The lamb biryani (Photo by Annamarya Scaccia / West Philly Local)

When I first reported on the opening of Shaban Kabab & Curry (4145 Chestnut Street), I was excited by the prospect of having a new South Asian restaurant in the area. After all, as someone who enjoys cuisine from the region, I was looking forward to tasting Pakistani food—Shaban’s specialty—for the first time.

So on Monday night, I made my way through the blistering cold to the corner of 42nd and Chestnut Streets, where Shaban Kabab & Curry set up shop. Once inside, owner Mohammad Sajad greeted me with a warm cup of ginger and milk as we sat at the window bar. The dining area is small, but cozy, made up of polished aluminum furniture, grey and bright green walls, and a wood panel wall fixture that immediately pulls your focus. While Shaban’s cuisine may be traditional, there’s definitely nothing traditional about the design of the restaurant.

Sajad and I make small talk while I wait for the dishes he’s prepared for me to taste. Since opening, he tells me, Shaban has been really busy, with Thursdays through Sundays being the busiest days. (The restaurant was empty on Monday evening save for one customer, although online orders seemed to have been racking up.) And the feedback he’s received has been mostly positive—”People just love [the food],” he says. 

It’s a claim that has at least partly been confirmed online—so far, Shaban’s received an average of four stars on Yelp, although Grubhub is less kind.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t wait to try the food. One by one, Sajad brings me three dishes to taste as he chats with me more about Shaban’s cooking techniques (it’s based on Mughlai cooking, developed by royalty and rooted in the use of elaborate flavors and whole spices). First up is the lamb biryani, a large plate of multi-colored basmati rice with lamb meat and sides of spiced yogurt and green chutney. On first bite, I immediately fall in love with this perfectly cooked dish—so much so I order the chicken version the next night for take out. It’s a clean, flavorful dish with a bit of a kick that’s brought out by pouring on a little bit of yogurt and chutney. And the lamb was tender, although hard to pull off the bone. All in all, incredibly fresh.

The trio of kababs: chicken seekh, beef bihari, and chicken bihari (Photo by Annamarya Scaccia / West Philly Local)

Next up was a trio of kababs: beef bihari, chicken bihari, and chicken seekh. These three kababs, Sajad says, are among the most popular dishes Shaban serves up. The bihari kababs are cooked in a clay oven, thinly sliced and marinated overnight in authentic South Asian flavors. As for the seekh kabab, which is also offered as beef, the minced meat is mixed with onion, chiles, and mint, rolled over a skewer, and cooked in a clay oven as well. While the two chicken dishes were as delightful as the biryani, both tender and distinct, the beef bihari was bit too spicy for my palate. Overall, though, the kababs packed a nice punch and weren’t drenched in grease.

The last dish was a bittersweet taste for me. While trying the previous meals, Sajad told me about an Indian dessert he wanted me to taste called moong dal halwa. It’s made with lentils, he said, and is absolutely delicious.

Unfortunately, he left out the part about the peanuts, which I’m allergic to. I politely told him I couldn’t eat it, but thanked him for the offer. Disappointed, he insisted he could make it without nuts, which I conceded to try—knowing full well it wasn’t possible. And I was right: the serving of moong dal halwa he brought out still had remnants of peanuts, and all I could taste was peanuts. Even though I couldn’t get pass two bites, I do highly recommend trying the dessert if you’re peanut-allergy free.

The beef bihari and moong dal halwa aside, I left Shaban Kabab & Curry with a bag full of leftovers and a stomach satisfied. I highly recommend trying out the joint, both dine-in and take out—and if you do, let us know what you think!

–Annamarya Scaccia

Shaban Kabab & Curry, 4145 Chestnut Street, (215) 921-2087
Indian/Pakistani, Pizza, Vegetarian
Hours: Sunday-Wednesday: 11:00 a.m. – 1 a.m.; Thursday, Saturday: 11 a.m. – 3 a.m.; Friday: 10 a.m. – 3 a.m.
Price range: $(0-10)
Take-out: Yes
Credit cards: Yes