Pomir Grill is a small, family run restaurant located on Shrewsbury Street that has a nice, quiet atmosphere. Mom cooks, Dad helps out and runs the register and Daughter waits tables. The food service seemed slow (albeit, we were a table of 20), but the staff was very attentive. If you’re looking for a quick meal, this may not be the place, but if you’re looking for good quality, fresh cooked to order food and don’t mind taking your time, this place is a keeper.
The meal started out with traditional Afghan bread served with 4 different dipping sauces. While I didn’t care for the Coriander Chutney or the Cucumber Yoghurt sauces, they were tasty but just not my taste, the peppery tomato based sauce was quite nice with the bread. They also offer a special hotter version of the tomato sauce that isn’t quite as sweet and turns up the heat a little bit. That was excellent with the bread, offering a very nice balance of sweet and spicy.
Next up was a Kachalu Cutlet, which is basically a fried potato cake, filled with meat. They offer a veggie version of the same thing, for those that would rather not eat meat. The potato cake was breaded and very lightly fried in oil so it was still soft but had a nice crust on it. The potato had a fairly strong citrus flavor and the meat filling was seasoned very nicely. Together the overall taste was excellent and even though it was fried, it wasn’t heavy or oily at all. Overall an excellent appetizer.
For a main course, I had the Chicken Kebab, with Spinach Rice. This was served with a small side of vegetables (Zucchini, Squash, Cucumber, Peppers) that was season with the same seasoning on the chicken and that were sautéed and offer a very nice accompaniment. The spinach rice is a long grain white rice that is cooked with spinach so the rice picks up a very slight spinach flavor and takes on a greenish tint. The rice, along with the vegetables were cooked perfectly, with just enough texture and a lot of flavor. The seasoning on the chicken was strong, but not overpowering and had a really nice mix of flavors. The chicken was moist and also cooked to perfection with the balance of the rice, vegetables and chicken being an excellent entrée that I will be ordering again.
Overall, I really enjoyed the experience at the Pomir Grill and my first taste of Afghani cuisine. This is a place I will be coming back to, fairly often. -DL
There are times when all a reviewer should have to write is “The food here is great. You need to try it.” But my editor assumes that you don’t trust me quite enough for that to suffice. He wants me to provide you with details. Fortunately for me, reminiscing about my meal at the Pomir Grill is an extremely pleasant experience, albeit one that leaves me more than a little hungry. I had never been to an Afghani restaurant before and truly had no idea what to expect. The cuisine is similar in some ways to the Lebanese or Armenian food that you might have sampled elsewhere in the city. Kabobs are featured prominently in the menu, for example. The seasoning is distinct, however, delicately combining sweet and savory flavors, as I discovered with my Chicken Kabob entree. The meat was also extremely tender and moist, making this perhaps my favorite chicken dish in recent memory. The chicken was served over grilled peppers and onions, a small salad, and a serving of absolutely amazing brown rice. The rice, topped with carrot and raisons, included cardamom among the spices, making it just a little on the sweet side. As I am truly dedicated to those who read Worcester Foodies, eating my own meal just wasn’t enough to prepare for this review. I felt a need to sample the dishes of those seated near me. I am happy to report that my Chicken Kabob was no anomaly. Everything I tasted from my wife’s meatballs to one friend’s Kachalu Bolani potato filled pastry to another’s Afgahan Almond Cade was outstanding. And so, I will end my review as I started it. The food here is great. You need to try it. -JD
