The Helmand Afghan Restaurant

The only Afghan restaurant in town, and it’s great!

The Helmand
430 Broadway (Montgomery), 362-0641
5:30-10pm, Friday & Saturday to 11pm.

I thought it was the right time to return to an old favorite, an Afghan restaurant, and find out how it is doing on the firing line. I learned that, for a few days after September 11, they received threatening and abusive phone-calls, but that has stopped. I was also pleased to see the place filling up with diners, and, by 8pm on a Friday night, it was full, and all four waiters busy. This is due to objective-minded San Franciscans, since they didn’t even know at that time that Hamid Karzai, the brother of the owner of The Helmand, Mahmoud Karzai, was just named head of the interim coalition Afghan Government!

Some years ago, Mahmoud brought his brother Hamid, to San Francisco, and tried to persuade him, over dinner at The Helmand, to come live with him in San Francisco. But Hamid insisted on returning to his war-torn country, Afghanistan, to help unite the warring factions. Years earlier, Mahmoud had helped his brother get a university education in India, sending him $90 a month, part of his earnings as a busboy in a San Francisco restaurant. Quite a story!

The Helmand restaurant is medium-sized, luxurious, warm, and seats about 70. It’s an ideal place for an anniversary, birthday, graduation celebration, etc. since it is elegant – of course, cloth napkins and tablecloths – the food is terrific, and the service very attentive. And, at the same time, affordable.

The meal starts with complimentary flat-bread and three sauces (one, very hot), a good beginning. The appetizers are unusual, as is the rice, and the lamb dishes are among the best I’ve ever had. The rice, Challow or Pallow, is a delicious Afghan specialty. There are a number of vegetarian starters and entrees on the menu. The prices are very reasonable for the quality of the cuisine.

Some Starters and side dishes, $4.95. They can all be shared, e.g., ravioli filled with leeks and scallions, with yogurt and mint-garlic sauce , topped with ground beef & mint; pan-fried twin pastry shells, one filled with leeks & onions, the other with spiced potatoes, garnished with yogurt sauce (especially good for sharing); pan-fried eggplant seasoned with spices then baked with fresh tomatoes, served on yogurt-garlic-mint sauce; okra sautéed with fresh tomatoes, black pepper & garlic.

Soups, $3.95. These are very special, too, e.g., yogurt with lamb, mung beans, chick peas, & black-eyed peas, or lamb & fresh vegetables.

Some entrees (all served with special Afghan Challow or Pallow rice—described below), $9.95-15.95, e.g., beef meatballs with Afghan seasonings, sautéed with sun dried tomato, hot peppers & green peas ($9.95); pan-fried baked pumpkin, baked eggplant, with fresh tomato & garlic yogurt sauces ($9.95); spinach with chunks of lamb ($11.95); marinated char-broiled chicken breast served with spinach & rice ($10.95). marinated & grilled leg of lamb, sautéed with yellow split peas & onions, served with garlic mushrooms ($13.95); half rack of lamb (three large ribs) with sautéed eggplant ($15.95); grilled Choice tenderloin of beef, served on sauce of grilled tomato, hot peppers, onions, & cumin seeds, and served with lentils, wheat barley and spinach-rice ($15.95). Vegetarian Special – fresh green beans, carrots, cauliflower, turnips, potatoes, sautéed with onion, tomato, garlic, & cilantro, served with spinach & rice ($9.95)

Some desserts, e.g., rice pudding with pistachio & cardamon $3.95, homemade ice cream with pistachio & cardoman $3.95 (large portion, good for sharing).

Turkish coffee is a treat, and is made at the table. It is expensive, $3, but worth it, as a special indulgence.

House wine. Glass $4, half- liter $7.50, liter $14. Good quality. Corkage $10.

Parking. Can be difficult. A nearby parking lot on Broadway charges $10 to The Helmand guests. Ask when reserving.

Preparation of baked rice: Challow is boiled rice, drained of water, seasoned with vegetable oil and cumin seed, and then baked. Pallow is boiled rice, seasoned with vegetable oil, cardamon, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin seeds, & black pepper, and baked.

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