Sadat’s Cuisine

Excellent. Very friendly service, delicious food, I was very happy with my experience here. It was as though a nice Afghani lady had prepared a delicious home-​cooked meal for me. Authentic, really tasty, highly recommended. I’ll post photos of the menu here, and a pic of my Chicken Kabobs, which were terrific — I will definitely go back again. Lots to choose from, and as you can see from the pic of the Kabobs the portion size is pretty good — I love to eat, and certainly left with a full & happy belly. Oh yes, have the Turkish coffee — it’s the real deal — so good!

I have never been so pleasantly surprised by a restaurant in Charlottetown! This place doesn’t look like much on the outside and is slightly off the beaten track. And even inside, the paint is peeling, the tables seem from the 80s (glossy black plastic) and the décor cheesy. But go around the corner, and there is a living room style area (nothing fancy) for sitting on the floor and eating. Maybe not everyone’s cup a tea, but I LOVE that kind of thing. We had a lovely, leisurely meal at the low tables, with comfy pillows all around. And, most importantly, the food was wonderful! The starter bread was so chewy and yummy! Our appetizer folded over flat breads filled with either potatoes or green onions were also deliciously chewy. We loved the hot sauce provided for these breads. And the entrée’s were filling and tasty: a vegetarian risotto style dish with nuts and dried fruit and a chicken with walnuts and pomegranate juice dish with browned basmati rice, shredded carrots and raisins. And the waitress was very friendly and helpful. We’ll be back for sure!

I was in Charlottetown for a few days and heard about Sadat’s. I’d never really had Afghan cuisine but I generally like middle Eastern so I thought I’d give it a try.
How was it? Well, in a three-​night stay in Charlottetown, I ate there twice. It would have been three times if I didn’t have other plans for that one night. The variety of vegetarian options certainly helped!
Let’s start in reverse: the desserts. They are amazingly delicious. I tried the phirnee and gulab jamun and would easily have had second helpings of each. I’d never had phirnee before and when it arrived on the table, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I dove in and by the end, I had to resist the urge to lick the bowl to get even more.
I didn’t order a main on my second visit but for my first, I tried the Baunjaun Bouranee which was something I’d never heard of before either. Again, when it arrived, I wasn’t sure but by the end, i was using bread to soak up the sauce so I could enjoy every last morsel.
For appetizers, I tried four:
1) The best samosa that I have ever had — it was baked, not fried and a bit spicier than ones I’ve had in the past
2) Three different kinds of turnovers. In order of preference? Kadu, Gandana and Kachaloo — Kachaloo is just a «broader» version of the kadu but I preferred the simplicity of the kadu.
Did I mention there are pre-​appetizers? Most orders come with afghan bread, butter, and two dips. FYI: the spicy dip is spicy. Good. But spicy.
What about service and the like? It’s very much a family restaurant — very warm and welcoming and everyone is very friendly. Unlike most «big business» restaurants, you can tell the people who are working there are genuinely invested in you having a good experience.
The space is nice — both times I ate, I was in the more «North American» dining room (by choice as I was dining alone both times). I did peak into the traditional dining area but it was busy so I can’t really say much other than that it looked very comfortable.
Prices were, I think, very reasonable for the quality of the food and service.
Highly recommend.

Words cannot describe how amazing the food here is. Absolutely phenomenal! Everything about the food is perfect. The spices are just right, the portions are right, the rice is spectacular and very very good prices. I have never had food this good before, honestly, it’s unlike anything you’ll have or have had before. You will not be disappointed. I heard about this place through word of mouth about how spectacular it is. And they were right. You have the choice of sitting at a dining table or sitting on the floor on comfy cushions with a low table. Definitely try the floor, it’s really a nice experience and quite comfortable. Make this your next restaurant to try because it really is exceptional.

It’s always wise to give a new restaurant a month or so to get their schtick together, so we waited. But clearly Sadat’s is still stuck in new-​restaurant-​mode and the quality and authenticity of the food is questionable. Lunch took forty minutes to arrive. The famous Afghani bread itself didn’t arrive until thirty minutes in, and was a disappointment– a bland white bread, rescued only by desperate dunks in Sadat’s own delicious chutney, and a very nice refreshing dill infused raita. What we were hoping for was the national bread of Afghanistan, a dense and rich dough traditionally baked in a tandoor and often sprinkled with black cumin or caraway, not something that tasted like all the terrible local bread so prevalent on the Island.
The butternut squash dish so highly recommended by a local food hack was a dreadful mess of overcooked thinly sliced squash literally swimming in a heavy oil, covered with something which vaguely resembled overcooked peppers, though I’m not really sure what they were. The beef samosa had a somewhat interesting pastry encompassing a ground beef interior, but the pumpkin turnover was bland and uninspired, barely saved again by the condiment– a fresh homemade yogurt which came on the side.
We were told by our server that all three of the Kebobs we were interested in as a main dish were not yet available, so we opted for the Lamb Kofta. Well, that’s what we ordered, but we were instead served the beef kofta which came looking a little like a Swiss Chalet inspired swiss steak and tasted pretty much the same. The brown basmati was nicely cooked with raisins and shredded carrot but failed to save the afternoon. We hesitated to try dessert but decided to try the $ 7.99 Baklava. Alas, it was the final nail in the coffin– it arrived squat and mushy and all alone, looking like a sad and defeated old friend greeting us at a funeral.
In an effort to support local food initiatives we may venture back to give a kebob a try, but if that fails we’ll bid a sad farewell.