Lunch Tuesday: Kabul Express
Posted February 16, 2010 12:03 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Lunch Tuesday was never explained very clearly. I’m sorry.
I meant to choose an intersection and eat around there for a month and give people who lived and worked in that area a place to go where they could get food and eat it in an hour, or grab it quickly and be back at their desks.
For the first month, I chose the place where I live and work, Yonge and Dundas streets, but I didn’t make that clear at the start.
That’s what I’m doing. Just so you know.
This week, I ate at Kabul Express (126 Dundas St. E.), which bills itself as an Afghan grill. In short: good food, long wait.
The first time I went, I ordered the daily special. It was a Thursday, which meant chicken breast on a skewer. After a 10-minute wait, where the meat was grilled in front of my eyes and the rice was scooped out of an over-large crockpot, I took the whole package back to work.
At first, I regretted not ordering naan instead of rice. After I actually tried the rice, I no longer regretted the decision.
The second time, I ordered the paneer tikka – grilled cubes of white cheese with red peppers and onion on a skewer – and the beef tikka.
After I waited 20 minutes to collect that to-go order, a man came in, paid, and left with a steaming hot package.
He, thoughtfully, had called ahead.
Next time, I’ll do the same.
The point of Lunch Tuesday, after all, is that it’s a meal you could ostensibly eat on your lunch break – and waiting 20 minutes for pick-up is not my idea of a break.
The red peppers were the highlight of the vegetarian skewer, as the cheese was bland; more like a firm tofu section than cheese. Grilled beef, yes, I’d eat it again, but then, grilled beef in any ethnicity/setting/sauce is easily my favourite meal. And the naan? Cooked fresh in front of me, it was still warm two hours later.
This was my second-last week eating around Yonge and Dundas streets and I need to decide where to go next. Where do you eat? Should I go there? What’s good? Where do you go on your lunch break? Email me: erin.criger@citynews.rogers.com
