Chopahn Authentic Afghan Cuisine

I came here for a date on a Saturday night. The ambiance here is nice and quiet. Our service was paradoxically slow, but excellent. We had a good server, but he was the only one working every table in the restaurant and in the patio dining area outside. He was very knowledgable and had good recommendations. He indicated everything in the restaurant is gluten free, except the bread and deserts. This was a huge plus for me.
We ordered and shared the following:
–Lamb Shank (lamb shank w/​bone, tomatoes, garlic herbs, and basmati rice). The meat is slow roasted for three hours and falls right off the bone. The meat is served bathing in a tomato sauce on your plate. Exquisite. $ 23.
–Yahkoot Challaw (boneless sauté chicken pieces in a cherry-​pomegranate sauce with thin sliced almonds sprinkled on top and basmati rice). This was on the sweet side for my preferences, but it bursts with flavor. Phenomenal. $ 18
–Kadu (sauté pumpkin with yogurt and ground beef atop). This was delicious, and I highly recommend it, but I couldn’t tell if the pumpkin was fresh or canned/​bottled pumpkin filling because the pumpkin was formed into a mold, and the consistency was a firm mash, instead of pieces or chunks of pumpkin. $ 8.

Nice quiet place. For how good the food was, I was surprised it was slow.
I had a lamb dish with peppers, onions and tomatoes which was really good. The lamb was very tender.
For a side dish I had their stewed spinach which was absolutely amazing!

Tried out the place based on a friends recommendation. Loved the ambience, it is very 70’s, representative of the cordial relationship that Afganistan had with India. It reflects in the owners choice of of music Indian 70 – 80’s movie soundtracks and commercial music, which was awesome. The food was great, especially the meat sauce and the rice, both of which were very delicately flavored. I would recommend the lamb loin kebab.

Had this last night, and fell in love. As a person who eats a lot of Indian food, I wanted to know where the connections to Afghan would be, and was not disappointed. We had a beef and chicken kebab order that was heavenly, and the chicken curry was really to die for. Also samosa/​sambosa, which was just as you have it at Indian restaurants. I highly recommend this restaurant!

Quick Review: Four stars for the delicious Afghan food. Two stars for the uncomfortable dining experience.
Long Review: Chopahn offers up really delicious Afghan food in a dated looking restaurant. But the «fancy décor» from 1978 is not the issue here. This real issue is the uniquely uncomfortable experience that revolves around the unprofessional service and meddling owner.
The service my group of friends received here is difficult to describe. I am going to keep it simple and call it creepy. The server, Francesco, is a pretty good server when it comes to presenting specials, offering food recommendations, and processing orders. But he has this whole comedy shtick that he thinks is funny, charming, and suave. It’s not.
Francesco can be a bit obnoxious and can hover on sexually inappropriate. He needs to save his lecherous stand up routine for the weekends. As the dinner progressed, I am not sure if he was hitting on the girls or the guys in the group. At first, I was bothered by him. By mid meal, I felt violated by him. By dessert, I started to sort of enjoy him. After I left, I missed him. I guess Chophan gave me Stockholm Syndrome or something.
Important note: I would never call out a server by name. But Franceso was doing all of his in front of the owner. And that’s where the real problem starts and ends at Chopahn: the meddling owner.
Upon arriving, the owner greeted us and welcomed us into his restaurant. Great. But like an annoying fly, he never went away. Buzz. Buzz.
He hovered over Francesco. He hovered over the food runners. He was constantly trying to offer our table glasses of wine, bottles of wine, pomegranate martinis, and other drink specials. He could easily be the new model and spokesperson for «Desperation» cologne by Calvin Klein.
The «fly» never went away. There were only two tables occupied at dinner on a Friday night. But the food came out super slow. Maybe the owner should stop meddling in the dining room, and help facilitate and push orders out of the kitchen?
Eventually, our bill came. The pomegranate martini was $ 14. Johnny Walker Black on the rocks was $ 14. A cranberry vodka was $ 14. I stared at the bill, reached into my pocket, and shed a tear when I realized I left my rape whistle at home.
The food was good. But I won’t be back.

We wanted to utilize entertainment coupon (buy one entrée get one free upto $ 16.00) and visited this place.
When we walked in the place was empty except for one table with a couple and a kid. We were greeted by a man in his 50s and his English was difficult to understand. His name appears as Server: ‘Haider’ on the customer copy of my credit card receipt. I don’t know if he is really Haider or someone else.
I noticed there was a bar in the restaurant. I don’t know if Authentic Afghan restaurants would serve alcohol due to religious beliefs of folks from Afghanistan. But this restaurant serves alcohol and has a decent size bar. I respect everyone’s religious beliefs and I found presence of a bar in this restaurant a bit odd. I drink alcohol, just didn’t drink that evening.
Before we sat at our table, I showed him the coupon, he took out his glasses from his pocket and looked very carefully at the coupon as if he was being served legal paper form the court for about 3 minutes. Then he said that they don’t usually accept this coupon but since we were already here he would do us a favor and accept it.
Well, what a nice gesture! If you don’t accept it maybe you should let Entertainment Online know about it. Why do me the favor?
Anyways we sat down and we were reviewing the menu and asked him a few questions about the preparation and what we were looking for. Based on our taste he recommended Yahkoot Challaw and Vegetarian Curry. We decided to order it.
The food came with one 10 inch pita bread broken into 8 pieces and arranged to make it look like a lot of bread, a bowl of rice.
The quantity of food being served for the price they charge is ridiculous. The quality was nothing spectacular. During the time when we were having food, the man serving us walked past our table a few times giving us the ‘why are you guys here’ look on his way to the front door to get some fresh air, look out on the street etc.
When we finished our food, he got us our check after about 20 minutes and 18% gratuity was already added. I asked him why did he added18%, he said its a policy to add 18% gratuity on all Coupons. I told him that the coupon didn’t mention that and I didn’t see it on the menu either. He was rude in his replies. I would have given him over 15% anyways but the fact that he added it to amount due before swiping my credit card was annoying.
In the credit card receipt the tip showed up as a line item however there was another line item stating «Add’l Tip». Really? Additional tip after charging me 18% already!
We were there for about 1 hour 30 minutes. Other than the couple with the kid who were already there when we entered, only one other lady came in.
I do not recommend this place. The food is average. I have eaten at other Afghan places since my experience at this place. Other places have better service, quality and quantity. The price of food for the quantity they serve is just too high.
I doubt if they have repeat customers.
Good things:
The noise level was quite, because there was hardly anyone.
Food came in about 20 minutes after ordering.
The place was clean, arranged properly (Except for the bar area) and tables had enough room between them.
Here is some constructive feedback for those who are running this place:
1) Please be a little soft in your conversation tone when you are dealing with your customers. I hope you called Entertainment Online to let them know that you do no accept those coupons anymore.
2) Please stop serving pita bread from some super market, make something fresh and authentic. Maybe Kabuli Naan?
3) Please reconsider the pricing for what you serve.
4) Wear a smile… always. It doesn’t cost a thing.

Came here with a groupon good for $ 25 worth of dinner. The waiter would only let us use it if I ordered a second entrée, which I saw no mention of anywhere. Bought the appetizer sampler after the fact. The eggplant was good, but the dumplings looked/​tasted like they were sitting out for a while (edges were stale). Overpriced and the food is a hit or miss.

Ridiculous prices for what we received. We ordered a lamb chop to go since we had appetizers elsewhere. We sat down at the bar and had a beer. The lamb chop dish consisted of 2 little pieces of meat with some vegetables and rice. I like my meat medium rare, but restaurants tend to always over cook meat. I was about to order it rare but the owner insisted that medium rare was good enough. Lo and behold, the lamb chops came out medium. They were tasty, yes, but still overlooked. The meal came with a green sauce that was spicy, tangy and tart but it went well with the rice and the meat. Our 1 dish and 1 beer ended up being $ 44. The portions were way too small and way too expensive for what we received.

They always have appetizer combos and specials not listed on the menu. The food is excellent and different enough from other middle eastern food in the area that there’s a reason to come here. The service is usually terrific… but that’s because we’re usually the only ones in the restaurant.
I don’t know what might be keeping people away, and I hope this place gets really busy on weekends or something (I’ve only ever been on weekdays).
All-​in-​all I recommend this restaurant. It’s always been great.

I really wish it could be 2.5, but alas you have to choose.
Price — Too expensive for what you get, we did have a $ 15 off coupon which was fine but they weren’t clear that it was an automatic gratuity, and even with the discount the meal seemed expensive
Food — hit or miss, for me the kadu (pumpkin) was delicious, the lamb and eggplant was good, «house sauce» and the beef meatballs were pretty bad (tough and a bit dry) and the dumplings as appetizers were meh
Service — hit or miss, food came at relatively quickly and the server who brought the food was attentive and friendly yet overall service was really really slow, it took quite a long time to pay the bill
Parking — it’s downtown san diego, parking is always pretty bad
Overall, if i ended up there with someone else I would get the pumpkin and be fine, but if you want better afghan food in san diego go to Ariana Kabob House.

I would expect more from a place downtown than this place offered. The first time eating this type of food. The taste was ok but the food was somewhat bland.
I felt like the meat in my plate was very dry with sauce to help out.
However the sauce was not very tasty. This surly was not a meal you cleaned your plate.
I tried my friends meatballs and I have made better. I also noticed in our group that the plates still had food on them when finished.
What also appeared odd for a downtown higher end restaurant is they have the upper management /​workers at the front table eating and drinking wine. I noticed she kept getting up and down from her dinner to assist guests walking in or to clear tables.
Overall I was expecting a different tasting cuisine. But instead I received bland dry food.

I was fortunate to visit Chopahn on a slow Tuesday evening. Being the only customer, I could fully appreciate the beautiful, grandiose décor and unique, Afghan hospitality. The owner, Haider, welcomed me as if I were his daughter.
Before I was seated, I noticed a table of books by the entrance. I asked if I could look at one as I ate. Haider was pleased at my interest in Afghan culture and merrily said that I could take whichever ones I wanted.
As I was only visiting downtown and needed some serious caffeination before my long drive back home, I ordered the black tea. There is something very special about Middle Eastern tea; It’s ambrosial, mysterious. Here, you will receive a little iron teapot and of course, the quintessential sugar bowl.
Before too long, I spotted my dinner choice for the evening. It was a vegetarian platter, a trinity of delectable, oriental fare: Sabsi (spinach stew with garlic and onions), Kadu (sautéed pumpkin and yogurt), Badenjan (eggplant, herbs, garlic and onion) and aromatic basmati rice.
My meal was eaten slowly and enjoyably, not only to savor a cuisine that is difficult to find, but because of the pleasant conversation had with Haider. He has a comforting, inviting presence that allowed me to ask questions about the country that he had come from. We discussed the history, the people and the politics of his origin.
The food and tea were divine, but it was the genuine hospitality that made the experience memorable. It is this sort of cultural exchange that authentically connects us and creates more understanding and peace in this world.

What a wonderful union of service, ambience, and of course delicious food. My girlfriend and I were in town for New Year’s Eve and decided we were in the mood for Afghan for dinner and Chopahn came up as the nearest option.
The interior was nicely decorated and I imagine it’d be even nicer during the daytime. Food was exquisite; I had a combination kabob of lamb and chicken with grilled vegetables with browned basmati and she had a veggie sampler which included kadu (pumpkin), sabsi (stewed medley of greens), and badenjan (eggplant) with white basmati. Dishes come with a side of aromatic bread (similar to Persian barbari, but softer).
Dinner was topped off with black tea (hint of cardamom) for me, green tea for her, and a dish of fereni (rice pudding garnished with pistachio and slivered almonds. I suggest asking for cinnamon sprinkled for extra flavor).
Very attentive staff and nice bar too.

Amazing food!!! Try the sambosas, lamb shank and the chicken curry. All to die for! Service was great. Will definitely come back.
Parking is a little tough as it is downtown, but close enough to Horton that you could park and walk.

My friend recently want to venture out to try this place out and I was really surprised by how much I liked it. I ordered the Korma Challaw, the beef was very tender, rice was cooked perfectly and everything was flavored very well. If they are offering a sampler option of appetizers that night do yourself a favor and get it, you can’t go wrong. It is a bit pricey, as I’m sure I can find a hole in the wall place that serves food just as good for less, but the service shined. Our server was top notch, he was personable, laid back, wasn’t pushy and was very attentive. If you want hot delicious well seasoned and prepared food that melts in your mouth I suggest you stop in, cause it was delish!

I came here with a large group. I would come back strictly to have Francesco as a waiter again. He was an absolute sashaying delight.
The ambiance was fine — but they didn’t have enough menus for the 24 of us so we had to share and switch around. It felt a bit awkward to have a larger group and definitely felt like we were an anomaly though they appreciated our choice of restaurant. The concrete floors meant it was super loud in there once we got talking.
The food was hit-​or-​miss. We started out with appetizers which were mostly really good — eggplant and dumplings. I had the veggie plate, which had eggplant, spinach and pumpkin with rice. The rice was a bit salty, as was the spinach. The eggplant was underseasoned. The real star was the pumpkin — it was buttery, tender and really tasty. All in all, if this is what Afghani vegetarian food is like, I’m not terribly impressed. I think I should have had a meat dish instead which perhaps would have had better seasoning.
Now, as for Francesco — if they could plate him up, yowza.

I was thrilled to be visiting San Diego’s Gas Lamp District; I’d heard nothing but raves from everyone that’s been. So, one weekday night, I went to have dinner.
My first concern was the fact that, while walking downtown from my hotel, I was accosted by a stream of drunk and obnoxious young men heading in the opposite direction. They were predominantly wearing jeans and polos. Oh god, I thought to myself; I’m heading into San Diego’s Adam’s Morgan.
And it didn’t disappoint. Block after block of obnoxious bars blaring loud music; roving packs of inebriated and poorly dressed 20-​somethings; obnoxious hostesses hustling for customers; and the occasional sloppy hook up on the side of the road.
Which is how I ended up at Chopahn.
Situated just a block away from the main stretch, on a much quieter street, Chopahn was dead empty the night I walked in. I was initially hesitant; an empty restaurant on a busy street is seldom a good sign. The waiter that sat me was a little overbearing, which put me off.
Luckily, the food was outstanding. The waiter and owner recommended a lamb special; it was the last serving they had for the evening. I wish I could remember the name, because it was outstanding: tender and perfectly seasoned. The firnee for desert was delectable and perfectly semi-​sweet, just how I like it.
I’d highly recommend Chopahn for a (quiet) dinner in the Gas Lamp district.

I’m sitting up at 4am writing this because I have such bad heartburn from our meal last night! I’m originally Persian so know a thing or two about Middle Eastern food. Let me tell you this was NOT it!
Just another tourist trap downtown.
There were four of us, so we had the bademjan pallaw, the albaloo pallow, the qualbali and the lamb shank special. The rice was definitely NOT basmati. it had no flavor or odor as traditional basmati does. Almost hard or not cooked. The various meat dishes we had were also quite bad. Just kinda thrown together with no spices and that’s the authenticity of real Afghani food is their spices. Whoever was in the kitchen just threw in the supposed ingredients and put it on a platter.
What was most disturbing was the waiter. He was rash and made comments that were at times offensive thinking he was being funny. His name was Francesco and he just wasn’t doing it for us. To the point we really didn’t want him to come to our table.
As far as «authentic» Afghani. I think NOT. you guys missed the boat. I’ll stick with Khyber Pass in Hillcrest for quality Afghan food. now where’s my Tums?!

Was looking for something eclectic, delicious, and non-​touristy while confined to the Gaslamp and WOW did this place deliver!!!
I always tend to gauge an ethnic restaurant by three criteria that rarely fail me:
Rule #1: if the ethnicity of the cuisine dines there, you’re normally in pretty good company.
Rule #2: if it’s a little bit off the beaten path, it’s normally a gem
Rule #3: If they favor the food over the décor, you have a winner.
Check, check, check
Restaurant was just one block off the main strip of 5^th in an unassuming location surrounded by more residential than anything. Was promptly seated to a very clean, fresh restaurant with groups of people in quiet conversation and low tones of music. Had the feel of an elegant European dinner.
As is normal for my first time anywhere, I let the server guide my selections and like most was treated to the appetizer sampler. Like the other reviewer stated, it comes with mantu (Steamed dumplings filled with chopped beef, herbs and onions, topped with yogurt and sautéed mixed vegetables), aushak (Steamed dumpling filled with leek and spring onion topped with yogurt, meat sauce, and sprinkled with mint.) and buranee-​badenjan (Sautéed eggplant, bell peppers, sliced tomatoes, sprinkled with mint and topped with yogurt.) Delicious!
For my main I tried the gulpi challaw (tender chunks of beef and cauliflower, cooked with onions, tomatoes, ginger and herbs, served with seasoned white basmati rice.) What a wonderful blend of spices, flavors, and all cooked very tender.
The white bread that comes with the meal was also very good and forgive me for forgetting the name. Sarah, our server, was awesome and we truly enjoyed our evening. Will return and recommend!

While on one of our frequent vacations in San Diego, the family and I happened upon this place because we wanted something different. As we pulled up in our pedicab, an older gentleman warmly greeted us from his little sidewalk podium. We asked for a table inside and were given a perfect place by the window. The restaurant is very grand. I was a bit skeptical, however, because we were only one of three tables eating.
Looking over the menu, there were some things that looked familiar and others that were completely foreign. I’d say that the menu is similar to Indian, Mediterranean and Persian cuisine. Not being able to decide on dinner, we turned to our waiter. He suggested an appetizer sampler, the chicken curry and the braised lamb shank.
The appetizer sampler consisted of two types of dumplings, one meat filled and one vegetarian. The kind of resembled a steamed dim sum dumpling, but with a different flavor profile. Both were good, but I surprisingly preferred the vegetable version. The third appetizer was deep fried eggplant with a little meat sauce — kind of Italian if you will. That was very good. We also ordered some mast e khiyar. It came with a plate of Afghan flat bread. The minty yogurt sauce is exactly as you would expect at a Persian kabob restaurant and similar to a Greek tzatziki sauce.
The chicken curry was a little disappointing to me. The curry spices were very mild. And I don’t mean not spicy. It was just very bland for a curry. It was also creamy. It was closer to a yellow Thai curry than an Indian curry.
The braised lamb shank was awesome. I likened this to an Afghan osso bucco. The sauce was rich and tomatoey. It was also a nice sized shank which would fill most people up.
The service was great, but as I mentioned earlier, the restaurant was pretty empty. I’d like to come back again to try some other dishes. I’m interested to see how the kabob compares to other cultures and I would like to try something else completely different that I’ve never had before.