Afghan Gallery Restaurant

This place delivers a quality and authentic culinary experience. The host is charismatic and friendly. Although the food and service runs at its own pace, this can and does add charm to the experience.
The décor and feel of the venue is special and the cuisine is unique and tasty.

A thoroughly authentic experience from the food to the customer service… The service while not quick n’ slick was genuine and helpful. The food was just the right balance of flavour and texture. The lamb Palau was suberb with the slow cooked lamb chunks melting in your mouth someone’s by a delicious sauce…
Upstairs this place has huge untapped potential for an awesome shisha hangout, if only they got the ventilation system sorted. Low Couches, rugs and dim lighting. Ideal.

What a great place. I was looking for something different to eat. And I found it.
This place has some amazing food. Different to anything I have had before. The staff are very friendly and welcoming.
The food is more subtle and aromatic than Indian or Sri Lankan but full of flavor. My favorite was the chicken curry. Sooooo tender

The food here us different– aromatic tasty and fresh. The service was fabulous and the staff extremely friendly. We had a great night and will come back.

Upfront: it was two and a half hours after sitting down that the first of the food arrived.
That turned this from a three-​to-​four star experience into a two star. Food was fairly reasonable — hearty and warm, but almost tasted a bit bland compared to other Afghani food I’ve had. A few small bones in my chicken shouldn’t have made it in to the final dish. Portion sizes were small on the mains for what they charged — rice and bread were expensive but very generously sized.
Really — my experience was colored by the delay in food coming out and the near total absence of wait staff for a chunk of the evening. I wouldn’t go back again.

Afghanistan is in the heart of Central Asia. It is a country with centuries of instability and public unrest. Which is why each reviews that I have read about this place says one thing and it’s in the lines of «I did not have the experience of Afghan food before».
Unfortunately, centuries of instability have left the country in a state of disastrous consequences. It continuously breaks the world record for all the wrong reasons whether it is its economic woes or political unrest.
All the sad stories aside. The owner of this restaurant seems to be doing their country proud with their passion for preserving the Afghan traditional food while still having a few modern tweaks her and there.
–The Kabuli Pilao (Qabili Pilao) was a mix of nuts, Carrots, Basmati rice, and a choice of chicken beef and lamb curry (our choice).
–The Qorma Sabzi (which literally means vegetable curry) was a vegetable curry separate side Basmati rice.
–For the desert we had Sheer Yakh/​iced milk. It was light, sweet and delicious, definitely the highlight of the night.
So just be careful with the amount you order because each servings are huge and easily shareable. So just to leave some room for Sheer Yakh.
This is a definitely novel place to try out and an experience that makes you think how lucky we are in Australia to have everything.

I don’t know that I had ever eaten Afghan food before, however after my visit here I will be sure to eat it again and soon.
The décor of this place was lovely and has a very middle eastern feel. There are tables upstairs where you can sit with cushions on the floor which I always think is a fun thing to do. The staff were very friendly and helpful when it came to order, providing us with several small dishes to try. All the food was very tasty and plentiful. Great variety of vegetarian food.
It was a very refreshing change to the old run of the mill, Thai or Vietnamese.

I’m not sure what Afghan cuisine is like. I imagine that it has similarities to Middle Eastern, Pakistani, and Indian cuisine due to its location. My night at the Afghan Gallery was my first time experiencing something that is just Afghani (I’d like to think so anyways) — not a blend of food from that region where you can’t tell where each dish is from.
Just a bit of background: Afghan cuisine focuses on rice and Afghan bread, which are accompanied by yogurt. There are three types of Afghan bread, but naan is the most known. Similar to others dishes of that region, Afghan cuisine uses a lot of garlic, mint, saffron, cilantro, and pepper to create spicy, but balanced dishes. Meats are big in Afghan, particularly lamb and chicken.
At Afghan Gallery, all of this was present. It tasted like a calmer version of Indian food — not as spicy and without the coconut milk. The curries or curry-​like dishes were lighter and served with rice and yogurt. I love yogurt so that’s always a bonus. I ordered a lamb curry-​like dish with onions and corns that tasted great. Entrees were average — pastry puffs, dumplings, pasta.
I wasn’t blown away by the food and the service was good, but slow. I recommend it if you haven’t had Afghan food before, but if you know of a better Afghan restaurant, definitely point me in that direction.

Before coming to Afghan Gallery I’d never had the pleasure of trying Afghan food. And what a revelation it was.
Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Italian, French, Greek, Japanese, Indian: sure. This is Melbourne after all. But Afghan? Not so easy to find.
A sweet little family owned restaurant, the walls are lovingly strewn with rugs and knick-​knacks. If possible, try and get yourself seated upstairs for an authentic crossed leg style dining experience. The atmosphere is convivial, and the lighting from the fringed lamps and coloured lanterns sets a soft and intimate scene. While the staff may be a little slow, they are earnest and well intended. Anyway, once the food comes you’ll forget any pervious complaints. There are a range of curries (qormas), pastries and rice dishes. Thankfully, everything on the menu is explained in detail. A particular favourite was the lamb pilaf, almond spiced rice with strips of sweet tender lamb.