What Sam says about_____?: SAM ENJOYING AFGHAN CUISINE @ THE LAZEEZ RESTAURANT, DELHI

Its an interesting fact to know that Lajpat Nagar is home to 4-5 afghan cuisine restaurants specializing in Afghan cuisine. I would add this restaurant too to my hall of fame of great meal discoveries in Delhi. I am truly glad that Lazeez has set my standard for Afghan food.

Honestly, I am truly surprised that I am the pioneer reviewer of this Jewel in Lajpat Nagar's crown. Catering primarily to Afghan and Middle-Eastern families, this restaurant hails close enough to the main Lajpat Nagar Market where you can have a whole and hearty meal after a great round of shopping. You will be sharing space with tall, fair, good looking Afghan gentleman, beautiful and striking scarf clad Afghan women in this 40 cover restaurant.

Ambience is ok, nothing too flashy, but plain, simple and Ethnic Afghan since the place is owned and run by Afghani national's. Thankfully the serving staff happens to be local so they can understand you. Tonight I was more than excited to try the food from another country especially Afghanistan since I had met Chef Lall in English Tadka in Rajouri Garden last week and he had mentioned to me that the Afghani's know their meat and they like to eat it with its natural flavour so they do not pile on too many spices that mask the meat's true flavour. So here we were me and my sister in law, my partner in crime exploring the tastes from the beautiful land of the Pushtun people dying to try some true meaty flavors.

The Dastarkhan is an important expression of the Afghani culture. Dastarkhan is nothing but a large table cloth on which food is served when guests come. Lazeez maintains this tradition and the tables have a green dastarkhan's on which scrumptious food is served. Our server recommended we order Mutton and chicken chopan even though they take about 20-25 minutes to arrive, and some mutton uzbeki or pulao with some mutton Qorma.

The mutton and chicken chopans are lamb and chicken chops served with some Khamiri Roti, spinach sambal and raita. In Afghanistan the meat primarily used for chopans is either mutton or beef. But since this is India, they only serve mutton and chicken chopan. The Chopan Kebab or the chops are skewered and grilled on charcoal, so they have an awesome smoky flavour. We and our guts were delighted by the wholesome and flavorsome chopans. Recommended!

The Mutton Qorma with the Khamiri was oh such a divine heavenly eating experience that I actually cursed myself for not having visited this place before in my life time. In Afghan cuisine there exist more than a 100 varieties of Qorma, but the one we had had a predominant tomato gravy. Qorma is nothing but a stew or casserole, usually served with the pulao or Naan. The minute we took the Ist bite of this Qorma we were so in awe of the subtle and delicate flavorful gravy and the soft as silk meat. It was such a WOW moment for us. Truly a must have at this restaurant.

The Kabuli Uzbeki or the Kabuli Mutton biryani or pulao whatever you may call it, is a delight to ones taste buds. Extra long fragrant basmati grain is used for the uzbeki which is cooked in meat stock, so you get the flavour of the meat in the rice too. I would say that the Afghans certainly take much time and effort in creating their rice dishes, as they are certainly the best part of the meal. My uzbeki had boneless soft, succulent and juicy lamb chunks, carrot juliennes and raisins on top. The very sight and the taste was so colourful and delightful that I would highly recommended you try the Uzbeki if you are having Afghan food.

At the end of the meal or should I say a hearty meal, all we wanted were beds so that we could simply crasssssh after this soul food experience. This is actually the soul food I had been searching for in this city. The service was great but the bill was even more delightful. So much food for 2 people less than a 1000 bucks. Truly there are some things money cant buy and this invaluable Afghan meal journey is definitely one of those priceless experiences for me.

I definitely recommend you try this restaurant, and I assure you this is only the beginning of your journey to great food for your soul.