Afghan Cuisine, At-Home Atmosphere

From the opening taste of our Afghani eggplant appetizer, to the last sprinkle of “haile” (cardamom spice) in our final cup of tea, my memorable first visit to was a delicious and pleasant experience. 

The then-new restaurant, which opened in May 2007, is the only restaurant serving the intriguing cuisine of Afghanistan in the suburbs. Yalda Grill is located on Horsham Road where it merges with Easton Road (Rt. 611). Over the past 4 years, I have been a frequent visitor for lunches and dinners with family and friends. 

Yalda’s is the pride of Mohammed “Moe” Rahpo (Ariana’s in Lansdowne), and his family.  Should you go, and you should, you will feel – as I did – that you have been invited into Moe’s home for a home-cooked, ethnic Afghan meal. Indeed, everything is cooked fresh to order (so a little patience is required).

The restaurant has a take-out side for its pizzas, hoagies, steak sandwiches, and burgers, and a separate dining room in shades of persimmon and green that seats about 50 at its booths and tables.  

Check out the exotic traditional Afghan costumes, and the large photo of that beautiful young Afghan woman whose unforgettable face was much in the news about 20 years ago. Mellow recorded music from a large collection of Afghan CDs adds to the pleasant, low-key ambiance; or you might get to see one of Moe’s Bollywood videos on the large TV, a more recent addition.

Most of us are not familiar with Afghan cuisine, though some of our boys over there must be getting a good taste of it. It shares some of the familiar Middle Eastern dishes we do know, e.g. hummus, baba ghanouj, and bahklava. And Yalda’s main attraction, the grilled kabobs of lamb, chicken, and beef are similar to lamb shish kabob, prevalent in Turkish, Syrian, and Greek restaurants. The dishes seemed to be a healthful balance of protein (meats), carbohydrates (rice), and dairy (yogurt).

On that first of many dinner visits, my LDC (“Lovely Dining Companion”) and I chose several Afghani dishes totally unfamiliar to us, and totally delicious. Our starter, “baanjan bouranee” ($6.95) was a superb hot appetizer, beautifully presented, of sliced grilled eggplant, green pepper, a mildly spicy tomato-based sauce, drizzled with yogurt, and encircled with pita triangles. The eggplant and sauce were just marvelous, the pita bread perfect for sopping up the latter. This became our must have appetizer on all subsequent dinner visits.

We ordered a dish called “aush,” Afghan noodle soup ($4.95), which came in a huge bowl and could be a hearty meal in itself, but better in colder weather. The steaming chicken and tomato-based broth was peppery spicy and laden with vegetables, including chickpeas, potato, and beans, and topped with ground beef and yogurt.

Moe recommended from among the kabob entrées, his signature “chopan kabob,” the broiled lamb riblets ($18.95). Out came a large platter overflowing with five small succulent lamb chops, grilled onion, tomato, green pepper, zucchini, rice, more homemade bread, and a piquant green chutney sauce.  Though “kabobs” usually mean cubes of meat grilled and served on skewers, these wonderful riblets were grilled perfectly, and not served on skewers.  We completely devoured this excellent dish, nibbling the last morsels from each rib.

Our second entrée (10.95), also available as an appetizer ($6.95), was “mantu,” Afghan “ravioli” – dumplings filled with ground beef and onion topped with a savory blend of lentils, homemade yogurt, meat sauce, and mint. Perhaps I should more aptly describe it as Chinese dim sum with Afghan ingredients and spices…either way it was exotically delicious.

Only off-note was the below par piece of bahklava we shared for dessert.

Side salads are served with a nicely balanced creamy vinaigrette before the entrées. Note the very reasonable pricing here: all the entrées, except the lamb riblets and seafood kabob are under $15. 

“Murgh” means chicken in Afghan. Yalda offers five murgh entrées. One is euphonically named “murgh-e-surkh,” fried chicken breast topped with mozzarella cheese ($9.95) – think chicken parmigiana. And another is the murgh-e-murkh, actually Afghani “chicken marsala” ($10.95). There is also bell pepper stuffed with ground beef and rice, called “dolma” ($7.95). Rahpo seems to be doing some culinary fusion cooking here.

Recently, Moe expanded, adding a nicely appointed large second dining room, open on busy weekend nights, and for private parties. Also, updated and much improved is Yalda Grill’s façade, giving the restaurant much more curb appeal.

I have not tried the lunch buffet ($7.95) yet, but I can tell you that Yalda’s makes very good Philly steak and cheesesteak sandwiches. 

As recently as two weeks ago, we came for dinner, and predictably, as usual, had the bouranee eggplant and hummus appetizers, and shared a grilled lamb riblets entrée. Thus, I can attest that the good eats and low prices have not changed.

Overall Rating: mmmm (out of 5 m’s) different, great tasting cuisine at low, low prices.

Cuisine:  Afghan, (also American, Italian-American, pizza and sandwiches)

Hours: Monday - Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.;  Friday – Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday noon to 10 p.m.

Dinner Prices: Appetizers, Soups, Salads $4.95 - $12.95; Entrées, $7.95 to $18.95

Lunch Buffet: $7.95

Ambiance: Casual, exotic yet pleasantly low-key.

Reservations: Not required.                       

Credit Cards: All major accepted

Alcoholic beverages: BYOB.                 

Wheelchair Access: Yes          

Smoking/Non: Non

To contact Mitch Davis, you can e-mail him