Karly’s bday is today. Happy bday!!! Van and I both thought it was the week after and we almost missed it. To celebrate his bday and to continue on with our culinary exploration in baltimore, we went to Helmand, an afgani restaurant in mt vernon, after hearing much praise about the place. I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect. I’ve had turkish, indian, ethiopian, figured it was kind of a blend of those 3 cuisines. And it was, sort of. But it was amazing.
We started off with an appetizer of ravioli filled with ground beef covered in ground beef sauce, almost chili like, with yogurt. I think the menu description of it was a ‘pastry shell’ but it was just like a ravioli. U soak up the sauce with their warm bread crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and it was yumilicious. The bread was truly really good, it was a flatbread, served warm and toasty, with sweet butter. I could just eat the bread and butter for a meal.
We ordered 2 entrees and a side of spinach to share. One entree was another ravioli thing with leek filling covered in ground beef/yogurt sauce. The other entree was braised lamb with rice and potatoes. The lamb was soooooo tender and rich. Again the sauces in both entrees was perfect for the bread.
For dessert we got the middle eastern pastries which were these two flaky pastry filled things, not quite like baklava. The only thing I liked in it was the raspberry sauce.
My conclusion? Awesome meats, wonderful bread, dessert ehhh. What is afgani food? Still can’t quite put into words exactly.
Happy birthday, karly!
half-eaten | completely gone 