Afghan Cuisine will open their very own restaurant in Champaign this week, anticipated for Friday, September 29th. In the space where El Toro II used to be near Titan Games, the new restaurant serves a menu of Afghan appetizers, mains, and desserts for dine-in.
The expanded menu includes favorites from when Afghan Cuisine was open at Strawberry Fields: mantu (dumplings), kabuli pulaw (basmati rice with Afghan spices, carrots, raisins, pistachios, and almonds), and borani banjan (Afghan eggplant).
Before Afghan Cuisine closed in Urbana, I was obsessed with the mantu. The restaurant was only open a month, but I went four times just for the dumplings — they’re that good.
Handmade, the mantu have a super soft dough around spiced (but not spicy) ground beef topped with a chunky tomato sauce, split-peas, fresh herbs, and a delicious garlic-yogurt sauce. All that sauciness with the flavorful beef and smooth dumpling wrapper tastes incredible. If you go to Afghan Cuisine, mantu are a must.
Here’s a look at the menu — with mantu listed right at the top of the mains, of course.
There will be appetizers of chicken spring rolls or bolani, a pan-seared pastry filled with potato and chives. After that, the mains include a variety of kebab: ground beef, chopped chicken, and (the one I really want to try) #9 marinated bone-in lamb roasted over fire and served on skewers with rice.
Afghan Cuisine will also offer chicken karahi (curry), Afghan tandoori chicken, kofta (beef meatballs), dopiaza (lamb and onions), dal, okra, spinach, naan, salad, and a small selection of desserts.
On the restaurant’s website, it looks like there will (soon) be online ordering and catering pre-order. Check out Afghan Cuisine Restaurant’s full menu online here.
Afghan Cuisine Restaurant
723 S Neil St
Champaign
M-Sa 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
