Kabul Castle Kabob

Kabul Castle Kabob at 2801 M Street NW brings the kebab tradition of the Afghan capital to Georgetown’s M Street corridor, serving the rice dishes, the grilled meats, and the slow-cooked preparations that Afghan restaurant cooking in Washington has developed from the traditions of a city whose food culture reflects the Silk Road position Afghanistan has held for centuries. Kabul, the capital, is at the intersection of the Central Asian, Persian, and South Asian culinary traditions, and its restaurant cooking draws from all three.

The kebab is the organizational center of Afghan restaurant cooking, and the variety at a restaurant like Kabul Castle reflects the range that the grilled meat tradition in the region has developed. The chapli kebab, which is the Pashtun preparation of ground lamb or beef seasoned with coriander, cumin, pomegranate seeds, and dried chilies and formed into flat patties, has become one of the most recognized Afghan dishes outside the country. The seekh kebab, which is ground meat molded around a flat skewer and grilled, differs from the chapli in its shape and in the spice blend that the cylindrical format uses. The shish kebab of cubed marinated lamb or chicken represents the third significant form that the Afghan kebab takes.

The qabuli palau, which is considered the national dish of Afghanistan, is a rice preparation of considerable complexity: the long-grain white rice, typically basmati, is cooked in the stock from the lamb that is served alongside it, then layered with the shredded carrots and raisins that have been cooked separately in sugar and oil, and topped with the almonds and pistachios that the presentation requires. The preparation integrates the sweet and savory in the way that the Persian culinary influence on Afghan cooking established.

Georgetown’s M Street at 2801 is at the Key Bridge end of the commercial corridor. Hours run from 11am most days and noon on Sunday. Afghan food in Washington has developed a significant audience beyond the Afghan diaspora community, partly because the spice tradition that Afghan cooking uses is less confrontational than some other South and Central Asian cuisines and partly because the grilled meat and rice format is one that the American diner finds accessible. The 2801 M Street Georgetown location at the Key Bridge end of the commercial corridor serves both the Georgetown dining customer and the tourists who enter Georgetown from the Virginia side across the bridge. For a visitor who wants something other than the Italian, French, and American options that dominate Georgetown’s restaurant landscape, Kabul Castle Kabob provides the Afghan culinary tradition in a format that the M Street commercial location makes easily accessible. The M Street Georgetown address at 2801, at the Key Bridge end of the commercial corridor, is accessible to both the Georgetown commercial district customer and the visitor arriving across the Key Bridge from Rosslyn. Hours run from 11am most days.