Afghan Kitchen
Afghani
35 Islington Green, N1 8DU
£
Afghan Kitchen is a small, home-style cooking restaurant on Islington Green. I once discovered its dishes when I went over to one of my very smart, beautiful, successful friends for dinner - whose only flaws happen to exist in the kitchen. She had very cleverly bundled the various dishes into her own crockery and homeware, so we were fooled into believing she had become an overnight Nigella, and it wasn’t until the end of the meal that she caved and revealed her secret ingredient was in fact Deliveroo. The stunt was pulled off for the majority of the meal due to the nature of the food: Afghan Kitchen is unpretentious, sharing, family style dining that looks like you mate or mum could have cooked it. However, there is not one part of it that is unimpressive because of this. I have been thinking about the fragrant, spiced moreish stews and curries ever since – so when I was due to meet a friend in Islington for a weeknight catch up, I thought I’d see if the food was just as enjoyable in its natural home.
Just like the food it serves; the venue setting is simple but very pleasant. There are a couple of tables downstairs, and a few more upstairs so it does fill up very quickly (we were the first to arrive at 18:45 on a Tuesday, but by 19:30 the restaurant was full). The menu is short and sweet: always a good sign that they have mastered their craft with whatever is on offer. It also makes the choice of what to go for easier – especially if, like me, you could devour the whole menu. We were advised at between 2/3 dishes per person, so ordered the Chicken in yoghurt (£7.5), Lamb with spinach (£7.5), Aubergines with yoghurt (£7.5), Rice (£3.5), Fresh bread (£3.5) and some mixed pickles (£2). The wine list was equally snappy, leaving us to go for two glasses of red (£5.5) to wash it all down with.
The aubergine was the first to arrive and was just as beautiful as I remembered. It was cooked to the point where the flesh was soft and tender but retained a slight chew. Sitting on a bed of white yoghurt spiked with flashes of red, to which I assume was chilli oil or something similar, the rich and umami flavours from the slightly charred aubergine were cut through with the tang and freshness of the yoghurt. The dish felt light and fresh despite the richness of flavour – it is just how a vegetable of this sort should be treated. The bread shortly followed which was a large rectangle scattered with sesame seeds. It had a crunchy outside and looked like it might be a little dense, but I was pleasantly surprised at the lighter bread beneath. Whilst it wasn’t the most impressive for restaurant standards, it provided a great tool for mopping up the juices left behind from all the dishes. Similarly the rice was cooked well and served a purpose, but was more of a transactional relationship rather than anything too romantic.
Next to arrive were the two ‘curries’. The chicken was fragrant, light, and creamy – the pieces of breast had soaked up the juices perfectly, keeping a meat which can so easily get dry both tender and juicy. The yellowish sauce had a balance of spice and subtlety to it, which meant that it remained moreish and not too overpowering. The lamb, by contract was a dark, rich and mean-looking dish. The spinach and meat had kind of dissolved and combined with one another, the way you can imagine something that has been cooking slowly for ages often does. The lamb honestly fell to pieces as soon as it was touched, and whilst the dish retained an element of body and depth, it wasn’t ever sickly or too much. The pickles really came into their own here, as the sharp bursts of flavour were a great way to cut through and freshen up the slow-cooked wonder on the plate. It is one of the best lamb dishes I have eaten out since I can remember and was by far the most impressive thing on the menu. We finished our meal with two Baklava’s (£1 each) which were a bargain considering how tasty they were. One was a standard, layered, crisp but sticky honey number – another was a sort of string nest encasing candied almonds in the centre. A perfect bite to finish the heavily savoury journey that had come before.
Afghan kitchen is the type of place to come with a group of friends and try a bit of everything. Service was polite but functional throughout, and if you come just two of you expect to be sharing a table with more than a couple of other parties. We were given our bill after 90 mins or so, but the experience didn’t feel rushed along. There was a broad mix of people in the restaurant: solo diners knowing a good thing when they see it, after-work catch ups with older parties, and then large groups of 20-something Islington trendies. Afghan kitchen is the perfect one-stop-shop for anyone who wants a cheap meal to write home about.
OVERALL RATING: ****
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