Khyber Pass Restaurant

Favourite weekend spot and really delicious food.
I love this place :)

Kachaloo Chalow and lots of tea!

Not the best place I’ve been to.
Several months ago, a friend who lived in the city wanted to go smoke hookah, so we stopped by Khyber Pass after we were done exploring NYU and East Village.
We ordered some tea and hookah. The mint tea we got wasn’t half bad, but it’s hard to mess up tea. Unfortunately, the hookah we got was burnt.
I’ve been to several hookah places in my lifetime, and the hookah there was just plain bad. The flavor was gone after a few minutes, and no matter what we did, the hookah was rough.
We also didn’t have a waiter coming to our table every now and then: In fact, our waitress only came twice – once to seat us, and once to bring us our tea and hookah. We had to get up and find her to get her to bring us our check.
I can’t comment on the food, since we didn’t order any, but I was sorely disappointed in this establishment.

I’m regular to this place and notice decline in their service. Last Friday went their with friends and waiter eventually attend us after 10 mins of waiting time. I don’t blame him since it was busy but his disgruntled attitude was not acceptable. It was like he don’t want us there. Eventually we get table. Hardly few mins later as food was still being consumed he came to us and said we have to remove in few mins since this table was reserved. I was really upset and ask him why on earth he didn’t tell us earlier? And he cloud not care less and said he forgot and now we have to leave.
Not going back again. It’s a shame as I was regular customer for 5 years.

Hookah is awesome they have two entrée I love, called chicken Adana nd lamb chops also Shiraz salad so good and tea good they have sojo margarita ask him to make it strong nd taste awesome… there is a tall afghani guy name qubed, he is an amazing guy make great hookah… great service

I LOVE Khyber Pass!!! I’ve been coming here for SIX years! It’s my favorite restaurant in all of Manhattan. Delicious authentic food from Afghanistan, BEAUTIFUL ambiance, nice wine selection, and hookah bar.
Most people come here for the hookah but you MUST try the food, anything with pumpkin in it. And the owners are the nicest men ever!!! Love this place so much!

The atmosphere was well lit for a romantic date but also for a fun night out with friends. (Friday night was a bit cramped for a date which could limit your privacy, but it also depends on where your seated) Beers are $ 5 and Sangria is $ 7 (worth the price), hookahs are reasonably priced, the food is well cooked and well seasoned (the Choopan is a lamb kabab over your choice of rice. The spinach rice is a great choice) most dishes are made with nuts which could possibly limit your choices if you’re not too nuts about nuts. The service is great too. There is more than one waitress per table and they are all very helpful (especially if it’s your first time and you have no idea what to get). I would definitely go again with a group of friends.

I have been coming here for over 20 years. My parents took me here a lot when I was in high school and college. I now live in NJ and the options for Afghan food are nonexistent. I have always loved this place, but for a long time there was an Afghan restaurant closer to my Dad’s apartment so that is where we would go. I went here the other day and the pace is exactly the same as when I was a teen. Very dark, and there are window seats where you can sit on the floor which I loved when I was younger. Food is delicious and reasonable. We had Koobideh, a combinaion grill entrée, Aushak, Boulanee Kadu (my fave and they don’t have it at every Afghan restaurant.) I highly recommend this spot. We were here on Good Friday and the only other tables there were a pair of young dudes outside forhookah, and then an older hippie couple who kept glancing over at us when we were talking about Bernie Sanders and his chances for getting elected. My uncle was with us and he is a tough customer. He liked it. He had wanted to go to Momofuku, but there was a huge line.

Very very average food. Does not stand out. It was very bland. Not much of flavour. For an Indian this is very ordinary food.
There is a charm to the interior. It’s quite unique. The hookah was quite good. Looks like a very busy place. We visited on Saturday evening and it was packed.

This is a really nice place to share Hookah with friends. I really appreciate that they never bug or nudge you to leave, but instead are totally fine if you stay for hours, nursing the same hookah. The staff is friendly, but does not hover.
I also like their food. It can be forgettable, but I’ve had a few things that are really delicious, and they have a lot of vegetarian options as well.

Good place to grab some drinks, get hookah, and catch up with friends. Hookah is $ 35 and you can mix flavors– we got the strawberry mango.
They have pitchers as well. We got the hookah, one pitcher, and two beers– total was around $ 50…not too bad for NYC prices.
Located in St. Marks next to Two Bros Pizza.

I actually like it here it was very chilled and I thought it was affordable. The hookah $ 18 and a pitcher of blue moon for $ 35 served it’s purpose for a table of 3 lol. The guy helping us was very helpful, we lost our mouthpiece for the hookah about 8x and he replaced it for us as soon as possible. Me and my co-​workers had a blast here.

The food isn’t bad, but the portions are really really small. Hookah was terrible though, you’re better off going to anywhere in queens for real hookah. I wouldn’t recommend this place to be honest

I been here before and it was better, but my most recent visit was not as planned. The food was cold and rice tasted old and the hookah was burnt out and they didn’t change it out. I guess you could get lucky some days

Excellent food! I’ve been at this place several times and it always surprises.

The mojitos were the bomb
I don’t smoke hookah but I will keep going back there for the drinks love love love

I had the eggplant dish with rice, $ 11.95, which turned out to be not enough so I ordered another side dish of eggplant, $ 5.95. The meal came with a bread basket. The eggplant was in a tomato sauce and not spicy, and I enjoyed it. The hookah atmosphere was unusual, so the whole experience was positive. I was on my dinner break from work, and was able to get out in under an hour. The only thing is, I was still hungry after I left, so I had to stop somewhere to get pizza before going back to work – bummer!

I went to this place tonight with 6 girlfriends and it was one of the worst experiences. For the most part, I’ve encountered very rude staff members here. All of my friends wanted water with lemon and they wouldn’t even give it to us. Instead, they repeatedly asked us to get an actual drink when we did not want anything but hookah. Finally, when we kept fighting for just water they gave us bottled water with no lemon. One friend ask to change her drink because she didn’t like how it taste and a tall middle aged server (about 40) refused to change her beverage and said «well everyone likes this drink.» The only employee who was sincere and nice was one named «Manny». Although he was not serving our table he constantly came to check on us and readjust the hookah. The hookahs were also very weak and didn’t contain enough flavor. I would not recommend this place although the ambience was relaxing and calm.

So far, the best getaway place to meet your friend and get authentic afghani food and delicious hookah! I Always go there after work to relax!! Try the best kebabs in town and orange mint hookah on actual orange head))servers are very friendly, especially Navang and Katy !! I’m resident of Khyber pass for 5 years!

My new favorite hookah spot! It has it all for a good night chilling with friends (and maybe a date) — hookah, drinks, great food (for dinner and munchies), not too crowded, background music that’s not too loud, and good vibe in a perfect location. Def recommend!

Excellent hookah spot — right next to 2 bro’s so easy to find. drawback — it does get super busy Fri/​Sat nights.
Price of hookah $ 18 (additional $ 5 for milk based) and they have decent food options (I’ve only stuck w dessert myself).
I am docking a star only b/​c more often than not, it takes a while to get staff’s attention after you’ve already ordered your hookah.

I didn’t eat here, just paid for the $ 18 Hookah, then the two drink minimum. I thought it was a reasonable price, since we spent about an hour and a half there.
The interior is very dimly lit and cozy, with a very middle eastern-​esque feel. Lots of purples and blues gave the feel of being somewhere overseas and exotic.
They have friendly service and an inviting and relaxing atmosphere. Next time I’m here, I’m definitely going to try the food!

While it is possible that the meat dishes are better (I wouldn’t know), if you are looking for a vegetarian meal this isn’t the place — despite the fact that they have an entire vegetarian section on their menu. The couscous with vegetables, for instance, turned out to be rather unappetizing, and the eggplant small dish was lackluster. Not much in the way of choices of wine either.

This place was really strange. Drinks were horrible, the service was even worse. We made our orders then 15 minutes later the waitress came back only to tell us she doesn’t have what we want. So we made a new order, and 10 – 15 minutes after she finally served us. Only it didn’t taste good. At all. I had already had food but the place smelt bad and didn’t look properly cleaned, so I quickly decided I wouldn’t order any snacks etc. The place was also too dark for my taste. Over all not a good experience and I highly doubt I’ll ever come back.

I have been coming here for years now and I have never had a bad experience. Food is really good, Hookah is okay nothing special but hey! It’s only $ 18 which is pretty reasonable for Manhattan.
Overall I like the place and the food. Service is also really good.

Outdoor seating, serves beer and wine only but at an amazing price! Hookah comes out very fast and service altogether is great. Haven’t had much food, but the Mantoo was suggested by the waiter as more of a traditional appetizer and had a pleasant taste. Haven’t had a bad experience yet, the hookah is flavorful, and the service is good, so I will definitely keep coming back!

I’ve been coming to this restaurant for years now and each and every time I get the same dish because it’s a true winner… its called Fesenjan. The dish is sweet and sour tender pieces of boneless chicken flavored with walnuts and pomegranate juice. Your not going to find anything with a similar taste around town.
Tip for those who have yet to come to this place… Don’t bother getting the entrée, order the appetizer. Its only about $ 6 and is more than enough food. Also they bring out some really great bread to start, hold off and have it with this unbelievable sauce.
Service is good, not great which is why I give the place ⁴⁄₅ stars, but definitely not the worst service. They brought water to the table but had to be elicited for refills… not super attentive to detail.
The outdoor of the appearance of the restaurant might fool you, it looks pretty shabby, but inside is super authentic. If your with a group of people try sitting at one of the tables in the window. May no be super comfortable for all but I find it pretty enjoyable… Not everywhere you can sit indian style at a restaurant.
Definitely would recommend it to others!

The food here was just good, the service was just ok making the experience not so memorable.
We had the fesejan which was sweet tender chicken over rice, pretty good. And lamb kebabs which were ok.
There was nothing particularly memorable about this place if you go for dinner only. It seems like they put more focus into being a hookah bar, which we did not try.

Can’t believe it took me so many years to actually come here but now I can say I’ve been everyone on St. Mark’s. I actually really liekd how quiet Khyper Pass it. I’m not a fan of those Hookah bar turned dodgey nightclub places scattered throughout the city – COUGHbabylon. Huumus plate was good and they had lots of food and drink options. Service was way way way nicer than Cloister’s but décor could’ve used some work.

Great relaxing atmosphere, music and healthy menu options. Most of the entrees are gluten free. Good wine selection. I can by myself but this a great place to bring some friends for a fun time. Also of course fun to try out the hookahs.
The crowd is a nice diverse mix and in contrast to super busy St. Marks its great to walk into this relaxed oasis.

Great hookah and decent food. Love that you can enjoy them both together here. Fun place for a date or to bring a few friends and prices are reasonable. Probably one of my favorite hookah places in the city.

My girlfriend has a very hot/​cold mentality towards things. On matters that interest or concern her, she has a memory like a steel trap. For example: her ability to retain names of important business contacts, remembrances of long-​gone meals of extraordinary flavor and of course the detailed memory of everything that happened the night we first met and I was totally being a sleazeball… but also how I sort of made up for it by drunkenly saying she was ‘purdy and tried to repeatedly hold hands with her near the bocce court at Ormsby’s… (
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And yet, her recollection for details that don’t garner her attention are lost like dust in the wind. So in our recent jaunt to NYC, she had mentioned a hookah place of some renown that she thoroughly enjoyed on one of her business trips in town a while back. However, when queried with important questions about the establishment like, «where is it located?», «what’s the name of the place?» and «what kind of food do they serve?» I was met with a chorus of blank stares and a «how the hell do I know?». What she did remember in detail however, was the unique hookah accoutrement comprised of milk and a pineapple crown. (
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Coincidentally, one of our local friends suggested we get the group together at Khyber Pass Restaurant. As soon as we walked through the door, I saw several hookahs outfitted with the very familiar paraphernalia that my girlfriend had cryptically described. Indeed, she exclaimed immediately «Aha, this is the place!» as we entered the restaurant. So here’s the thing:
Food: This being my first time dining at an Afghan establishment, I thought I’d be in for some seriously esoteric ethnic food. Whether by regional adjacency or just the way our group ordered, all of the vittles were fine, but it almost tasted like all the Persian food I had growing up in LA. After all, like my fellow members of George W Bush’s Axis of Evil, I also have a predilection for driving around on weekdays in flashy sports cars with my shirt unbuttoned to my navel proudly displaying my chest hair to unsuspecting viewers. Accordingly the basmati rice, spiced meats and grilled veggies were toothsome but alas very familiar and good in a particularly unmemorable sort of way.
Drinks: Sangria pitchers were generously doled out to the table as we were in a celebratory mood… Tangentially, I’m still trying to figure out where sangria — a beverage that is generally believed to hail from the Iberian Peninsula — falls within the arena of Afghani cuisine 3900 miles away… then again, my Korean family owns a Japanese restaurant that serves deep fried sushi stuffed with Philadelphia cream cheese so it’s not like I’m an authority on culinary authenticity. Again, nothing against Khyber Pass’ representation of the drink, as I’ve found sangria to fall into the range between «sorta good» and «pretty good». As I mentioned about the food, very passable but nothing special.
Hookah: Wow! No wonder this is the only thing that my girlfriend remembered of the place. I can’t say I’m a big hookah connoisseur, and I stopped smoking cigarettes (and other things) ages ago, but even my friends well versed in smoking hookah (and other things) were pleasantly surprised to see so many options available. After my girlfriend cleverly instilled the milk/​pineapple combination into the conversation, we were promptly presented with the eponymous device. All attendees were very satisfied at the rich, creamy smoke spiced with a hint of fruit as she magnanimously sighed in contentment. Noting Islam’s prohibition on alcohol, I can see how doing this on a daily basis could somehow allay the crippling blow of not having the sauce in my life… but doing it after 9 pitchers of sangria? God bless America/​Viva Allah…
TLDR Summary: Eats and drinks were good but that pineapple/​milk hookah combination is top of the pops. Also, I should stay far away from the Middle East given my penchant for casual blasphemy.

I absolutely love this place! I can’t here two months ago and had a great experience so finally got the chance to try it again last night. Myself being Afghan and having a nice décor, food and service from actual Afghans is something I love about this place. The inside is really cozy, not to big but the interior has a very nice touch it and my favorite seating is by the windows where they have the old school couches where you sit cross footed, it’s so comfortable that you could fall asleep while smoking the hookah.
First off I’ll say the service is by far the best I ever had at any place I have eaten or smoked hookah at! The waiter name I believe was Tawab if I recall right but I could be wrong. He’s by far the friendliest and most respectful person I ever met, I been here twice and he remembered me from last time, his Farsi is fluent and he treated my friend and I like good friends and not just a customer. Everyone else there has been great too but I hope to see him everytime I visit Khyber Pass! Normally I never tip anything extra if the gratuity is on the bill but because his service was great I gave twice as much.
To start off our orders, I ordered Mantu, boloni kachalu and some fesijan. Everything tasted great, especially the boloni kachalu was just as good as the home cooked ones my family make. We also had pineapple juice and I will say that it is the best pineapple juice I ever had and my friend who drinks it all the time claims is to be the best she had. Now the hookah was amazing! We got a lime-​lemont mint special packed in a pineapple and that one hookah head lasted for over two hours! We did not want to leave the place unfortunately it was past 3am and we had to drive back or else we would be there all night. Overall I love this place, definitely one of my favorite places to be! I highly recommend checking this place out!