Helmand: New Afghan Restaurant in Albany Park

Driving down Kedzie recently, I noticed a new restaurant in the former Noon O Kabab space and we decided to check it out.
We had a lovely meal and we'll definitely be back.
We wanted to try a broad swath of the menu and we ended up ordering mostly appetizers.

Afghan naan


Borani --potato and onion stuffed flatbread (this was fantastic, hot and crispy, and we loved the tomato-based sauce that accompanied it)


Afghan dumpling--Aashak (filled with leeks/scallions) and Mantu (filled with ground beef, carrot and onion). Both were delicious with nice delicate wrappers. Note that these are the small portions


Sambosa--filled with potato and peas. This was the one dish I wouln't order again. Maybe because I'm comparing it to Indian samosas, I thought this was a little bland.


Kadu--baby pumpkin with honey, yogurt mint sauce. This was another highlight. I'm not a fan of overly sweet dishes and I thought this perfectly hit the balance between sweet and savory.


I forgot to take a picture of our one entree, the rack of lamb with Kabuli rice. This was a dish that was much more delicious than it appeared--simple, perfectly cooked to medium rare as requested. I'll probably try some different entrees but this will be on the repeat list for sure.
My dining companion had the baklava and liked it--I'm not a big baklava fan but I thought it was solid.

The folks who run this place couldn't be nicer and they were happy to let us linger over tea. Prices were extremely reasonable and portions generous. Service was leisurely (but in the best possible way--easy to get our server's attention but nice pacing). The space looks very similar to how it looked in the Noon O Kabab days--nice and bright with well-spaced tables.
We are big fans of Kabul house, though I haven't been since pre-pandemic. I thought Helmand compares very favorably. This spot is definitely worth a try and would be a great place to have a nice, non-rushed dinner with a group of friends. It looks like they a have a smallish private dining room in the back.

Helmand Restaurant
4661 N Kedzie
Chicago
https://www.helmandchicago.com/

The new Helmand is apparently not related to the Helmand restaurant that was at Halstead and Belmont.

Happy to hear it's worth a visit! I live super close by and have been waiting for them to open. I'll definitely go check them out.

Sounds good.

The name alone encourages me to try it as I have positive memories of the original Helmand on Halsted. Reportedly, it was run by a relative of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The atmosphere was pleasant and the food was good and fairly priced.

I hope the new Helmand is also a success.

I'm meeting an Afghan newcomer there next wk and will report back.

I brought an Afghan friend here for lunch yesterday. Last time we met we went to Kabul House but this is closer to my home and not having been here wanted to give it a try. Walid the chef (and I believe owner) oversaw the beginning of our meal as there was no staff there yet. Unfortunately we were the only ones there throughout our lunch, which I think was a notch above Kabul, as did my friend.

Mantu were excellent and seemed a bit spicier than what I've grown accustomed to and I found preferable. The fried eggplant (boranee banjan) w/tomato and yogurt-mint sauce was my friend's favorite and told me "they make eggplant as amazing as we make." and appeared to tear up a bit. We'd been talking about "survivors guilt" and how he doesn't feel right spending money or enjoying himself knowing what his family is going through back home. My favorite dish of the day was the kofta korma, meatballs in a tomato sauce, something I'd normally not order but he did and for good reason. Really delicious. Fwiw, he also felt the rice was better. When I asked Walid what I should order he suggested lamb kabob or salmon but I let my buddy order and ended up w/o either. Next time.

Stopped in for lunch today. Based on our experience, agree that the food tops Kabul House. Service was very professional and warm. Although we were the only customers in the restaurant, a photographer from the Reader was taking photos to accompany an upcoming review. Hope that gives them a good boost. Highly recommend that LTH-ers show this place some love!

Went for dinner. One caution for vegetarians, the stuff available is all in the Appetizers section. But what is available is really good. I had the Potato filled flatbread (Bolani), Fried eggplant (Banjan Boorani), and Yoghurt drink (Doogh). Got Afghan Naan and salad alongside with the order. Even this was too much for me and I took some home! I got a couple of dipping sauces: one was basically the Mast Khair (yoghurt sauce) and the other was reminiscent of Yemeni Zhug. It was all tasty and filling. And I am glad they offer Afghan Naan which I really like.

When you order Doogh, ask them to make it without ice and drink without straws. It came with chunks of cucumber; so I don't know how they expect people to use a straw to drink that!

The other veggie stuff (that I want to try next time) is Spinach Curry, Dumplings (Aashak), Pumpkin (Kaddu), Sambusa, and a couple of soups. So you can easily make a meal out of these, which is what I did. Plus, they had some Afghan desserts (Jalebi, Firnee and a version of Cannoli) that I didn't try.

They also have the regular Hummus and Baba Ghanoush as their Mediterranean selections, but I don't think I care to eat that here.

Lovely slow paced lunch at Helmand. Good food, service, ambiance, even found parking right in front of the restaurant.

I'm a sucker for old school tea service, Helmand's hit the mark, and the baby pumpkin was a revelation.

Thanks for posting Thaiobsessed, going back soon.



Helmand, count me a Fan!

Grabbed some food to go here last night for the first time. An order of the lamb kababs and mantu based on the staff's recommendation.

While I know nothing about Afghani cuisine, everything was really well executed from a technical standpoint. Nice addition to the hood and will be trying it again!

https://chicagoreader.com/food-drink/wi ... tid=Zxz2cZ

This place is classic LTH and needs love.

We did a carry-out last night. The Helmand formerly on Halsted was one of the first restaurants we dined at when we moved to Chicago back in 1993. We enjoyed many meals there and I was excited to introduce the cuisine to Audrey.

Shared appetizers:


Aashak. We got the small (3 dumplings). There is an option for 6.


Bolani

Jonathan got the Beef Koubideh.

He opted for the large portion. Picture came after he had taken out one of the kabobs. 2nd kebob was lunch today.

Audrey chose the Joujeh Kabob (small portion). She LOVED the rice.

Sorry, the picture does not do it justice.

I had the Salmon Kabob (small portion).

Might not look it but it was really juicy and delicious.

Plated up with extra sauce from the Bolani and hot sauce they provided:


Everything was carefully packaged. We enjoyed this meal a great deal. Jonathan/Audrey reported that at 6:45 p.m. there was only one table dining in but several people came in for carry-out and the phone was ringing. We plan to dine in sometime soon.

LynnB wrote:We did a carry-out last night. The Helmand formerly on Halsted was one of the first restaurants we dined at when we moved to Chicago back in 1993. We enjoyed many meals there and I was excited to introduce the cuisine to Audrey.

Shared appetizers:


Aashak. We got the small (3 dumplings). There is an option for 6.


Bolani

Jonathan got the Beef Koubideh.

He opted for the large portion. Picture came after he had taken out one of the kabobs. 2nd kebob was lunch today.

Audrey chose the Joujeh Kabob (small portion). She LOVED the rice.

Sorry, the picture does not do it justice.

I had the Salmon Kabob (small portion).

Might not look it but it was really juicy and delicious.

Plated up with extra sauce from the Bolani and hot sauce they provided:


Everything was carefully packaged. We enjoyed this meal a great deal. Jonathan/Audrey reported that at 6:45 p.m. there was only one table dining in but several people came in for carry-out and the phone was ringing. We plan to dine in sometime soon.

Looks good, Lynn. It's been on my short list for a while but they're not open for lunch, which has thwarted me to some degree. Looks like I should make it a dinner priority sometime soon.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Looks good, Lynn. It's been on my short list for a while but they're not open for lunch, which has thwarted me to some degree. Looks like I should make it a dinner priority sometime soon.
=R=

Hmm. Per my emailed receipt from Sunday, June 4 at 11:40 AM, at that time they were open for lunch. Perhaps they will reintroduce lunch in the future.

They did lunch when they opened. If no more, it may be because they were empty ea time I was there and doesn't make sense to them.

Jazzfood wrote:They did lunch when they opened. If no more, it may be because they were empty ea time I was there and doesn't make sense to them.

Just called to confirm the hours shown via google. Definitely no longer open for lunch but yes, they used to be.

=R=

From Helmand's social media this morning: "Due to unforeseen events, we are temporarily closed. We look forward to seeing you in the future. Thank you."

Drove by today. There is a bright red “For Rent” sign in the window.