Sansom Kabob House - Afghan Cuisine @ 1526 Sansom Street St.

Last Month was my first time visit to Sansom Kabob House which is an Afghani Restaurant located on 1526 Sansom St. It is occupied in the lower part of the building between 15th and 16th St. and south side of Sansom St. There is a hugely popular bar and Philadelphia Pretzel place right next door. Basically the block is dim lighted but always busy with people.

I have been to Afghani restaurants before and I like their Kabobs. We were four and were seated at the back end of the restuarant. The front part of the restaurant has the open end kitchen for quick take away with a small walkway in front of the kitchen to the backside of the restaurant.

We ordered Sambosa for appetizers, Chalaw Banjan which is spicy stewed eggplant, Lamb kabob as the main course. The sambosa was ok. If you had Indian Samosas then you might not like these. If you never has Sambosa you might like it. The had a boiled peas and potatoes with spices stuffed in a bread and is deep fried.

Among the entrees the Lamb kabobs were exellent. The Lamb Kabobs are chunks of Lamb meat marinated in spices and were char grilled. They were tasty. I did not need any dipping sauce with it. The Banjan Chalaw was fine. I think Chalaw means rice and Banjan means eggplant. If you are vegetarian, then you do have an option in Chalaw Banjan and other items in the menu that is good on the palate.

Like they say, good things come in the end, Sheeryakh was that good end for us. Sheeryah - Afghani Ice Cream is a vanilla ice cream with some flavorful spices sprinked on it. I normally do not take desserts as I feel they pain my wallet without a reason. But I was insisted by my host to have one and I said ok. I do not feel bad for making that decision. It was a pleasant surprise and I highly recommend it.

As for the prices, they a little on the high end as they are in every ethnic restuarant. The vegetarian entrees are in the range of $9-10 and the meat items range from $14-16. The dessert was $3.50. All in all it is expensive, but the food was wonderful and I would definitely go back. The service was good as well.