Baba Kabob — Restaurant in San Diego

I accidentally ended up at Baba Kabob today and I honestly wish I'd found the place a year ago. I ordered some Sambosas and a Gyro Salad to go.

The Sambosas are essentially the same concept as East Indian samosas, but the potato filling is mashed. For $5.95, you get four sambosas, which use a lighter, flakier pastry than with the typical samosa. But the filling has a very mild taste, perfect for dipping in the two sauces it comes with - some green that could be parsley or cilantro, blended with a bit of oil, I think.

Now while the place is Afghani, they have some dishes that are associated with Greece, including the Greek Salad and the Gyros Salad. You get a choice of regular or spicy gyros. I had the latter and it was incredibly tasty. Now, despite it being served with a "Greek Salad," there are no cucumbers, which in my books means it's not really a Greek Salad. (My fave Greek place in Cupertino, CA, Ylassoo, had cukes, and every single Greek resto I frequented in Canada for decades had cukes.)

Still, I loved the food at Baba Kabob so much that I'm trying to stop myself from going again today.

UPDATE: I've been back a few days in a row, re-ordering the sambosas and trying the baklava pastry. It's as good as any I've had anywhere, maybe more so. The pastry is lightly flaky phyllo dough, with a tasty, crunchy, traditional filling, not too sweet, with a perfect amount of syrup -- not too sticky. One piece is $1.59, but if you buy a pack of 8, it's only $9.99 -- like getting two free pieces.

I'm still planning to go back to try other items.

UPDATE: Sat Aug 10/19: I love their sambosa and Gyros Salad so much that I've actually stuck with them. But if you're going, be forewarned that their prices have increased recently. Sambosas are now $6.99 for 4, which is more than $1 increase.

While the Gyros Salad base price is the same, they seem to be charging more for getting it spicy than a few weeks ago. They're also inconsistent on the meat. I made 2 orders of this salad and they had different amounts of meat -- both less than the 3 or 4 other times I ordered.

While the salad is as tasty as before, two of the 4 sambosas were burnt and split, full of cooking oil. Whenever the owner isn't present, it seems like the rest of the staff have no sense of quality control. If I had noticed the state of the sambosas, I would have asked for replacements. This is the second time this has happened. As a result, of increased costs and decreased food quality, I will not...

The positive reviews of this place don't do it justice! (I can only assume the negatives being surrounding business trying to derate the competition.)

My wife and I stopped in for a late lunch. This is a family-owned business, with Mom and Dad working in the back and their son taking orders up front. As we were ordering, I noticed that when I mentioned I wanted a combination (drink and fries also) the father threw some fries in the fryer. I ordered the potato bolani, and the mom casually grabbed some bread dough and a rolling pin and got to work. Before I had even paid for my order, two other people were working on it!

A wait of about ten minutes, and the food arrived. I'm not a very good food photographer, but I included a picture. It was even better than it looks! The hot potato bolani bread was amazing, the chicken shawarma sandwiches excellent and fresh, and the fries crisped to perfection!

Probably the best lunch my wife and I have had in a very long time! I talked to the proprietors afterwards and found out they make their dough daily, and cook it fresh when you order it for the bolani. They start their day well before they open preparing the food, even marinating the meat the day before it is served. We ordered rather generic items, but the food was was fresh, tasty, and on point. I cannot wait to go back and try other menu items that include the lamb and beef!

Update: I've been back multiple times, tried various other items, and my enthusiasm for Baba Kabob has only increased! The spicy gyro shawarma...

A delectable family owned restaurant serving tasty fare that will invoke your senses to harken back to home made meals. We were visiting San Diego and wanted a halal option that would satisfy our taste buds, provide us with unique dishes, and yet prove itself a bastion of hearty and filling meal. Baba’s menu met all the requirements and gained a fan for life. The menu is simple yet offers a few standard fare items including kebabs supplemented by some unique items like Bolani (fried flatbread with a choice of potato or chives filling), and mantoo (a unique dumpling with choice of various fillings). We ordered the bolani, mantoo, and kabobs. The bolani was supreme, fried to crispy perfection and the potato filling in between the layers of the flatbread paired with a sour cream dip was a hit, and gone within minutes. Mantoo was a juxtaposition of opposites with a thin dough of the dumpling somehow managing to hold the tasty meat filing inside all brought together by the sauce on top. These dishes while delicious have to be supplemented by the perfect kabobs for a meat centric restaurant like Baba. So it was no surprise that the chicken, lamb, and beef kabob were all juicy and grilled to perfection. Overall, this restaurant blew through our expectations with unique dishes and familiar fare cooked...