Doesn't Recommend

rajb

Joined 4 years ago

CLOSED. This place is now closed and another restaurant is in it's place serving Himalayan Mountain cuisine.

Recommends

mizar9

Joined 6 years ago

best samosas. i have been there a couple of times now. i have to say i really like this place. i got different things everytime, the meat is very good and the vegetarian dishes are very special and different. the food is very simple, healthy and has a lot of flavor. do not get fooled by the way it looks. it's a very simple place, but you'll love the food!!! and the samosas are the best in town! i would say it is one of the best hidden restaurants in boston.

Recommends

btownann

Joined 6 years ago

Wonderful!. My husband and I went here for Valentine's Day and we really loved it. The staff was very friendly and the food was just delicious! They had a variety of vegetarian dishes, and I ended up eating the Afghan "ravioli" filled with scallions. My husband had a lovely dish called Mantwo, which were like dumplings filled with beef. Both of us were pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed our experience. The only downside is that the service was a little slow even though the place only had about 5 couples in it. But the food was so good and the people so nice that we'll definitely go back again.

Recommends

fromboston

Joined 6 years ago

I Love this place!. My fiance and I visited this restaurant and fell in love with it. Their lassi's are the best that I have ever tried. I ate the Vegetarian special and it was delicious. Just wish it was cheaper so we can eat there more often!

Doesn't Recommend

bluesky01

Joined 7 years ago

Bad Experience. I was really happy to hear that there was another Afghani restaurant opened in Boston beside Helmand. However, this was a very bad experience for all of us. There was 3 of us and we ordered simple dishes and our bill came up to $135. On top, the meat was old and tasted really bad. They charged us $3 for our soft drinks. I will never go back again. Afghan food is good, but I am not sure what they are cooking.

Doesn't Recommend

chesterprynne

Joined 7 years ago

Avoid it. This restaurant is simply not that good. The food was, at best, bland. The staff is disorganized. Go to the Helmand (or practically any Indian restaurant) instead.

Recommends

Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Authentic Afghan eatery restaurant provides area academics and homesick expats with fiery curries and plenty of vegetarian options.. In Short
Located just down the street from Porter Square, Ali Baba lures curious foodies with its Afghani cuisine. Many dishes are similar to Indian favorites--mourgh challow (chicken sauteed with yogurt, cilantro and curry) wouldn't be out of place at your local curry house. Other popular dishes include bowlani (pastry shells filled with scallions or potatoes and garnished with yogurt and mint) and sabzi challow (spinach sauteed with lamb).

Doesn't Recommend

tnboston

Joined 7 years ago

Disappointing. I try not to base an opinion on a restaurant after just one visit, but I offer this review since I doubt I'll return.

I went with a friend during the week, so the restaurant wasn't too busy. There were about four other tables with guests. The complimentary bread was tasty, but the appetizers were unremarkable. Not being exceptionally familiar with the cuisine, I asked the waitress for a recommendation. Unfortunately, she told me she was vegetarian and I was feeling like a carnivore that night. When my lamb arrived, it was extremely dry, even with the sauce that attempted to soften it up. My companion's chicken was also on the dry side. Feeling a need to moisten our palates, we both went for our waters but found that they remained empty for exceedingly long lengths of time. At a busy restaurant, I would let this pass. However, the other tables weren't being overly demanding and our waitress was amazingly hard to track down in the small space each time we wanted our water glasses refilled.

Based on other reviews, I was expecting more than this. The combination of so-so food and absent service keeps Helmand, unfortunately (because I love variety), as the only Afghan restaurant I'll go to in the area.

Doesn't Recommend

bostonma

Joined 8 years ago

Horrible experience. We had made reservation for 8:45. When we showed up few minutes before, somebody asked us to wait. But there is no place to wait. We literally have to stand by the door and one feet away from two full tables. There were few tables that were full of dirty plates. One of it was cleared out but no one asked us to sit down. The place is small and tables are close to each other. The ambience reminds you of a rundown restaurants. Only hope we had was of good food. Then again, noone came to us to get us seated. It was very disturbing and overall a bad experience. The waiters saw us waiting but didn't bother do anything about it. All this AFTER having a reservation. We got tired of waiting in this crappy place and getting seated despite having empty tables, so we walked out..NOT recommended!

Recommends

axlrosen

Joined 8 years ago

Very tasty. I've been to this restaurant 3 times (both before and after the name changed from Buzkashi), and the food has been excellent each time. Both the vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes were very good. The pumpkin and eggplant entree was great! While many of the dishes have something in common with Indian dishes, it's nice to get away from the standard chicken tikka masala, lamb saag, etc. that you see at every Indian restaurant.