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| - My favorite Mediterranean restaurant in Madison. That's right. Better than Mediterranean Cafe. I said it.
I can't remember a meal that we were not happy with here. I usually order the spinach and feta phyllo pie and the flavors are spot on. My husband usually alternates between the Karayi Murgh (chicken with poached eggs) and Kofta Karayi (meatballs). We love the spice and the sauces with these meals. One bothersome thing is that the poached eggs are usually hard-poached--not sure if that's how they're supposed to be, but we love a good, runny egg.
It's a little hard to find things for the kids to eat--we try to get them to try different things but the spice in many of the dishes are great for us but not for them. We've ordered chicken kebobs for them, which were moist and delicious. We've also tried the Bulani, which is a fried in an eggroll-like wrapper and filled with potato and egg and served with a mint yogurt sauce. My kids decided to just stick to rice, which was fine with my husband and I because we maowed.
The little things here are great, too--I love the taste and texture of the rice (and I grew up eating rice every day), the Afghan bread is soft and delicious--we like it so much we buy it either here or at Woodman's for our meals at home, and the curry cucumber dressing on the salad has a wonderful taste that I ought to try on my own salads now that I think of it.
And we've usually received excellent service. Our first time there, actually on a trip to see if we wanted to move to Madison, our son was barely 15 months old and he was tossing rice left and right. I attempted to pick up every kernel and our waitress insisted to just leave it alone, that it was her job to clean it up. Not that this is the sort of place where families regularly come with babies all the time, but to be treated like guests rather than nuances left a big impression on us. When it gets busy I did sometimes feel a little ignored, but I don't think that was the intention.
I'd love to give Kabul 4 1/2 stars, but alas, I can't. The few problems that we've come across, plus the fact that they probably don't use very many local products causes me to lean towards 4 rather than 5 stars. But if you are in the mood for Mediterranean food in Madison, this is the place to go.
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