This week’s restaurant got me thinking about the very first time I ever tried Curry.  It was just days after I’d moved to San Diego.  A friend with whom I was crashing brought me to a place called World Curry in Pacific Beach.  It was tasty but I often wonder why I’d never had it before while I lived in the cultural mecca that is Flo… Oh, right.*

*to clarify, Flo is short for Florida, just in case anyone reading this thought I would be stupid enough to leave Florence Italy to move to San Diego

Kyhber Pass is located in the heart of Hillcrest, San Diego’s trendy gayborhood.  They specialize in Afghan cuisine at affordable prices, which made this trip a popular one for my dining companions, hence the small army of people I showed up with:

Aimee-Roommate since the 90’s, BFF, allergic to hot dogs and therefore labeled a commie by many

Amy-Vegetarian Belle, Author, Event Planner

David-Technical writer, singer, robot super villian

Harry-Wise guy, master of the grill, loves camping for some reason

Joe “Bish”-Computer wunderkind, Husband of Kate, a tall drink of water

Kate-Costume designer, Comedian, Once starred in a church rap video

Mike & Marjy-The package deal, a pair of my favorite foodies who once served me cake on a stick in the snowy mountains (true story)

Renee-My dresser in “Five Course Love”, Fellow MSTie, lover of The Wizard of Oz

Suzanne-My Italian soul sista, Can throw down in the kitchen, the cultured one who pronounces everything correctly

Tim-Renee’s mysterious counterpart

I noticed right off the bat that Khyber Pass has great prices.  This is kind of the perfect place to play around and experiment if you’ve never had Middle Eastern food before and not spend a fortune on your quest to diversify.  Amy and I both ordered appetizers of Bolani (A turnover stuffed with leek and potato served with yogurt sauce).  I found them spicy, rich, crispy and delicious.  The yogurt sauce was my favorite, despite the fact that it looks like Thousand Island salad dressing, which I despise.

For main dishes, there was a variety of dishes sampled.  Mike ordered the Lamb Kofta Chalow (Lamb meatballs), which he said were fantastic. A dish worth coming back for alone.  Marjy had the Chicken Bunjaun (Boneless chicken stewed with spiced eggplant served with white basmati rice) with a side of Yahgoot Rice (Rice with cherries).  She said just the eggplant on it’s own was outstanding.  Soft, buttery with a nice heat level.  She also loved the cherry rice, which seemed to be the most popular dish of the night.  Amy had the vegetarian platter (Four different styles of rice combined with five vegetable dishes) Shiro (seasoned chickpeas) with braised spinach and collard greens.  While she loved the awesome tomato & onion spiced rice she felt the vegetables were a sour note, with only the eggplant and squash having the real notes of flavor.

Harry ordered the lamb shish kabob, which he said had phenomenal seasoning and enjoyed the side of spinach.  David ordered the Chicken Shish kabob.  A simple dish but perfectly prepared with great spice.  Aimee started with the Mantu (Steamed pasta shells filled with seasoned ground beef, topped with a savory yogurt garlic sauce).  she said they were good but went a bit heavy on the dill.  Aimee had the Khyber Pass specialty platter (A combination of lamb, chicken and beef, all charbroiled to perfection).  She said the chicken was delicious, tender and spicy.  The lamb was juicy and the beef was a bit overcooked.  She also tried the cherry rice, which was excellent.

Suzanne ordered the Lamb Matar (Chunks of lamb, garden peas tossed with spicy masala sauce)  She said it was extremely tender with a perfectly spiced sauce.  She also enjoyed the great use of cilantro and giving the dish brightness and texture.  Renee ordered the Sweet and Sour Apricot chicken, which she enjoyed.  She said it was sweet but not over powering.  Very flavorful.  Tim had the Sweet and Sour Cherry Chicken with with a side of Yahgoot (cherry) rice.  He said the dish was excellent.  The use of cherry gave the savory dishes a sweet twist.  It was well cooked.    Kate ordered the Chicken Mushroom (Boneless chicken, sauteed mushrooms with spicy masala sauce served with white basmati rice.)  She said the sauce was flavorful but the chicken was a bit dry and was served with what she described as “More rice than a human can consume”.  Bish had the Chicken Matar, which he loved and would come back for.

I went with the classics and ordered the chicken curry (Sauteed and cooked with savory homemade yogurt and curry sauce served with vegetable and imported basmati rice.  Y’know, as opposed the basmati rice they buy at Chipotle on the corner)  Speaking of rice,  I noticed that I eat so much sushi, I forget rice can be prepared other ways.  I was caught off guard by the light and fluffy texture.  It was a nice change from the Japanese sticky (or sad brown) rice I usually eat.  The dish was spicy and tasty.  The meat was fork tender .  I wasn’t jumping out of my seat over it but it was good.

In the interest of science, some desserts were ordered.  There was the Pistachio Pudding.  Renee found it light and flavorful without being overly sweet.  Suzanne enjoyed it’s delicate flavors but didn’t get a lot of pistachio out of it.  She also said “I think there’s rose water in it.”  I nodded thoughtfully while fumbling for my phone so I could Google rose water.  Kate ordered the Baklava.  She said 90% of the sex she had in college wasn’t as good as that Baklava.  I’m assuming this means she liked it.  Your mileage with Kate’s college sex life may vary.

Overall, this was a good place but I’m not finding myself totally in love with it.  There were minor issues ($3 for a can of Coke with no refills and our check kind of took forever) but nothing major.  I would say if you’re looking to expand your palette, take a trip to Khyber Pass and live a little!

Further reading: http://www.sandiegokhyberpass.com/