s the reason why I’m such a picky eater. But clearly I’m a little more open these days as my wife took me to dinner this week at an Afghan restaurant in Skokie called The Kabul House, and I actually enjoyed it.
Kabul House: Afghan Food
Kabul House is located on Oakton Street in Skokie, which is around the corner from my wife’s parents condo. Her mom was in town helping out with baby Adam (nephew, not our child) and wanted to go grab dinner somewhere on Wednesday night. When my wife told me where we they were going I almost declined; opting instead to make grilled cheese at home, but I’m glad I went. Kabul House is authentic Afghan cooking, but even if it wasn’t “authentic” I wouldn’t be able to tell since I’ve never had Afghan food. I’ve been to places like Reza’s and things like that, and Celeste said this would be similar. She was pretty much right.
We ordered the Aushak appetizer, which is “Afghan-ravioli type dumplings filled with scallions & leeks. Topped with a yogurt-mint sauce and a tomato based meat sauce.” If there was one thing I didn’t care for during the meal it was this. I’m not a fan of dumplings in general. The weird texture of them doesn’t work for me, so top that with yogurt-mint sauce and leeks and I had to pass, but I did try it, just wasn’t feeling it. Celeste also got a soup before dinner, I believe it was the Aush-Rishta soup, which was much better than the Aushak appetizer. I probably wouldn’t eat a whole bowl on my own, but the few sips I had weren’t too bad.
As far as entrees go, there are plenty to choose from, but I went with one that seemed pretty safe; Murgh. I don’t even know how to pronounce that, but it’s just charbroiled boneless pieces of marinated chicken. I tried to order just one skewer, but the waiter convinced me that 5 pieces of chicken wouldn’t be enough and I should double it to 2 skewers. Needless to say I only ate 1 skewer worth and took the rest home, but that’s not because it wasn’t delicious. The chicken was actually quite good and probably the tenderest chicken I’ve ever had in my life. It literally melted in your mouth as if you were eating ice cream. The marinade was also quite delicious. It gave the chicken a little bit of heat, but not too much. I’m not a fan of super spicy foods and I did just fine with this. I also opted for the Afghan rice as opposed to white or dill, and was very happy with my choice.
I would definitely go back here and try something else now that I know how delicious the entrees are. Not to mention the service was outstanding. Our waiter was very attentive and super polite. I’m usually the one saying thank you to the servers with every visit, but this guy said thank you and you’re welcome, more times than I did. So with delicious Afghan food and extremely friendly/attentive service, do yourself a favor and give the Kabul House a try. If I was willing to give it a try, and actually said it was good, then you should probably run over and try it for yourself.
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