Kabul

Kabul
106 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA
(Check out their website!)

This Afghan restaurant off of downtown Philadelphia came highly recommended to me. Having had a wonderful Afghan meals years ago, I was eager to see what Philadelphia had to offer. The restaurant was a bit dark for my taste (no pictures) but it probably looks fine during daylight hours. I was told that they had good appetizers but, not being all that hungry, opted to wait for the main dish. I had the Bandenjan Chalaw, which is a dish of lamb cooked with eggplant in a tomato sauce with onions and various spices.

The dish itself was great and the taste was pretty good although I expected more of a dance for my taste buds. Now, the dish is hot and you wouldn’t want to eat it alone but I was expecting more of a complicated taste what with all the spices and all. The rice was a bit dry though and wouldn’t have been great if I hadn’t needed it to sooth my burning tongue. As it was, I consumed all the rice with the dish. Not too much of a feat though, given that the dish was not all large and I though they had just brought out a sauce container before realizing that that was what I had ordered. Given the quantity, $15 seems a bit steep.

For dessert we had the Firnee, which is an Afghan pudding with pistachios and almonds. I wasn’t impressed with this dish. I’m not sure what it was. The texture was OK but the taste just didn’t feel right. It was a bit too strong, I’d say where a good pudding’s flavor should be more subtle. Still, my dining companion loved it so that’s a positive endorsement there.

I’ll give Kabul another try probably but my first impression wasn’t entirely positive.

L’Osteria Ristorante

L’Osteria Ristorante
104 Salem St.
Boston, MA 02113
(Check out their website!)

In the North End and in the mood for some excellent seafood pasta? Why not try this little place, which boasts a fine menu and delicious food? Here’s a picture of the Brodetto di Pesce, which is basically a mix of seafood (mussels, scallops, clams, shrimp, calamari, schrod) over linguini, all mixed in a very light tomato sauce. It’s a real job to work through the mound of seafood and the taste makes every bite worthwhile. The dish comes in at almost $24 but is worth it if you’re willing to splurge a little. Add a bit of wine and you’ll probably pat yourself on the back for having ordered some good food and drink.

(Images by AG)

Caramel Apple Spice from Starbucks

Starbucks
Your Local Street Corner
Anywhere, USA
(Visit their website!)

I generally do not like large stores like Starbucks but hats off to them for this fantastic drink! I looked in disgust at one as a travel companion ordered it and sipped it with joy after having bashed Starbucks herself. Since it was a particularly cold day and I was curious about the drink, I had just a taste and I was hooked. My travel companion had added a few pumps of Chai to her drink but subsequent orders that I placed were without this additional flavor. I also did away with the caramel as that just makes it too sweet. Check, it out, with the caramel and no whipped cream, this drink brings in 310 calories! I don’t know if my subtraction of the caramel helps much but I think it tastes better that way anyway. So, cheers to this terrific winter drink!

(Image by MB)