One of the new trends in Adelaide at the moment is Afghan street food. These places specialise in charcoaled kebabs and they seem to be popping up everywhere.

Safa Kebab is the latest to open its doors and is located within a small shopping complex on Prospect Road. Set amongst a range of other cuisines and dessert places, you can see this stretch of road developing into a multicultural food hub.

The decor is basic and well presented. There are seats for approximately 40 people, but I’m sure they could cram more furniture in if they had to. This place has nice large windows which allow plenty of natural light to flow through, but having said that, the indoor lighting is fairly bright.

Places like this are often notorious for having bad ventilation and people end up leaving with the smell of charcoaled meats. Not so at this place. Their powerful rangehood sucks up all of the fumes and you leave smelling the same way you came in.

Their menu is simple and straight forward. A selection of charcoaled meats on one side and rustic home style Afghan meals on the other. Add chips and rice and that will cost you extra.

For mains, we started off with the Mixed Kebab. This comes with three kebabs; one chicken, one lamb and one lamb mince. It also comes with two sides which are serving of salad and naan bread.

The kebabs were amazing! Out of the three, the chicken was my favourite. Made from chicken thigh fillets, the meat was well marinated and cooked to perfection. The chicken was tender and succulent, and full of smokey flavours from the charcoal grill. The lamb kebab came a close second with juicy morsels of lean meat. The minced lamb kebab was also very good. Full of herbs and spices, there wasn’t anything over powering as you normally experience at other places.

The naan bread nice and firm, and freshly baked. The juices from the meat were infused into the bread making it very flavoursome. The salad consisted of lettuce, tomato, cucumber and red onion, which were all fresh and crisp. These sides were merely spectators to the stars of the show, the kebabs.

The Kufta Korma are basically lamb meatballs in a mild curry sauce. Each meatball was soft and delicate, and very well cooked. The insides had nice pinkish centres and the curry flavours were well infused into the lamb.

The Lamb Korma was almost identical to the Kufta Korma but instead lean chunks of tender juicy morsels of lamb were used instead. While the sauces appeared to be the same, the use of lamb pieces gives the sauce slightly more depth. It’s a subtle difference but still quite noticeable.

The Qabuli Palow consisted of two lamb shanks covered in flavoured rice. The lamb was tender and succulent, and the meat was simply falling off the bone. The basmati rice was cooked to perfection with nice individual grains. The inclusion of sultanas and capsicum gave the dish a natural sweetness which balanced the subtle delicate flavours of the lamb.

To finish off, we had a cup of hot Afghan Green Tea. The tea was aromatic and the taste brought out subtle notes of saffron, cinnamon and cardamom. The beverage was refreshing and perfect for a cold winters night.

The staff were friendly and welcoming, and the service was exceptional. While they nearly had a full house, the meals arrived on time and the plates were cleared as we finished each course. The atmosphere was relaxed and the pricing is very reasonable. The kebabs work out to be roughly $4 each, while the most expensive main is $14. Some of the dishes can reach $20 if you add rice, but I personally thought the naan and salad were sufficient.

Having experienced Afghan street food at other establishments, I’d have to say that this place is one of the best. The meat used is of a premium quality, it’s full of flavour and cooked to perfection. Having said that, the home style rustic meals that are on offer are just as good.

Definitely worth a visit!

WHERE: 85 Prospect Rd, Prospect