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Rated by Michelin a Chicago Bib Gourmand restaurantNewspaper Reviews
Skokie Patch
Inteview with Akmal Qazi, manager - Kabul HouseFamily reopens restaurant to bring a vibrant combination of the best dishes from Afghanistan, elsewhere in the world.
Our food critique was off last week so we thought we\\\'d showcase Kabul House again, mainly because it was recently named one of the best restaurants in the Chicagoland area by LTHForum.com. Enjoy!
Sometimes the Internet gets it right.
On a venue that sometimes seems so given over to trash talking, complaints and anonymous insults, it\\\'s refreshing to see people happy and in agreement. Out of nowhere in a recent Patch article for this column, the conversation excitedly turned to Kabul House.
Recently reopened in downtown Skokie, this long beloved restaurant was off the scene for close to two and a half years. A \\\'Check Please\\\' alum, regional foodies were well aware of its absence. The restaurant  was missed: this thread at the LTHForum tracked the restaurant when it was open, then about to reopen in another location, even reporting to one another on the state of construction.
Now in its new home at 4949 Oakton St., the bright and attractive modern space adds another light to Skokie\\\'s ever brighter assortment of ethnic eating downtown.
We started with the two appetizers we\\\'d read about most. The Mantoo were steamed dumplings bursting with ground beef, peas and onions and beautifully presented under a tomato meat sauce with a creamy, fresh yogurt ($6). Hot, aromatic and flavorful, the four delicious dumplings were nearly a meal in themselves--each one requiring two or three large forkfuls to finish off. The other appetizer, the $6 Kadu--sweet baby pumpkin cooked in a light honey and onion mixture--was amazing. The pumpkin was presented mashed, and topped with yogurt as well. The combination of colors here--the dabs of red, green and black flecks--whether intentionally or not brought to mind the flag of Afghanistan, only fitting for two of the best-known dishes of the country.
For entrees, we tried two other nationally famous dishes, the Qabili Palau ($13), which was seasoned lamb chunks served under a bed of rice sweetened with carrots and raisins. The long grain rice hid what almost seemed like an endless amount of the tender meat, cooked perfectly. We also tried the vegetarian platter ($11), a combination of sauteed spinach, eggplant, okra and pumpkin, also served with a side of seasoned rice. Though the okra snapped and the eggplant was fresh, it was the expert preparation that made this dish. The kitchen knows what it\\\'s doing.
And it should. The current owner and face of Kabul House is Akmal Qazi, the son of the original founder. Qazi manages the dining room and takes care of the marketing and customer satisfaction.
"This frees up my dad to be where he really wants to be, with the food," said Qazi. "The food we serve is actually better than it was before because it\\\'s all he has to worry about."
Qazi likes to talk about Afghan cuisine in the context of Afghanistan\\\'s history: "Afghanistan is right there in the middle of Asia, between the west and the east."
It\\\'s difficult not to draw parallels to its presence here in Skokie, bringing the flavors of the Middle East into a new region.
"We picked up a lot of things and incorporated them into our food," Qazi added. "I really think Afghani food is the best in the world."
Chicago Sun Times
Kabul House in LTHF's Top 19 Chicago restaurants19 Chicago area eateries make Great Neighborhood Restaurants list
Chicago is a city of neighborhoods — and great neighborhood restaurants.
And every year, LTHForum.com, the Chicago-based chat site for food lovers, votes on the restaurants it feels are the city’s greatest.
The group on Tuesday announced its sixth annual list of Great Neighborhood Restaurants. There are 19 in all, which, in typical LTHForum fashion, skew toward the hole-in-the-wall taquerias, mom-and-pop Thai and out-of-the-way lunch counters. (...)
(...) “Typically, our results have always been a little more offbeat,” Kaplan says.
LTHForum doesn’t limit its search to within the city limits. Avli Estiatorio, a Greek restaurant in Winnetka; Kabul House, a BYO-Afghan joint in Skokie; Zenwich in Elmhurst, serving Asian-inspired sandwiches, and Lincoln’s O in Highland, Ind., a “trip back in sandwich time,” also made the list.
So what makes a Great Neighborhood Restaurant?
“Walking into a place where you know the proprietor is always or almost always there, and takes pride in what they’re doing and enjoys seeing you enjoy the food,” Kaplan says. “They love feeding people.” (...)
Daily Herald
Kabul House: flavors of Afghanistan to the suburbsAfghanistan-born Chef Abdul Qazi, who came to the United States, via a few other countries, in 1985 and earlier ran a pizzeria, first opened his Afghan place in Skokie in 2001. He achieved a large, loyal clientele, but in 2008 the ceiling fell in - literally - and he had to find new digs.
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Skokie's loss is the O'Hare area's gain. Early this year, Qazi finally settled into the Ramada, where he took over Dearborn's Bistro & Bar, the hotel's American restaurant, and started building Kabul House in the back of it.
Plans are for the Afghan spot to have an entrance of its own, but at the time of my visit, there weren't even any signs up for Kabul House and, for now, you enter through the Dearborn's entrance and walk through its dining area to get to the new eatery. What a difference!
Walking into the Kabul House dining room is like entering another world. Qazi and his family have papered the room with custom wallpaper resembling beautiful, gold tilework and built arches over the windows. Red accents, a richly patterned carpet and costumes and pictures from Afghanistan complete the striking, foreign effect.
They're working on adding another room with low tables and cushioned floor seating.
The food is also striking, exotic and delicious, its flavor profiles lying somewhere between the cuisines of the Middle East and those of South Asia, with seasoning that lingers on your palate.
Our server was very friendly and most informative.
Start with aushak, half-moon dumplings filled with green onions and covered in a savory meat sauce and zesty yogurt. Another option is mantu, dumplings filled with meat and onions. These are also available as entree-sized portions.
Bouranee baunjan is eggplant flavored with tomato and mint. Kadu is a luscious purée of spiced pumpkin, dolloped with yogurt.
A highlight of the entrees, the signature Afghan dish qabili palau, brings a pilaf of seasoned basmati rice with chunks of tender lamb, shreds of candied carrot and raisins.
Kabul House also serves a variety of kebabs, all tender, moist and well flavored, including outstanding lamb skewers. The chicken kebabs are all dark meat, juicy and nicely grilled. Koubedah, seasoned ground meat kebabs, come in both chicken and beef. All are served with both white and quabili-style rice, yogurt sauce and a spicy house-made chutney. Combination plates let you taste several flavors.
The menu offers seafood, such as grilled mahi-mahi, as well. Qazi planned to make changes to the menu, so expect further choices, too. Portions are satisfying, though not over-filling, at reasonable prices.
Desserts range from firnee, a warm rice pudding, to rose-flavored Afghan ice cream, to phyllo pastries.
Wash things down with the refreshing house-made iced tea infused with cardamom, or take advantage of the full bar.
Don't be put off by the odd location - Kabul House is one of the best restaurants to open near O'Hare in years.