Afghan Village Restaurant

Location: 329 Burke Rd, Camberwell

A work colleague of Melinda’s recommended we try this restaurant that cooks northern afghani food and we’re very pleased we did. Once again we made a last minute booking and fortunately they were able to squeeze us in. Afghan Village is a small softly lit restaurant with a warm and welcoming atmosphere. The gentleman at front of house made us feel very much at home and the energy was relaxed, despite the restaurant being full with a couple of large tables.

Food
The food was simple and delicious with delicate and subtle flavours. We shared a number of dishes. Chicken Khandahari is the house speciality and we know why. This flavoursome dish reminded us of butter chicken but was ten times better with yoghurt rather than sour cream as the base. The Lamb Korma also went down well – small chunks of lamb that had been stewed in a light sauce until it was about to fall apart. The Afghani Dahl was thick and chunky, resembling mashed potatoes and was incredibly hot (Melinda burning the roof of her mouth). Morgan’s choice was a chicken and beef kebab, incredibly tender marinated meat cooked on a sizzling plate. This was all accompanied by Palau Rice, an afghani staple cooked with bachlani rice along with yoghurt, mint and cucumber sauce.

Dessert was also scrumptious. The kids all had Firnee, a white custard with rosewater and cardamom flavouring. Mark choose Shirpera, a sweet slice with hints of orange and rosewater. Melinda had her favourite Bachlava, three small pieces with generous amounts of honey.

Value for money
Afghani Village is BYO and with the bill coming in well under $150, was great value and we’ll certainly return again.

Rating: 8/10

Interesting facts
Afghani food is often seasoned with lots of spices including samok (dry baby grapes), dill, fresh mint and cardamom.