Da Afghan

929 West 80th Street
Bloomington, MN
952-888-5824
http://www.daafghan.com/

Category: Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Indian

Rating (Scale 1-10, with 10 being the highest):
Food: 8
Service: N/A (we did the buffet)
Ambience: 6

Recommendation: Very Good. This delightful restaurant serves up flavorful delicacies that are influenced by the cuisines of China, Greece and India – if you like food with plenty of flavor, put Da Afghan on your list of “must visit” restaurants.

Da Afghan is located in the most awkward of spaces – an industrial park of sorts in Bloomington. Most restaurants wouldn’t survive a year in such a location, but Da Afghan just turned 20, a sure sign that they must be doing something right. The space is unassuming, and the décor, although sparse, reminiscent of the life and culture of the Middle East and India Sub Continent. From the walls hang traditional Afghan garb and vivid portraits depicting the people of Afghanistan.

Many dishes on the menu will have a familiar ring to those that relish ethnic food – many items could have been lifted from Greek or Indian menus. But, just as the names and spellings of the dishes are slightly different from their Greek or Indian counterparts, so are the preparations. The restaurant serves a lunch buffet ($9) on Thursday and Friday and this gives most people a great opportunity to sample some specialties. All three meat dishes on the buffet were excellent. The Kabeli Palow with Chicken is similar to an Indian Biryani – rice and chicken with sautéed onions, tomatoes, and spices and topped with raisins and almonds. If this is all I ate I would have left plenty satisfied. The chicken was tender and bursting with flavor and the rice was fragrant. The Kofta Kebab, a mixture of ground lamb, beef, and spices, was definitely a winner as was the Chicken Tandori, a preparation where the meat is baked in a light vinegary tomato sauce. The Sauteed Vegetables were bland and uninteresting (surprising given the bold flavors of the rest of the dishes), and the Daal (yellow lentils) looked unappetizing (this type of lentil coagulates easily if prepared too far in advance). Our meal was served with Afghan Nan, a denser version of the Indian bread of the same name. The Shir Chai (milk tea seasoned with cardamom) was a refreshing hot drink to counterbalance the cold winter afternoon. We concluded our meal with the Apple Sambosa, a puff pastry filled with apples, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

$-$$. The buffet is under $10 and a great value. Daily dinner specials range from $14-$20 (they serve lamb shank on Friday nights) but most entrees are under $15.