Afghan Grill

hetmiles says:

• Food:

  4/5

• Vibe:

  4/5

• Service:

  4/5

• Value:

  3/5

• Overall:

  4/5

Great food! I'm not sure if it is BYOB anymore, since they do have a full bar.

Billusa99 says:

• Food:

  4/5

• Vibe:

  3/5

• Service:

  3/5

• Value:

  5/5

• Overall:

  4/5

Add that "swarthy" back to de list again.

Good thing I work 1/4 mile away -- I can watch out for "Donna Chen."

DC says:

Whoo hoo!

DC says:

What a waste

DC says:

• Food:

  5/5

• Vibe:

  3/5

• Service:

  4/5

• Value:

  5/5

• Overall:

  5/5

I am Donna Chen. Clearly the initials make it so. On to the review:

This one comes out of nowhere. It's a last minute event for three on a Thursday evening. Typically, I wouldn't suggest driving the tollway north of about Mockingbird. I mean if you're in an accident up there, you just might end up at "North Plano Discount Orthopedic Associates" where some cowboy tries to reconstruct your pelvis despite only having done 1 as a junior resident. Oh yes, disclaimer: North Plano Discount Orthopedic Associates is fictional, but still, one has to think about these things.

Less than a minute south of George Bush Tollway on Preston and on the west across from some kind of Spanish chicken version of Macdonalds called Pollo Crazee or something is Afghan Grill. This is exactly the kind of post-apocalyptic environment that reinforces how soon we will all bow down to our arachnid overlords.

For now, though, I am initially nervous. There's basically no one in the restaurant despite our sitting right in prime time. Yet, defying the exterior, the ochre hues are warm and inviting. The textures and textiles throughout the room work well.

In a quick scan on the menu, it would work well even with just the front, but the back adds a variety of kebob items. We basically decide we'll order everything in some form. Reading carefully you may notice a duplication in an appetizer and entree, but I suppose size is implied.

I don't know the back story to whatever crazy zoning / licensing issues lead up to this, but Afghan Grill has no booze. So, bring your own! That's what we did. As a result, the drinks were excellent! Top notch work, there.

While waiting for our dishes, I relate a story from earlier in the day when I ran into Gary Coleman. I was hanging out in the lobby of the Renaissance on Stemmons at about 7:30 in the morning, when there he comes swearing a blue streak about basically everything. He walks right past me, gets into a limo and is driven off somewhere. Maybe he was mad that he wasn't staying at the W. Alternatively, maybe he just lost at Guitar Hero vs. Emmanuel Lewis.

A ha! Our starter plates! We start out with a sampler and extra Kadu Buranee because she loves squashes. Each portion is an absolute delight. Who knows what the hell each one is called and who cares - Flolanee, Sambosi it doesn't matter when it tastes this good. Typically, I would also shy away from the sampler plate on a menu as uninspired, but both as a whole and individually this works well. The textures vary from a slight crackle in the fried pieces to the soft, aromatic yogurt sauces. The kadu is also a treat with a consistent firmness and a mild thick sauce that compliments the aroma of the flesh of pumpkin well.

We move on to the entrees and what the hell, we're in Plano, or some town, and don't feel like thinking much, so we order another sampler - kebob combination! It's truly a crazy one tonight, ladies and gentlemen.

It's freakin' great. The meats are clearly fresh off the grill, with a very mild smoky background. Besides that, between the lamb and beef, for example, there is a great range in the spice and heat of each bite. We also have a vegetable plate of more pumpkin, greens, eggplant and rice. The greens and eggplant taste...fresh. Yes, fresh. I actually said it. The greens tasted like they came out of the ground and not from a vending machine!

Looking around, we realize the reason we sound so loud is because we are basically the only ones in the restaurant save about 4 teenage girls who appear to be related to the staff. I also see the skeletons of buffet service on the opposite side of the room.

I suddenly feel a deep sadness. Here we are enjoying one of the top meals in recent memory and the restauranteurs have to stoop to 'lunch buffet?' What the hell is wrong with society? Is this place a bystander in the PeiWei-ification of food?

For dessert we have custards and ice creme. The ice creme has a dusting of pistachios and hints of cardamom. Damn that's good - the cardamom has such a distinctive flavor that it instantly brings me back to making cardamom bread as a child and cursing how hard those bastard seeds are.

The girls at the table offer us a piece of their birthday cake - it's not a menu item (which is probably for the better), but it's a gracious offer.

As we wrap this one up, I have to say this place was awesome. The food was unpretentious, yet full of flavors. You can imagine the variety of influences that the geography played out on your dishes from the sui mai style wrapper on the meat dumplings to the curry and tamarinds on the next dish. Yet this was not strained into stupid "fusion" cuisine.

What would make it better? Not much really. I suppose if you could order something out of a bottle marked "XXX" that may be to your liking. Actually a Kenyan Tusker would have complimented that meal well. Next time I'll bring my own.

AG: Move downtown. Don't change.

In no way am I Donna Chen.