Lunch Out: Kaafila

My long time lunch buddy, C, was in a foul mood.

She was going to join a yoga class. I sort of joined in too, to give her moral support. I have not yet gotten around to the point when I go to the class. But moral support moral support.

Anyway.

Does this not look a bit like a prison??

So the day she went to join it, I persuaded her to join me for lunch. We decided to go green from the next day onward.

Restraint, that’s me.

We first thought of going to another place, but decided on this since C wanted Biryani and the last time I had gone there the Biryani was pretty decent. So this time we decided to run for it. We enter and get a seat almost immediately, the laid-back wait staff wearing traditional Afghani clothes point us to an empty table and give us glasses of water as soon as we take our seat.

C wanted the Biryani. I wanted Kebab. We both compromised by placing a fast order consisting of both elements, and a bit extra. After persuading her away from the other things on the menu, I chose a couple of kebabs to start with.

Diet Coke. INR 70/-

My can of diet coke came with a glass filled with ice and a slice of lime. Yes! Thank you! I like that a lot! So on to our discussion about life and work, and very soon our first item ordered is placed and plated between the two of us, before I had a chance to take photos of the thing in the plate. However, I did take a picture of the interesting plating.

Murg Makhmali Shikanj (300/-)

The first item that came in was the Murg Makhmali Shikanj, descibed deliciously as “Chicken mince mixed with spices with raw herbs and skewered to finish in the tandoor. ” I thought this would be as smooth as the name, but found this chewy. However, the flavors were on the spot on this one. However, if you are naming something “Makhmali” (satiny) then the texture should be satiny as well.

Kakori Kabab (360/-)

The Kakori Kebab is something that C was raving about for a while, and this was the second item that hit our table. The thing is… I love Kakori kebab… and here, again, Kaafila messed it up. While the meat was very tender, it was also way too oily and salty for my taste. I had to cut down on the saltiness with a lot of lemon, and still it was too salty for my taste. Even C agreed on that, and we left bits of our kebab unfinished.

Murg Sufiyani Biryani (295/-)

Saddened by the two kebabs which did not meet up to our standards, we were slightly wary about the Biryani that we had ordered. However, here was where the wheel turned back towards rightness again. Our biryani was a handi of soft chicken meat and rice, fragrant and tasty, and was divided quickly between us. Although without the standard potato (the Kolkata Biryani always has a potato in the midst of the rice), this was a beautiful mix of fragrant rice and soft chicken meat. We were served a raita with this on the side. However, we both forego that for the flavors of the meat and rice. It was a hit!

Our bill came to just about 1000/- for the two of us, for three dishes and a diet coke, with C sporting a corporate discount. I would say I will have to re-taste their Kandahari Laham (whole leg of lamb cooked) to reaffirm their Kebab qualification.

Kaafila

3rd Floor, Block B, 

City Centre Mall, 

Salt Lake, Kolkata