Afghan restaurants in Toronto tend to be all about the kabobs, but of course, there are many other rich offerings at these places to try, like Qabuli rice, spicy chaplee patties and fried or grilled seafood and meats, usually accompanied by salad and thicker, less chewy naan than the Indian variety.

Heres a list of some best Afghan restaurants in Toronto

Naan & Kebob

Naan & Kabob is a popular halal Afghan chain with several locations throughout Toronto, including a counter in Scarborough town center.

The vibe is way less like a greasy Alibaba’s and more like an elegant cafeteria, offering a mainstream, accessible version of Afghan cuisine, not too hot, not too bland, and using fresh ingredients.

Naan Kabob Toronto

The Markham Road location is outfitted in a slick colour scheme of orange, black and dark brown with patterning and intricate lamps throughout.

Naan Kabob Toronto

The space was designed by Jenny Lu, the same person behind the look of another chain, Thai Express.

Naan Kabob Toronto

A classic chicken breast kabob ($10.99 with rice) is made using boneless, skinless marinated meat. It’s accompanied by your choice of salad, and we go with fatoush for a small upcharge, with seasoned pita, cucumber and cabbage.

Naan Kabob Toronto

A paneer kabob ($9.49) is marinated in a special house blend, kind of a veggie version of tandoor kabobs with thick slices of salty cheese and zucchini.

Naan Kabob Toronto

You can also get your chicken kabob tandoori style ($11.99) with rice, and I think I’d recommend this style over the plain chicken breast, though of course your tastes may skew one way or the other.

Naan Kabob Toronto

I find this style is excellently complemented by the thick garlic sauce that accompanies most kabobs, as well as the flavourful and generous portion of rice.

Naan Kabob Toronto

As for the titular naan ($1.29 for a basket), don’t expect anything like you get at Indian and Pakastani restaurants around town. This Afghani style naan is expectedly bready, stiff, and fairly bland, though it still makes a good typical bread basket for a fair price.

Naan Kabob Toronto

All kabobs are grilled on expensive, high end EmberGlo stone grills that use a different kind of charcoal to produce the exact right amount of heat without a lot of smoke.

Naan Kabob Toronto

The one at Naan & Kabob is customized with double tempered glass.

Traditional house-made drink options include mint yogurt doogh ($2.29).

There are also refreshingly slurpable mango smoothies ($3.49).

Naan Kabob Toronto

Nothing against the naan but the kabobs are definitely the half of the name of this place you should focus on. That, and the convenient service and lower prices.

Naan Kabob Toronto
Hector Vasquez

Baghlan Kabob and Bakery

Baghlan Kabob & Bakery is an Afghan eatery located in a Rexdale strip mall. Set up like a fast food restaurant, you have to walk through an aisle of tables to place your order at the back counter where the menu is displayed on video screens.

The interior isn’t especially stylish; red table cloths add pops of colour but are counterintuitively protected by Plexiglas. There are two deep, partitioned booths with seating for at least eight at banquettes that wrap around long tables. Those large format meals ($39.99-$79.99) featuring kabob multi-packs complete with rice and naan are apparently available for dine-in as well as take-away.

Baghlan Kabob Toronto

Kabobs are the main event on the menu – a single order, like the Jouja Kabob dinner ($8.49), is comparable to the souvlaki dinners found at most Greek diners. Long-grained rice accounts for half the plate, while the other half is packed with pale shredded lettuce, Afghan salata and chutney. The skewered chicken breast is thoroughly marinated and grilled so that each morsel is plump, juicy and slightly charred at the edges.

Baghlan Kabob Toronto

Also from the grill, beef or chicken chaplee ($4.99) finds itself between burger buns. The Americanized presentation, at first, seems a shame, considering this place bakes an excellent variety of traditional breads in-house – everything from barbari and roghani to Uzbek-style naans.

I guess it couldn’t be helped, considering the round patty shape it seems like a pretty natural fit – the kind of thing I’m surprised I haven’t seen previously, not even from a food truck. It leaves a good first impression – the beef chaplee is robustly spiced and dressed simply with just lettuce, tomato and spicy house mayo.

Baghlan Kabob Toronto

Photos by Jesse Milns

There are half a dozen handheld wraps, too, all priced at $4.99 or less. The kofta ($3.99), a spiced ground beef kabob, is wrapped in warm puffy tandoori naan and packed with salad and the house garlic sauce.

Baghlan Kabob Toronto

Photos by Jesse Milns

Baghlan Kabob & Bakery also stocks pastries, baklava and fresh bread for convenient grab and go. The restaurant is open daily at 9 am until at least 10 pm during the week and an hour later from Friday to Sunday.

Kandahar kabab & Thoncliffe

Kandahar Kabab serves Afghani kababs and other traditional cuisines specific to the Kandahar area.

The mini-chain has several locations in Toronto – this one in what was a Beer Store for forty years.

Kandahar Kabab Toronto

The interior is surprisingly over-the-top for what’s primarily a casual takeout place, a wall of waterfalls with a kitschy faux fireplace set into it greeting you when you first walk in.

Kandahar Kabab Toronto

The trickling of the waterfalls and the blare of orders being called out for pickup over the loudspeakers provide the main ambience, no real music to speak of.

Kandahar Kabab Toronto

Kandahar Kabab ($15.50) is somewhat obviously the signature dish here, a double kabab dish of veal filet mignon that’s been marinated for nearly 48 hours and grilled on extremely high heat with wedges of onion.

Kandahar Kabab Toronto

All double kebab dishes are served with a second chicken kofta kabab, rice, salad and Afghani naan.

Kandahar Kabab Toronto

A chicken breast double kabab combo ($13) is more middle-of-the-road price-wise, its vibrant yellow colour thanks to saffron, like everything also marinated for around two days.

Kandahar Kabab Toronto

It’s served with all the same accompaniments as the veal. These dishes aren’t cooked with oil so they’re technically lower in calories.

Kandahar Kabab Toronto

KK Fish ($13 for a small order up to $19 for a large) sees marinated white fish either grilled or fried according to your preference, finished with spices and herbs and served with a lemon wedge.

Kandahar Kabab Toronto

Kandahar Fries ($3.50 for a small order, $6 for a large—go for large!) tops relatively ho-hum fries with their famous house sauces, a wonderfully spicy hot sauce and a cooling white sauce. They complement pretty much every dish excellently, especially kababs.

Kandahar Kabab Toronto

A sundae ($3) is done up in typical Afghani style with a base of vermicelli soaked in syrup topped with soft serve and a choice of two frozen fruits (mango, raspberries, blueberries).

Kandahar Kabab Toronto

Mango juice ($3) and lassi ($4), like the sundae, are incredibly thick, creamy and refreshing to offset the spicy grilled food.

Kandahar Kabab Toronto

Everything here is made with spices traditional to Kandahar cooking, and recipes such as those for the sauces are closely guarded. This is a particularly great location to visit if you’re wondering what all the fuss is about Kandahar Kabab and some of the best kebab in the city.

Kandahar Kabab Toronto
Hector Vasquez


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