Afghan Pamir - Great service, some good dishes.

At Afghan Pamir we got fantastic service, and there were some really good dishes that you should try. Unfortunately there were also some dishes that were a bit boring. That doesn't mean it's not good - in fact we like it - it's just not a stand-out. 


(degusted 10th July, 2011)

We heard about Afghan Pamir because of their involvement with the Melbourne food & wine festival, from which they received good reviews in the media, most notably for The Degusters, through the food reviewer Ela Carte on radio station 3aw. 

3AW? scoffs one Deguster to the other..
Yeah, yeah.. OK, before you all think one of us uses a walking stick, wears a hat and drives a volvo, we should point out that we’re proudly well out of 3AW's target demographic, but one of us just happens to enjoy a bit of talk-back in the mornings...

Afghan Pamir has therefore been on our “must try” list for most of this year, so when we found ourselves at a loose end on a Sunday for lunch, it was a good chance to finally go and see what all the fuss was about.

First up, please don't judge by the fact that this restaurant is in Dandenong. 

Dandenong – apart from the drag racing - is currently undergoing something of a revitalisation- roadside rejuvenation, new housing developments. It’s a melting pot of cultures – mainly middle-eastern and African – and this always seems to bring out the best in a town.  Granted, it will probably never find itself the Toorak of the south-east, but in the meantime a visit to Dandenong is not all that bad.  On a street back from the Princes Hwy, Afghan Pamir is currently located in a quiet(ish) street, so it felt a bit remote... or peaceful, depending how you look at things.

Afghan Pamir - Dining room. All the menus are clean
and laminated, unfortunately, so are the tables..

Walking through the modest looking shopfront you enter the quite large dining room, the tables had thick plastic covers, which gives the dining room a bit of a “cheap” feel. You can get away with this if you’re a Pho restaurant selling $7 bowls of soup, not when you are a restaurant with mains that cost $25 and over..

After this first impression, everything improved.

The waiter was the perfect example of what you should expect in a restaurant – courteous, helpful, and friendly – on this occasion we could not have been treated better. It's as simple as that. 

Being our first time here, we were guided through the menu, given lots of information and suggestions. Apparently, their most popular orders are the set menus – 5 to choose - including one vegetarian, and one meat lovers. We opted for banquet #2 as it included dessert and enough of the items from the menu that we were interested in trying anyway. They are firm on the ‘no changes to set menu’ rules, so don’t bother asking, unless you have specific dietary requirements – but then everyone at the table will probably have to all have the same.

Off to a flying start

Once the order was placed, we had bread and dips out and on our table really quickly. The bread was nice and fresh,. The salad was a bit so-so, but that didn't worry the salad-dodger...

The naan (bread) and dip.

Salad, & yummy Chatney (chilli dip).

The Chatney (a chilli & pepper sauce made with vinegar, cilantro and chillis, we believe) was awesome. When we told our waiter how much we enjoyed it, he went and got a container of it for us to take home. How good is that!?

 

Chicken and Lamb mince skewers. The Chicken was PERFECTION.

We devoured the chicken skewers which were the highlight of the meal– they had that smokey, char-grilled taste – with just enough bits of black - and were perfectly tender and soft inside – absolute perfection. The other highlight was the Afghani rice – which just has to be tasted to be understood: it was unlike any rice I've had before, and I loved it.  The meatball kofta were a surprise – really moist and tasty – two elements where meatballs often come unstuck. The bread was put to good use mopping up the sauce that these kofta came in.

Afghani Rice. So soft - you really just have to try it.

Meatball Kofta - surprisingly moist and tasty.

Mantuu - Afghan steamed dumplings.

One of the unusual dishes was the Mantuu – Afghan steamed dumplings, made from pastry, and served like a big ravioli. Interesting texture and flavour, we can only explain it as being a fusion of Asian dumplings and Italian pasta. It was genuinely a unique experience for us – and while we're not completely sold on this dish, and probably wouldn't make a special effort to go back just so we could have it again, it is really quite unique and we'd be happy to eat it again. I guess you have to try it once, right?

Sizzling plate of Doner kebab..
Nothing special, but good enough to eat.

Our vegetarian dish - thinly sliced potatoes.
Neither crispy, nor soft and fluffy. Could have done without.

The sizzling plate of doner kebab was mediocre, and the lamb mince skewers were ok – not enough flavours for our liking. There was a vegetarian dish included in this tasting, and according to the menu we were supposed to be able to choose which dish we wanted for this or leave it for the chef to choose (the waiter did not ask for our choice, nor did he tell us what the “chef's choice” was going to be – this was perhaps the only little let-down of the whole experience).. If you order the tasting plates, choose your vego dish and make sure the waiter gets it.. We were served this potato gratin style plate, which was uninspiring and a bit bland. There was nothing wrong with it, but with so many flavours and yummy things on the menu, it was a shame to have wasted our “choice” on this.

The desserts were tasty – the interesting Gulab Jaman which is like a little sweet, round dumpling ball, and the Baklava was just what you’d expect (although it was cold on the plate, which effectively subdued the sweet syrupy flavours). We found it best to let it warm up to room temperature for 5 minutes or so before eating it. Accompanied by a generous 3 scoops of ice-cream, our lactose-intolerance would have been better served with more of the Gulab Jaman or Baklava, and a bit less ice cream.

Dessert - Gulab Jaman, Baklava and ice cream.

In all, we really did enjoy the whole 'degustation' – there were a few items that we'd rather swap out if given the chance (but set menu’s are indeed set). For friendly service, this place gets an 11 out of 10. For food quality and taste, it’s harder to score, because some items are 10's, others are a bit bland.. Once you've done a tasting plate, it would be good to go back and order a la carte all the best things you know you’ll like. 

Degusters woz 'ere - 2011.

Will we go back? We would, especially for those chicken skewers, the friendly service, and the possibility of finding more things on the menu that we simply adore. In the meantime (and although it’s not Afghani) if we were after a big feed of bread, dips, similar quality meats, yummy rice and generally good value, we might stay a bit closer to home and pop into our trusty Turkish haunt – Guzel Istanbul Restaurant in Mentone.

Points of note:

Child Friendly?– the restaurant claims to be child-friendly, but the only evidence we saw of this was the supply of high-chairs. There was no obvious play area.

Vegetarian – Yes, there is a whole section of the menu devoted to Veggo meals, also a Vegetarian Banquet.

Drinks – not licensed. They will supply soft drinks!

Location – the waiter advised that they would be changing their location in the next 3 to 6 months – so perhaps check their website before you go!

Bookings – they say you should book for dinner. We had no issues walking in with no booking for lunch on Sunday, though.

Recipes - they have recipes on their website, so you can try and make their dishes at home.. COOL! 

Rating:  Nom (x2) - perhaps if we chose our favourites, this would be a Nomx3.

Meh                      It’ll Do                 Nom(x3)                              Must go back!

Done and Degusted @ Afghan Pamir

Set menu of Banquet # 2, including:
-Mantuu (steamed "dumplings")
-Afghani Traditional rice
-hot plate of shredded doner kebab
-chicken skewers
-lamb mince skewers
-Meatball Kofta
-"choice" of vegetarian dish
-naan (bread)
-dips
-salad and chilli/pepper dipping sauce
-"mixed dessert plate" including Gulab Jaman, Baklava and Ice cream
-can of soft drink (living it up!).