SF South Bay Report: Donuts and Afghan

I discovered a not-so-healthy but comforting breakfast at Hunan Home's Restaurant in Los Altos during my Bay Area trip. It was like a massive donut except it looks like a long pipe and you dip it in warm, sweetened soy milk. Definitely not the kind of breakfast to be had every day, but it was a treat.

The stir-fried rice cakes with seafood was ok but nothing special, and the spinach sauteed with garlic was a good counterbalance to the greasy but delicious donut.




I read that the San Jose area had decent banh mi sandwiches, one of my favorite things in the world. So it was only natural that I stopped by Huong Lan Sandwiches to sample these delectable Vietnamese snacks. It was very promising upon entering but alas, the pork barbecue and chicken banh mi were just ok. The baguette was too hard because it wasn't very fresh. And while I liked the pork one better -- especially the smokiness of the pork barbecue -- the pickled radish and carrots didn't seem sour enough to balance (yes, I'm all about balance of flavors and textures) out the porkiness of the pork. The pictured pink-hued chicken was bland.

After a disappointing snack, I headed to Left Bank, a faux French brasserie chain located in an eerie Disneyland-like mall called Santana Row in San Jose. Let's just say the hostess lost me at Bon Soir. It was pretentious but not even that fancy, which made it laughable. Anyway, I had the profiterole, which was interesting because it was filled with ice cream instead of the usual custard. And chocolate fudge sauce, which was good drizzled on top of the (ice) cream puff.

The service was bad but the food didn't look half bad. The question is, would I want to return to such a surreal place that reminds me of one of my least favorite places in LA -- The Grove?

Anyhow, I regretted having had that puff because I was to go to Salang Pass, a gem in Little Kabul, Fremont.


Lamentably, I only had stomach space for an order of aushak, a ravioli filled with leeks and scallions, served on a sauce of yogurt mint and garlic, topped with ground beef and mint; and a pumpkin dish that was sweet and had a similar sauce. I really wish I could have had my favorite qabelee, a pilaf-type rice baked with chunks of lamb shanks, raisins and glazed carrots. I had been to this restaurant before and I remember it being as good as another excellent Afghan joint in Arizona.

Overall, a good food trip. Note to self: pace yourself so you can savor all that each of the places have to offer.

Hunan Home's Restaurant
4880 El Camino Real
Los Altos, CA 94022
(650) 965-0877

Huong Lan Sandwiches
1655 Tully Rd
San Jose, CA 95122
(408) 258-8868

Left Bank
377 Santana Row
Suite 1100
San Jose, CA 95128
(408) 984-3500

Salang Pass
37462 Fremont Blvd.
Fremont, CA 94536
(510) 795-9200

Kabul on a Plate

I had the distinct privilege of having a superb home-cooked Afghan meal thanks to the remarkable hospitality and generosity of our friend and his mother, Mrs. O. I hope this post will do her amazing cooking justice.

In one day, she managed to make five things -- all of which were delicious.

My personal favorite was Bohlahni, flat bread stuffed with potatoes and green onions and baked to perfection. It was so versatile that we ended up having it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as an in-between snack. The skin is soft like crepe but also rises and toasts to a slight crunchiness. If you like spicy, sprinkle some fine red pepper flakes. The combination of the soft potatoes, green onions and the spices is heavenly.

The massive rice dish (above) is Shoala, also called heavy rice. It has chunks of beef, lentils and many other aromatic herbs and spices that complement each other very nicely. I tasted some parsley and something like cumin but can't place all of the ingredients.



This rice dish pairs well with an eggplant dish called Bourani Bauhnjahn, which is like a casserole of eggplant, tomatoes and aromatics. The striped eggplant slices and juice from tomatoes created a delectable sauce that was eagerly absorbed by the "heavy" rice. Top that with a home-made garlic-infused yogurt sauce that adds a refreshing touch to the rice and eggplant dishes and we're in business.

Then there was the wonderful green peas dish, Matar, which went so well with the white basmati rice cooked with a tinge of oil to fluffy perfection. The peas were at once silky, slightly crunchy and delightfully saucy.



I mourn the fact that LA doesn't have a great Afghan restaurant, even compared to Tempe, AZ. I try to go to Fremont in the Bay Area -- where we liked Salang Pass Restaurant on Fremont Blvd. -- whenever we visit but it's quite a trek from San Francisco. I haven't been to Chopan Kebab House, a hole in the wall in Northridge as it was closed by the time we made it there once. Azeen's Afghani Restaurant in Pasadena was disappointing and I wouldn't go back.



Stay tuned as I'll try to post at least once recipe (likely of the Bohlahni) here.

Thank you, Mrs. O!

Can you say fall-off-the-bone in Afghan?

How's this for a story: local favorite Afghan restaurant in San Francisco named "The Helmand" located on the edge of North Beach and Chinatown closes down. Its manager moves to Arizona to set up shop because he's told there isn't a single Afghan restaurant there. I'm glad he did. I would return any day to savor his amazing lamb shank, but more on that later.

We drove by Kabab Palace -- Cuisine from Afghanistan a few times thanks to its prominent location. Curious, we walked in, only to find out it had been three days since it opened. Armed with a huge appetite and even larger party, we ordered a good sampling. The top photo features two appetizers that can be ordered as entrees: aushak, a ravioli filled with leeks and scallions, served on a sauce of yogurt mint and garlic, topped with ground beef and mint; and mantwo, homemade pastry shell filled with onion and beef, served on yogurt and topped with carrots, yellow split-pea and beef sauce. Interesting factoid: the word, "mantwo," used for these ethereal dumpling-like things is the same as "mandoo," used for Korean dumplings, and "manti," tiny dumplings served with yogurt in Turkish cuisine.

Both appetizers were mild and the flavored yogurt sauce complemented the dumplings nicely, but I liked the aushak better, only because I thought the ground beef inside the mantwo was a bit dense. It may well be the garlic-infused yogurt sauce on the aushak that did me in. It helped that the bright white yogurt tinged with sprinkles of green from the mint and red from the meat sauce looked vibrant and inviting.



Let me jump to the best dish, hands-down: qabelee, a pilaf-type rice baked with chunks of lamb shanks, raisins and glazed carrots. This type of rice is called "pallow," and is described as basmati rice boiled then drained of water, seasoned with vegetable oil, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin seeds and black pepper caramelized and then baked. That's a pretty elaborate preparation of the rice. But the star of the dish was the lamb shank, in all its fall-off-the-bone glory. Lamb isn't usually the most popular meat, but my companions were devouring it. The lamb was buried inside a mountain of the rice topped with raisins that added a tinge of sweetness to the rice and lamb combination. It was like discovering a treasure tucked inside that was waiting for its shining moment. I can't think of a better way to eat lamb shanks.



Sabzi challow was another good lamb and rice dish but slightly different. It was lamb loin and the challow rice is made in a similar way to pallow rice but with less seasonings. I liked the spinach that came with the lamb, but some grains of rice of the challow were dried out and hurt when I bit into them.



My third favorite dish was chapendaz, beef marinated, grilled and served on a sauce of grilled tomato, hot peppers, onion and cumin seeds served with lentils and spinach rice. I liked that the beef was cooked medium as requested, although I'm a medium rare kind of person (family-style dining has its pitfalls). We also had mourgh challow, a chicken dish infused with spices and sauteed with yogurt, cilantro and curry, which was similar to chicken tikka masala but less spicy. Koufta challow featured rice with beef meatballs sauteed with sun-dried tomato, hot peppers and green peas in a tomato sauce. The meatball dish looked a lot better than it tasted. The meatballs were too densely packed and felt dry.



What pulled the flavors together was the condiments trio that included "chatnis," the Afghan word for "chutneys." Cilantro chatni was my favorite, which tasted almost identical to the Indian variety, bu the other red chatni was made out of chili peppers and there was a yogurt and dill sauce that added a refreshing touch to the meat dishes that could feel heavy at times.

All of these delectable dishes were washed down with the perfect drink -- green tea with cardamom. Service was great and I would definitely recommend this place. It also has a lunch buffet I have yet to try but I'm sure it'll be as well-prepared with care and attention to detail as the dinner dishes.

Kabab Palace
Cuisine from Afghanistan
710 W. Elliot Rd., Suite 108
Tempe, AZ 85283
(480) 775-6288