Ariana

Unpopular restaurants ensure that customers sit in window seats. But this restaurant doesn’t have that option even though it’s lunch time two days before Christmas: there’s no one else here. Molly Malone’s Irish bar and the even less unambiguously named The English Pub, which I’ve just passed to get here, were in full swing. But I didn’t travel to Prague for Irish stew or fish ‘n’ chips. I didn’t go for Afghan food either. But I turned right and saw the tiny sign above the restaurant.

No matter I couldn’t read the menu on the board outside because the glass was misted. Who cares if the door looked like it had been closed for years? I’d opened that door and now there’s a smiling lady walking towards me with a menu. I’m thinking of offering my apologies and leaving. Why am I here?

I’m offered a menu and advised to sit where I like. The salads all comprise the tiresome trio of lettuce, tomato and cucumber - with tuna (mahi), beans (lubia) or sheep’s cheese (house). I order minced beef and lamb kebab (with rice and sweet pickle) and a side dish of aubergines (badenjan) and some dogh (yoghurt, mint and cucumber). Twenty five minutes later the food arrives. For some this would be unacceptable, especially in an empty restaurant. But now I’m filled with enthusiasm, entertaining ideas of freshly prepared kebabs. And so it is. The food is sublime. The rice slightly fragrant. The trio of kebabs perfectly cooked, not overly dry. The chunks of aubergine are soft and oily and lemony. The simplicity of the food belies its subtlety. 

I return four days later in the evening. It’s packed. They offer to squeeze me in. I could offer my apologies and leave. But I don’t. I know why I’m here.

Wandering away from the crowded streets of Stare Mesto, in Prague, I came across this exotic place where are served copious dishes of Afghan specialities for a reasonable price. In this cosy restaurant decorated with Oriental carpets, both tourists and locals sit at the tables. Sometimes, even people of Afghan origin stop by: the food must really taste like home!
The menu shows an impressive variety of dishes: the kebabs are very savoury, especially the Chapli kebab, but, for a different taste, pick one of the specialities. The best choice is the Mantu: dumplings filled with minced lamb meat and served with a yogurt dressing and sprinkled with coriander. For a true lavish meal, the Karayi Chopan is your option: mutton and vegetables, served with various sauces and Nan, a flat soft bread, quite typical in Central Asia. Although limited in choice, the desserts are really tasty, in particular the sweet Baklava accompanied by a cup of tea.
After such a trip in the far-away lands of the Afghan cuisine, what a surprise finding myself in the centre of Old Prague!