Pakistani restaurant?

I know that we have Indian restaurants, but do we have any Pakistani restaurants?

Thank you, Annemarie.

Jerry: I'm not a restaurateur by any means, but it occurred to me that perhaps you might serve some dishes from your native Pakistan? As opposed to franks and beans for example.

Babu: But there are no Pakistani people here.

Jerry: Doesn't matter. You would have the only authentic Pakistani restaurant in the whole neighborhood.

Gayle, I'm gonna be in Indy the next 2 weeks and one place I'm going to eat at while out of town is Samira's Restaurant. It's an Afghani place In Bloomington and while I do not know if the food is the same as in Pakistan I do know that they and Afghanistan are neighbors, at least geographically. I have a good friend who hails from Afghanistan and he swears by the food at Samira's. I'll let you know how it is after I try it out.

They have a very simple website and the linkie is here --- http://www.samirasrestaurant.com/

Oooooh, please do Doogy. Went I lived in St. Paul there was a Afghani restaurant over on the Minneapolis side that was to die for. (Or is that suppose to be "for which it was to die? )

Aren't a lot of typical Pakistani dishes found on the menus of American Indian restaurants? The breads, the saag, the meat curries? When I was in grad school, I ate at a Paki cabdriver place a couple of times a week because it was good and because it was something I could afford that wasn't ramen noodles. It seems a lot like Indian food to me. But I might just be an ugly American, so who knows.

Aren't a lot of typical Pakistani dishes found on the menus of American Indian restaurants? The breads, the saag, the meat curries? When I was in grad school, I ate at a Paki cabdriver place a couple of times a week because it was good and because it was something I could afford that wasn't ramen noodles. It seems a lot like Indian food to me. But I might just be an ugly American, so who knows.

Eliza, it would make sense being as Pakistan is situated between India and Afghanistan. I would expect there to be some cultural crossover in a culinary manner of speaking.

You are one step ahead of me Dan L. I had a major Seinfeld flashback...
I loved Babu...

Jerry: I'm not a restaurateur by any means, but it occurred to me that perhaps you might serve some dishes from your native Pakistan? As opposed to franks and beans for example.

Babu: But there are no Pakistani people here.

Jerry: Doesn't matter. You would have the only authentic Pakistani restaurant in the whole neighborhood.

My 2 cents - since Pakistan WAS India until 1956 (maybe 1947 depending on how you define it), I would have to think the foods would be similar, at least traditionally speaking. Once Pakistan became an Islamic republic in 1956, I would guess the food morphed somewhat from the influx of Islamic cuisine from other areas (Afghanistan being one influence, I'm guessing).

[Robin Garr]

Adding to what the others have said, in NYC, hundreds of little storefront Indian places bill themselves as "Indo-Pak," and they all seem to serve the standard range of Northern Indian dishes popular in the US - chicken tikka, tandoori, sag paneer, channa masala, curries, naan bread and rice - pretty much the same fare as the first generation Indian restaurants in Louisville including Kashmir, Shalimar and India Palace. Several of the newer spots - particularly DakShin and then Bombay Grill and to some degree SItar - go on to a broader regional range of Indian cuisines.

I recall dining at an Afghan restaurant in London a few years back...they served chilled -- but very spicy -- sliced carrots as a side dish -- amazing flavor!

[Robin Garr]

I recall dining at an Afghan restaurant in London a few years back...they had these chilled -- but very spicy -- sliced carrots as a side dish -- amazing!

I dined in an Afghan place in the East Village in NYC years ago, and thought the food was okay, but basically similar to Indian. Then I caught a glimpse in the kitchen and noticed that everyone working in there was Chinese! (No, I'm not saying that a Chinese person couldn't cook Afghani. But it gave me a smile. Of course, lower Manhattan at that time was also loaded with places called Fresca Tortilla Grill, which made darn good Mexican-style tacos and were all staffed by Taiwanese. Globalization, gotta love it.)

Don't forget that China does border Afghanistan. That whole area of the world (Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, China, Kashmir) probably shares a lot of similarities.

[Robin Garr]

Don't forget that China does border Afghanistan. That whole area of the world (Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, China, Kashmir) probably shares a lot of similarities.

Heh ... "probably" is a broad term when you're guessing at something you don't know, young feller. However, the Muslim Chinese region in sparsely populated Western China, adjacent to several of the -stan countries, DOES bring us the amazing Cumin Lamb that many of us have enjoyed at Red Pepper and Jasmine and, with chicken subbed for the lamb, at Liang's ... )

Robin, I really should've been more precise in what I stated. As I do have friends from Afghanistan and India, I DO (not probably) have a good handle on the culture (not just culinarily) in that part of our world. Wow, if you're calling me a young feller, what does that make you? I am pushing 51 really hard right now. Only really old people call me a young feller anymore.