By Rich Bockmann
If the word “kebab” conjures up images of bite-sized bits of meat served from a street vendor, the Ali Baba restaurant in Fresh Meadows will make you think again.
The Afghan restaurant serves up generous portions of chicken, beef and lamb skewered and grilled over charcoal with a fresh garlic-and-herb marinade.
Served with fluffy basmati rice, grilled tomatoes and a variety of traditional toppings, the dishes are representative of the cuisine John Hazin and his sister, Hazya Azizi, who grew up with near the Afghan capital.
“Kabul is the main source of modernization,” said Hazin, who manages the restaurant his sister bought a year ago on the Horace Harding Expressway. “There are good restaurants these days, lots of people going out. But women still can’t own restaurants.”
Azizi always wanted to be a chef, her brother said, and it was when she was working as a translator with the U.S. Army that she decided to realize her dream.
“The soldiers all said her food was so good that she should open a restaurant, so she did,” Hazin explained.
The two grew up on a farm making yogurt from goat’s milk, and many of the dishes at Ali Baba feature the cow-milk variety they make daily in-house.
“It’s a little sour and a little sweet,” Hazin said. “All natural.”
Most kebab dishes will set you back about $15, such as the beef tikka served over rice or the chaplee kabob, which resembles a spicy meatball with ground beef, onions, peppers, an egg yolk and dried hot peppers.
Vegetarian options abound with appetizers like borani badenjan — cooked eggplant with onion, tomato sauce and yogurt — and dolmeh barg, grape leaves stuffed with rice and vegetables.
Entrees include mahicha qabuli palow, a slowly cooked lamb shank in caramelized onions, topped with shredded carrots and raisins.
“The rice is nice and salty, and the raisins and carrots are sweet, but not too sweet,” Hazin explained.
For dessert, the baklava is filled with walnuts and pistachios, and while it is not made in-house, you will not complain.
The restaurant’s dining area is spacious with room for parties, and the middle of the day is usually quiet for those looking to pop in for an easy lunch.
Ali Baba is at 183-10 Horace Harding Expressway in Fresh Meadows and open seven days a week from 11:30 a.m. until 11 p.m. For more information, call 718-463-7362.
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
