Pamir / Emeryville Public Market
Last night my girlfriend and I made an emergency trip to IKEA. Not too excited about swedish meatballs, we decided to check out the Emeryville Public Market for dinner (based on chowhound rec's).
What a winner! It reminds me a little of Fanuel Hall in Boston, except with better options and less tourists. It was late (8:30), so a few stalls were closed, and everybody was offering handouts. It all looked great, but neither of us had ever tried Afghan food, so we both ate at Pamir. We both got 2-item combos, and so got to sample four dishes. The names of the dishes I made up myself...the signs had been taken down, and we chose everything based on samples that the owner patiently gave us.
saffron chicken curry: this was the big winner. the chicken was fall-off-the-bone caliber (though boneless) and had a nice saffron, light curry flavor. the owner told us to "eat it slowly; savor it on your tongue" and i'm glad he did. the sauce had a sort of delayed response and literally exploded with flavor on my mouth.
sauteed eggplant: pretty close to bengan bartha in my book. the eggplant was perfect consistency for me, sufficiently soft without being gooey.
mixed vegetable curry: a veritable garbage plate of vegetables cooked in a curry that had a strong tomato/pepper flavor. the spiciest thing we had, but well within gringo range.
braised tofu & peas: the blandest dish we got. oddly, the sauce had a strong pea flavor, which i didn't like so much, but my girlfriend did. light turmeric flavor. nice spongy tofu had sponged the sauce flavors.
we rounded it out with a fresh pomegranate juice and an almond-saffron milk. The pomegranate juice was just a little tart and refreshing with dinner; the milk was very sweet, reminded us of a tapioca drink, but made a nice dessert. The crushed almonds and saffron coagulated into chunks at the bottom, providing a nice occasional zing through the straw.
all for less than 20 dollars with tip. amazing.
is there an afghan restaurant in san francisco, or do we have to cross the bridge?
Pamir @ Emeryville Public Market
5959 Shellmound Street
Emeryville, CA 94608-1962
(510) 601-1152
phat_phil
Nov 06, 2003 04:19PM
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Helmand on Broadway is very good.
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Helmand restaurant in north beach is often praised on these boards, with good reason.
While fairly different from what's available at Pamir, the spicing is the same, so I think you'll really enjoy it.
The one menu item you MUST NOT miss is the kaddo. It's offputting for a lot of people (pumpkin with meat sauce), it is absolute ambrosia. My husband and I make trips into No Beach specifically for that pumpkin!
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We think alike, Fatemeh!
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You know what they say about great minds!
So - how about that wedding?? Never did hear about it - drop me a line when you get a moment!
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I and a few other chowhounds like this place, too, but mainly for the made-to-order kabobs on the Persian side. I think I'll have to go back and re-try the Afghani side.
I agree with the recommendation of Helmand - get the borani kadoo. Delicious caramelized pumpkin with garlic yogurt sauce.
And Helmand (it's a small, un-chain-like chain of restaurants around the US) is owned by the Karzai family! Don't you want to help out the ruler of Afghanistan? That's a tough job he's got...
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Some more suggestions.
Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...
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