KABUL CITY RESTAURANT, LEAGRAVE ROAD, LUTON

There was quite a surprised buzz around the old Mirpur Grill restaurant in Luton being converted to Kabul City, especially as the former seemed to be doing quite well. A Kabul City fan-for-life confirmed that this new place was indeed owned by the same guy who runs the restaurant in London. So we decided to go compare.

The waitress who greeted us found us a nice table but the two little people accompanying us wanted desperately to go upstairs and dine on the floor. We adults weren’t fussed where we sat but apparently this was the way to go. Nicely decorated with the traditionally get up, the upstairs is a reasonable size for a small function too.

We ordered pretty quickly off the menu as we had some idea of what to expect. There was a small language barrier as the Lithuanian waitress struggled to understand our order, but thankfully the menu was numbered on her notepad so we just pointed at the numbers. We listed off hummus followed by chicken wings, chapli kebabs and lamb chops. The main was the traditional Kabuli pilau with a lentil daal side.

There’s really only one word to describe the food – succulent. The generous portions of lamb chops and chicken wings were melt-in-the-mouth tender, and the accompanying naans fresh and lovely. Last time we visited Kabul City in London we couldn’t order any chapli kebabs because the restaurant had run out of meat due to a large takeaway order. Happily it wasn’t the case today and they were as lovely as expected – large, spicy and soft.

You can always tell a good Afghani eatery from its Kabuli Pilau, and here it was - tender chunks of lamb hidden under long grained sella rice with carrots and raisins. Not being a big fan of raisins in cooked food, I was still quite happy to pick them out. However, on hindsight I could probably have asked for them to be served on the side.

I did feel a little sorry for the waitress as she kept lugging our order up and down the stairs, and we didn’t really want to send her back down again when she forgot the accompanying red and green sauces. Now I realise why she would have preferred us to sit downstairs!

The single downside of the evening was where we had decided to sit. The only bathroom in the restaurant was behind us, and as the place got busier, so did the bathroom. We were constantly asking people to close the door firmly to avoid the wind coming from the fire exit nearby and hitting us in the face.

We decided against pudding and green tea that day as the little people had already ear-marked another place for dessert.

Haven spoken briefly to a couple of other people who have eaten at both branches of Kabul City, we have come to the agreement that the food is equally good in quality – I’ve even heard rumours that most of the food is in fact prepared at the London kitchen and booted down the motorway in time for the hungry hoards to arrive in the Luton branch.

Kabul City sets the bar for decent Afghani food in Luton. And the fact that the restaurant always seems to be heaving with people whenever I pass by proves my point. I think this type of food is a hit with children and adults alike because it has a familiar East-Asian flavour without the unwelcome chilly hit and excessive oil which can be found in some dishes available in places nearby.