De Afghanan Kabob House

Eh, not bad, but not particularly tasty either. I came here back in March, and I’ve had better Afghan food. Obviously, nothing beats homemade Afghan food – and Afghan food at my friends’ house owns pretty much any restaurant. But as far as restaurants go, Salang Pass is infinitely better – it’s also located in Fremont, sooo, I guess if you’re in SF, this is about as close to good Afghan food as you’re going to get. Interestingly, the De Afghanan Kabob House in Fremont has better tasting food than this place… weird, considering it’s owned by the same people.
I ordered the Chapli Kabob which was okay I guess. I didn’t hate it, but definitely didn’t love it either. Chapli Kabob for those that don’t know, is the flat round kabob. If you want really good Afghan food, I’d recommend going to either Salang Pass, having friends that are Afghan, or going to the De Afghanan in Fremont.

Not much of an update here, but just want to add a few thoughts: the chicken kebab is a great deal and a really nice, complete meal for about $ 10. I need to add it to my regular list of quick and healthy-​ish meals in the hood. I recently tried the pumpkin crêpe thingy again and was a little less impressed than I had remembered, but would still recommend trying it out. Nice service too in a bare bones environment. Very solid cheap dinner option in the Polk Gulch.

Love this place! It smells like warm comforting food the moment you walk in the door. Dig the casual vibe too. I usually get the Chaplee Kabob (two sizeable ground beef patties) which is on brown rice & comes with salad & bread. The green chutney-​stuff on the tables is yummy too but a little goes a long ways. Once in awhile I try other things like the Mantu (homemade dumplings) or the pumpkin but I keep on going back to the Chaplee Kabob. The staff is very friendly and remembers my favorite dish!

i would have liked this place a bit more if it wasn’t so cold, inside.
the food was okay, they were out of the dish that i initially wanted, so i opted for choice #2. each plate was good, but not great. i didn’t feel like i discovered a new must visit restaurant while eating there.

This place is sooo good. The food is unpretentious, so flavorful and never disappointing! Their chaplee kabaob and bolani is to die for! Great food at great prices, this is the one stop shop fo your kebab fix.
P. S. Definitely recommend take out

Very casual — i.e. plastic plates, teensy paper napkins out of a diner type dispenser… so don’t take a date to impress here.
The food is good but not great. The best thing we had was a potato pancake… hard not to like these no matter which ethnic group is serving them up. Out of the 3 kabobs-​chicken, steak and ground beef steak, the ground beef was the most flavorful. The spinach dish was tasty.
I look forward to trying Helmand Place as I know from visiting other Afghani restos that Afghan food can be pretty awesome. 2.5−2.75 stars really.

Did not like the bolani… blah. the sauce on the table improved it.
Did not like the chaplee kabob. greasy, overcooked. not my thing
Yum lamb kabob…
Yum sauce in container on the table
Yum spinach
Yum rice

Bolani is da’ bomb! Yup, I said, ‘da bomb’!
I scare myself sometimes — haha!
The Bolani Kadoo with pumpkin was a nice mix of sweet and salty.
But If you’re on a date or going out, skip the house Bolani — it’s SPICY! Otherwise, dig in because it’s worth it!
We shared a couple of kabob dishes and everyone devoured them! The chicken was moist and tender and perfectly seasoned. The Teka Beef was delicious too!
The owner was nice enough to hold the kitchen open until my friend arrived — just around 10:30pm. They quickly served her a huge portion of sauteed pumpkin — yum! The way everyone ooohed & awed over her dish (even after they stuffed their faces w/​kabob & bolani), I’d suggest getting the Kadoo Challow for sure!
This is by far the best Afghani spot on Polk — and believe me, there are a lot.

I was running late to meet friends here this Friday. The kind kitchen at Kabob House — stayed open until I arrived.
As soon as I walked through the doors, I grabbed a menu and scanned it for the healthiest thing I could find. I’ve come to learn that if you’re planning a late night full of dancing and revelry — it’s in your best interest to choose food wisely — since it will be bouncing along in your stomach — right along with your bootie.
I decided on the Kadoo Challow — soft orange — sauteed pumpkin seasoned with fresh garlic and peppers and topped with special yogurt sauce and accompanied by basmati rice for $ 7.95. This paired with a side of mint sauce was pure healthy indulgence.
My dinner partners were blown away at how quickly the meal disappeared. But with such light — fresh fare it was hard to slow down. The staff’s warm smiles only made me eat faster.
Next time you’re planning on hitting up Vertigo, Hemlock Tavern — or say Cairo Nights — grab a group of friends and stop in here.
Be sure to explore the menu, and I guarantee that your dance moves will be executed with ease — if you fuel them with a little Kadoo Challow.
Trust.

You really can’t go wrong with any of the dishes. The potato bolani, a gigantic potato pankcake, is really filling and can be a meal in itself. The eggplant borani with yogurt and tomatoes, and mantu, a green onion and beef filled ravioli, are both really good.
For me, Afghanan Kabob is the shiznit meat-​o-​rama. The beef and chicken kabobs are moist and tender, and there’s plenty of it. The Chaplee kabob, grilled ground beef with scallions, is my boyfriend’s favorite, portions are huge.
As long as Afghanan Kabob is my hood, I can never be a faithful vegetarian. I’ll be cheating and sneaking meat every chance I can get. Call me a meat whore.

Ass-​kicking Afghan fare. It is cheap, delicious and more on the Shalimar tip, than say Helmand Palace (on Van Ness), which is a proper fancy sit-​down and be served kind of Afghan restaurant. I usually get my food to-​go and enjoy at home.
This is what I get:
— Bolanee Kado: light turnovers filled with pumpkin, seasoned with herbs and spices, served with yogurt sauce! Insane!
— Chicken or Combination Kabob platters, with an extra helping of their special salsa. I mix that in with my double-​ration of Basmati rice. Delicious!
5 Stars!

De Afghanan epitomizes what I love about a good middle eastern restaurant. You’re welcomed by a calm staff and warm kitchen in a dim, almost entrancing environment. The people who work here are cool and approachable but in no way overbearing or awkward. There’s a steady rhythm to their actions which is at home in their restaurant.
It so turns out that I had a delicious meal here as well. The beef/​onion dumplings (Mantu) were tender and savory without being too subtle. I also tried a Sauteed Pumpkin appetizer (Borani Kadoo) which was soft and flavorful as well.
This is definitely a place to come back to for a delicious and inviting meal.

Every now and then I experience something that reminds me of how great it is to be living in San Francisco.
Friday evening, it was when I had Afghani food delivered to my doorstep. Can you imagine? Afghani food, delivered? I think that’s amazing.
Equally amazing was the food itself. I imagine this is comfort food in Afghanistan. I ordered «DeAfghanan’s Famous Chaplee Kabob», which was actually not a kabob in the way I imagined, but two big patties of quality ground sirloin mixed with green onions and «special seasonings», atop a mound of rice. It was served with a garbanzo/​potato salad that I had the great foresight of ordering an extra side of. A heaping spoonful of rice with a chunk of rich, flavorful meat and some of the tangy garbanzo salad made for a wonderful combination of flavors.
The only thing I wasn’t enamored of was the bolani kadoo. Imagine naan stuffed with spiced pumpkin… sounds good, right? Unfortunately, the pumpkin wasn’t seasoned enough for my palate and I found it quite bland.
But I will most certainly be back and intend to try every kabob on the menu. Go there, enjoy it and support a family-​run business that was inspired by a man’s memories of home:

Maybe I got the wrong thing, but I wasn’t impressed one bit.
I got the Mantu, beef dumplings covered with a tomato sauce and yogurt. The dish tasted more like raviolis than Afghani food.
Also, when I go out to eat, I don’t like to hear the sounds of a microwave chirping in the kitchen. Not a good thing.

After accidental «landing» in this area for dinner and quick iPhone Unilocaling we got this place in our radius to try.
Kebabs were OK, we tried combination (chicken and Tiki beef) and the lamb chops. Chicken was like chicken. (but I don’t like it unless it is in masala sauce).
Chops were good, but overall experience was OK.

This is a small hole in the wall joint that my friend enjoys. We ordered the beef and chicken for take out. Like Persian kabobs, this place cooks their food after you order. The place is a small hole in the wall so don’t expect a stunning dining experience. We waited and it took about 10 mins for our food to be cooked.
The food was really good. I’m a fan of the flavor in the beef and chicken. The basmati rice was superb but I was really delighted by the sides. They gave pico de gallo, chick peas and potatoes, green spicey sauce, and bread. The chick peas and potatoes were great and I wish they gave a little more. I also wish they gave a few more pieces of chicken and beef because the overall portion size was small.
For cheap eats, this restaurant is a good place to try.

I was so excited to find a De Afghanan in San Francisco. Their Chapli Kabob isn’t quite as good as the one on Fremont Blvd but t was still very good and my friend really enjoyed her borani kadoo.
The palau was pretty good if not a little too fluffy. Other than that it was great and definitely much better than Helmand ever was. Since the original De Afghanan is in Fremont Blvd the food tastes the most authentic Afghan of any restaurant outside of Fremont itself.
Negative one star for being cash only, but so is the Fremont Blvd one.

As a kebob house, the menu is very meat-​centric. But even as vegetarians are limited to the appetizers and sides (minus the Aush – it contains meat stock), I doubt we’re missing out on much; it’s all delicious.
The bolani kadoo (dough filled pumpkin heaven) was large enough to be meal in and of itself. Because of the tomato sauce, the borani badenjan reminded me of an eggplant primavera dish from an Italian restaurant. Off putting at first, the mild spiciness gave it a nice kick, and I enjoyed the dish more and more before I realized I had completely devoured it. The accompanying bread was a good complement. The firni dessert pudding – similar to kheer – was very sweet. The rose, cardamom, and pistachio flavors stood out nicely.
The service, both dining in and take out, were a bit lacking. But the staff is hardworking, and it becomes clear that the focus is on the food and not much else.

There is something so mouthwatering about watching pieces of chicken being held over a spitfire, its juices just sliding off drop by drop.
Ugh. I’m salivating again.
I first started eating bolani a year ago, and MAN oh MAN is it fucking awesome. I mean, really awesome. So when I found out that there were Afghani restaurants, I was like «SHIT sucka, we should hit that up fo SHO». Panda gets what Panda wants: D
We got the bolani, the eggplant borani thingie, chicken kebob, and firni. The bolani was awesome, the eggplant thing. ehh…not so much.
The chicken kebob, OBVIOUSLY, was absolutely breathtakingly good. The basmati rice was unbelievable, and even better the next morning when I decided to stuff my face with it randomly at 10am. I mean, it was SO good I almost ruined my appetite for brunch.
While the bolani seemed a bit overcooked, it was still fucking nomilicious.
The wait – mehhhhh not so much. Plus, the guy screwed up our order any number of times, but he still chatted us up and was super nice and friendly.
So four stars!
Oh, and I learned how to spell Afghanistan in the 4^th grade because it was a word in my spelling bee packet. I spelled it right but I got «occur» wrong.
???

Chaplee Kabob. It was so good I havent tried anything else. I tried it for lunch one day and now about once a week, my tastebuds say «WTF, when are we going back?»
The green sauce is a chutney which goes great on the food. Everything I had was delicious. My rice expectations were different, but it went well with the food. I am really suprised that I finished my food, because the kabob is a good 2-​patty portion. It also came with bread, rice, and a tomato salad.
The staff is friendly, one person gave me a sample of a potato chickpea salad and it was a great beginning to my meal while I waited. Another time, and I’m far from a regular — I was coughing, and the guy behind the counter seemed concerned that I was sick.
The inside is painted a warm orange and it was clean. I like lunching here and sitting on the stools by the window.
Chaplee Kabob burps are delicious too.