Zalla Afghan Grill in Concord

Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek, Concord...this part of the Bay Area, drawing close to Mount Diablo, is pretty much suburban wasteland, as far as I'm concerned. Big box stores are dog-piled on top of each other so relentlessly that spotting an obscure chain restaurant like Coco's can seem like a revelation. But, hark! There are independent restaurants out here, and there's a few that are fabulous, and here's one of them. 

Afghan bread with sauces at the table. The sauce on the left is a mild, savory blend of greens, I'm guessing mint, cilantro and parsley in olive oil, with a touch of something else, probably diced pickled or sauteed onion. The red sauce on the right is a chunkier one, tomato and chile-based with a slight kick of heat that might be too much for some people around here, but also suffused with a sophisticated blend of spices.

Qabuli Pallow: lamb shanks served on brown basmati rice with raisins, julienned carrots (lightly sauteed), and an other-worldly blend of spices. The lamb was perfect: tender, rich, & succulent. The side salads served with the entrees were a perfect blend of romaine, cucumber, red onion, tomato & citrus-based dressing. At this point I'm thinking this completely changes my perception of Concord.

Sabzi Challow: lamb shank cooked with finely diced spinach & spices, served with white basmati rice. One of the best spinach dishes I've ever had. In fact, one of the best entrees I've ever had, period. The spinach tasted like it was freshly picked, prepped that day, and cooked to order. 

Since it look a bit longer to be served (about 15 minutes) than the Qabuli Pallow, and I know how things tend to work in kitchens, I'm thinking there's no way they don't already have lamb shanks pre-cooked. If you're doing it right, you wanna maybe char the lamb a little bit, but as a rule, lamb shank is low and slow, it's something that takes at least a couple of hours. This spinach tasted so fresh and delicious that the chef must be cooking it to order.  

I noticed this place has bunch of grilled items on the menu too, and I'm pretty sure those are great. Robin and her father had these lamb shank dishes recently, so I knew they'd be good, but also dishes like these take some real skill. Grilling is pretty easy compared to getting the balance of sauces and spices just right. Given that they excel with these lamb shank entrees, I think there's no doubt the grilled meat entrees are fabulous as well. 

These entrees are a real bargain at $10.50-$11 each, in the city you'd be paying twice that, especially once the SF Chronicle gets wind of it. This is truly world class cuisine, and yet, it tastes like food made with love, as if you are being served in someone's home.

As a rule, I never order dessert. But when we saw Sheeryakh on the menu, Afghan-style Vanilla ice  cream with pistachio, cardamom and saffron, we had to indulge.

Zalla Afghan Grill

4743 Clayton Road

http://zallaafghan.weebly.com/

925-686-9923