Choopan Kabab House in Flushing, NY
Choopan Kabab House
43-27 Main Street
Flushing, NY
718-539-3180
Take out: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Credit Card Accepted: Yes
Opened until 11PM on Saturdays
Flushing is an ethnically diverse neighborhood with many different restaurants to choose from. I have always thought that Flushing is predominately home to East Asians, in particularly Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. But that is only one part of one the neighborhood. The other side is home to a lot of South Asians like the Pakistanis, Indians, Bangladeshis, and Aghanis. I am sure when you are driving into Flushing, you’ll notice a lot of South Asian stores. I have never really been to the stores there nor have eaten in the restaurants because I’m not familiar with their culture. I have eaten at Indian restaurants, and that’s probably it for South Asian cuisine, but slowly and very surely with the help and encouragement from my friend, I will get more exposure to that cuisine!
My friend introduced me to this Afghani restaurant called Choopan Kabab House. Like many South Asian restaurants that I have personally encountered, like Ali Baba (Turkish Cuisine) by the Horace Harding Expressway in Flushing, there are neon lights flashing right outside the restaurant! I guess that’s a good way of attracting customers, but in a very old and tacky kind of way which is cute in my opinion. Moving forward, I believe the only time I’ve had Afghani food is really the chicken and rice platter by the vendor on 53rd and 6th avenue in Manhattan. Scratch that. I have been informed that the chicken and rice halal cart on 53rd and 6th is Arabic! I really need to eat Afghani and Arabic food one after the other so I can distinguish the two cuisines!
Now, unfortunately I did not take a photo of the outside of the restaurant because it was raining really hard. But rest assure that I do have photos for your enjoyment, so make the jump to the next page to see!
Interior of Choopan Kabab House in Flushing, NY
Choopan Kabab House is literally tucked away outside of Flushing. I personally believe the train station is quite a walk to this restaurant. Now, if you were to take the Flushing van from Chinatown, you can easily get here because the van has to drive pass this restaurant to the heart of Main Street, which is by the train station. My friend and I came by car and we were literally the last customers here! We did arrive at 10:30 which did cut it close to their closing time of 11:00pm. But according to my friend, South Asians are very accommodating and kind so they would not rush their customers to get out. That would totally be the case if it was in a Chinese restaurant!
My seat and view in the restaurant
Salad!
Delicious warm toasted bread
SO DELICIOUS!! I love how it just came out of the oven and how toasty it is on the outside and soft on the inside! My friend didn’t care much for this, but I definitely took advantage of devouring this! I guess it also helps that I love bread.
Combo Platter: Chicken tikka, beef kofta and basmati rice
Close up of combo platter
Flash version of combo platter of Chicken tikka, beef kofta and basmati rice at Choopan Kabab House
Verdict: Lord have mercy on my soul because this is probably the best Afghani food that I have ever eaten! Not like I have eaten many, but in my opinion I have more pleasure eating this rice combo than the Chicken and Rice on 53rd and 6th avenue in manhattan. Call me crazy or say what you will, but I love the moistness and the flavor-induced slowed cooked basmati rice with the crispy of the outside, soft on the inside beef kofta. I didn’t care too much for the chicken, but just the flavors and the different textures of this dish is so comforting to meal. Adding the white sauce is like adding the cherry on top of the ice cream. The hot sauce here is not good at all, but you definitely do not need that to enjoy this dish!
If this restaurant was around the block from my house, I would make it a habit to go every week! This is how much I love this food and the best part about this dish is that it doesn’t taste ethnic at all! That is the beautiful part. My comfort food is definitely this dish now!
Now I will leave you with the city’s health inspection report on this restaurant! Regardless, you guys have to go in and try! It’s very inexpensive and it’s so very tasty! Enjoy!
<3 FCG
| CHOOPAN KABAB HOUSE 43-27 MAIN STREET, QUEENS 11355 718-539-3180Violation points: 4 |
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Inspection Date: 12/10/2008Violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.
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One Response to “Choopan Kabab House in Flushing, NY”
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Try the other Kabab House down or up the block. I saw this place too but heard so much about the Afghan Kabab House that we went there instead. The dishes look similar to the ones in your pics but it comes with more side items. Grilled tomatoes with spices. They also have green rice which is cooked with dill that is so tasty.
Man, those cubes of meat are making me very hungry. They look so delicious.