Afghan Shaheen
Address: 231 Hampshire Road, Sunshine
Phone: 0449 988 753
The success of Afghan Master Kebab at Sunshine seems to have inspired others to try their luck with like-minded eateries.
Further afield at Footscray, Kebab Surra has made its mark. At Sunshine, it seems there will be three new kids on the block.
One has already opened in the food court at Sunshine Plaza but is yet to be investigated. Another, on the wider bit of Hampshire Road, still has newspaper on its windows.
Afghan Shaheen is up and running on the narrower part of Hampshire Road heading towards the station. It’s done out in cheerful cafe-style with ornate and shiny furniture.
It’s an Afghan eatery with a few twists thrown in. You’ll find the chargrilled meats are the main reason already established places have become the talk of their town. This menu also features a longish list of straight-up Indian dishes and even an Indo-Chinese section.
Additionally, Afghan Shaheen is big on baking. One display cabinet contains a glistening range of Indian-style sweet treats that go for $18 a kilogram.
Another cabinet displays various biscuits that look just like Italian-style biscotti.
I’m told, however, that they really are Afghan. Rest assured, they contain heaps of butter and sell for a terrific $16 a kilogram – I’m surprised how many I get for $7.
A bowl of namakpura – cumin-seasoned strips of deep-fried pastry – is served without being ordered. Playing the same teasers’ role as papadums, they’re yummy.
Lamb kebab ($13.99) is made with superb chargrilled meat of high quality and servings are generous.
The bread is good but unlike either regular naan or the more chewy, crusty bread delivered elsewhere.
What I first, mistakenly, take to be some kind of soup turns out to be an excellent mint dipping sauce – a vinegary version of the pale green dip often served. It’s piquant and delicious.
Curry and rice for $13.99 doesn’t sound like such a crash-hot deal but qabuli palaw is excellent.
The same good bread. The same salad bits. Fluffy white rice studded with moist currants and festooned with cooked, tender and sweet carrot strands.
The lamb “qorma” itself is mildly spiced but as deep in flavour as it is deep brown. The lamb is of the same high quality and tenderness as we found with the kebabs.
With its many bits and pieces, this $15 dish could easily suffice as a meal for two.
Kenny Weir is the founder of Consider the Sauce, the definitive guide to Melbourne western suburbs cheap eats – www.considerthesauce.net
