Parwana Afghan Kitchen
Parwana is busy tonight, so I have to do a lap of the block, and burn off one calorie while I wait for a table.
Seasoned lamb pieces cooked with onions, garlic and split peas. Topped with vinegared onion and fresh herbs. Served with naan, salata and Parwana chutney.
I do a comprehensive coriander check on this one. I'm assured it contains no coriander.
Food has arrived.
Step 1: Remove salad from plate. It contains vast amounts of coriander.
Step 2: Taste green herb sauce. It's like liquid coriander.
Step 3: Call waitress. Apparently she did write down my request for no coriander.
The waitress will get me some yoghurt dip. I also ask for some bread. She takes my meat, and returns a few minutes later with the meat, plus some rice and some yoghurt sauce.
Many customers wouldn't come back after this. (I'm not a normal customer. :) ) A sensible remedy would be to overcompensate, and deduct this from the bill at the end, or give a large discount. Free dessert would be a minimum. I won't ask, but I'll see what happens. :)
My cobbled-together dish lacks moisture. However, the slightly-salty meat has a really deep, strong, meaty flavour. Like a very tasty lamb chop.
I think the moisture problem would've been present in the original version of this dish. I like the meat and the aromatic rice here, but it's all just too dry to eat too much of. There's not much yoghurt dip, nor was there much herb sauce in the original. I go through a lot of water during this course. I need to take a sip after every piece of meat.
The chunky bread isn't helpful either. I can't really split it, so I can't fill it up with other things.
Homemade rose and pistachio ice cream.
The rose here makes the ice cream taste very sweet. It's slightly reminiscent of honey. The pieces of pistachio provide s bit of interesting texture.
While this is pleasant, it's slightly monotonous. I don't want to eat a giant gob of any ice cream.
I wait for the senior waitress, to ask for the bill.
She returns, apologises for the mix-up, and says she'll only charge me for the dessert and drink. :)