Kabul Restaurants

Now almost everything is available in Kabul. At a price. Everything imported cost a fortune. At least for Afghans. Indian, Thai and Chinese food now compete with the traditional Afghan food. You choose what is more interesting and which environment is suitable for you.

This is one of the few places in Afghanistan where you can find vegetarian food.

Delhi Darbar has now also opened in Mazar-e Sharif.

Favorite Dish: Anything vegetarian.

Yea, this place was somewhat disappointing, and I did get sick the next day (though my friend who ate there didn't). So, you can order pizza or burgers (or Kebabs, of course),and I noticed another guy had ordered a beer.
It was a nice change from Kebabs

Favorite Dish: The Chicken Burger I had was not so great, and my friends double cheeseburger didn't look much better. But, the fries were soggy!!

Avoid the bottled Coke of Kabul street vendors. The picture is a soft drink stall in the busy market. The price is much more cheaper than in Pakistan, only 5 Afghanis, but you'd better not bother on buying it. The Coke in the bottles was'nt real at all (we did not know this at the time). Often we'd see it bottled elsewhere in Fanta or Sprite bottles, and the Coke was very flat even though sealed with a proper cap. We since discovered that the Coke is made locally with their own Soda. So probably using local water. The Coca Cola plant in Kabul was shut down many years ago and is an empty building. The guy in the middle was very interested at me, and wanted to take me home for less than savioury purposes. It's just one among of my numerous sexual harrassment experiences in Afghanistan.

Kabul Ice Cream??? Nobody will think about it when it comes to food of Afghanistan. But believe me, Kabul Ice Cream is among the best handmade manual ice cream i have ever eaten. The ice cream has taste of khawa and ginger, and it's superb for Kabul's hot and dry summer. It costs 15 Afghanis - 30 Afghanis, according to the size. The sellers are usually very friendly, and you can watch the expressions of Afghans enjoying Indian VCDs while eating the ice cream.

We enjoyed many times going to this place for creamy fresh ice cream. Probably extremely unhygenic but very tasty. The man in the picture would rotate the pot constantly on top of the ice to make the ice cream and keep it cold.

Favorite Dish: Ice cream, ice cream, and ONLY ice cream

Sick to death of the same old Kebab, Dirty Nan,or Afghani Pullao?

Want a change of taste, but dont want to head down to Shar-e-Now?
Dont want to spend absurd amounts of money on Chinese or Italian food?

Then if you're in the area of Jamil, Spinzar, or Zarnegar hotels, at lunch time try out the following place.

I highly reccomend it for your moral while in Kabul at least.

Find the big telecommunications building (the big one you see from any room in Zarnegar)

The building is apparently caleld "Mukhabrat" , and the cafe "Klop" .It's on the 2nd floor, and straight ahead once you've walked up the stairs. Farsi script sign.

It appears to only be open from the morning up to 4:00pm ish.

But for lunch you can get a change of taste for the following prices.

Af70 - Chicken with Chips (french fries) and onions/tomatoes/Nan bread

(the above is a meal in itself and enough for most)

Af10 - Extra plate of Chips and tomato/onion
Af10 - Chicken Soup - (Very popular. Peppery with actual chunks of chicken)
Af50 - Iced 1.5ltr bottle of Pepsi (and i mean iced....wonderful in this heat)

And of course, they serve the standard Mutton Pullao's also if you wish,cheaply.

Basically, i only found out about this place because when my Indonesian embassy was helping me out with his Pakistani visa, the consulate working there took me here for lunch (now that is what i call an embassy). It's apparently famous for being cheap but very clean compared to the street places. Again, its not signposted really. The building is largely empty. So it's just on the 2nd floor and straight ahead (you'll see the tables and chairs). Or just keep asking for "Mukhabrat Kloob". Our experience is that the earlier you go , the more chance you have of getting chicken. The Chicken soup is always available up until 2:00pm ish, but actual chicken wings go quickly. So its best to arrive about 11:30am till 12:30 to make sure you get chicken and that the chips will be hot and fresh. Happy dining if you're getting bored.

In a nice setting you can enjoy a mixture of Afghan and some Western cuisine.

Favorite Dish: My favourite here is the organic steamed vegetables.