Arianna II – Kilburn

Since moving from the leafy streets of Maida Vale to the slightly more ‘authentic’ (and a lot more cheap) Kilburn, I’ve been doing two things: saving money and exploring new places to eat. DQ and I have already found our staple takeaway places…

1. La Basque for pizza
2. Alex Plaice for fish and chips
3. The Haandi House for curry
4. Woody Grill for a messy kebab at 3am

I was ready to find somewhere to sit down, and the first place we tried was Arianna II, an Afghan restaurant on Kilburn High Road and an absolute gem of a place. Brilliant food, cheep and cheerful, and BYOB. Can you think of a better combination?

We started with the Kadoo Buranee, a wonderfully aromatic warm pumpkin dish perfect for a winter evening. Along side, we enjoyed some fresh hummous, pita and some piping hot  meat samosas, smacking of ground cumin and chili.

I was insanely excited for the Kabuli Palow, and it didn’t disappoint. The shank was so tender that as soon as I picked up the bone (see Exhibit A), the lamb literally slid off the bone. Served on top of a sort of pilau with carrots, raisins, almonds and pistachios, it was the perfect combination of savoury and sweet.

Exhibit A

DQ went with the slightly more boring, but all together tasty Chicken Kebab. It was surprisingly spicy, and certainly enjoyable, if not a little predictable. He’s a boy who likes his chicken though, so what can you do?

Dessert was Firnee and Afghan-style pistachio pudding with a consistency not unlike a flan. After this much food, it was a welcome, light and slightly sweet note to end the meal.

All this, plus BYOB meant that our bill came to £25.00. That’s in total. Not per head. Rock on, Arianna II. We’ll be back.