Where to eat AFGHANISTAN 🇦🇫 Zürich: Afghan Anar

Afghan Anar, Zürich

Fierzgasse 22

What we ordered: Split between three people: the bandjan borani (fried eggplant mom's style with tomato sauce, secret blend of spices and homemade cottage cheese), vegetarian mantu (dumplings filled with pumpkin, char masala spice mixture, served on strained, salted yogurt with lentil sauce), Kabuli pulao (the national dish consisting of basmati rice with lamb, raisins, caramelized carrots, refined with pistachios and almonds), vegetarian shola ghorbandi (mung beans risotto with carrot cubes and chickpeas, served with strained, salted yogurt), lamb kebabs with a side salad of Chinese cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, daikon, yellow bell peppers and pomegranate seeds, garlic naan garnished with pomegranate seeds, and to drink we had five small beers, one large beer, two carafes of water and an espresso.

Cost: 199 CHF / €207 / $226

Michelin-rated Afghan Anar is a modest but veritable oasis, though Afghan Anar’s vibe is more hipster Zürich than authentic Kabuli these days. Instead of long beards, patrons displayed ample tattoos, especially visible on a warm August night in the outdoor courtyard. The carpeted benches conjured a cleaned-up version of the old Khyber Pass backpacker route. One South Asian couple that came in, her in a loose-fitting headscarf, were whisked to a table inside.

The cuisine was accented more with cumin than saffron. The vegetarian mantu was well spiced with paprika, yogurt and a neutral oil to accent the pumpkin. The light salad served with the most succulent lamb kebab was a perfect complement in the heat. The Kabuli pulao was more subtle than some of the other offerings, but impactful. The garlic naan seemed to be without much garlic but was punctuated by pomegranate seeds that also garnished the side salad served with the kebabs.

Unlike the Kabuli pulao, the mung bean risotto (vegetarian shola ghorbandi) was spicier but went unfinished at our table, only because our vegetarian companion was stuffed. It was similarly garnished with spicy lentil ragù and yogurt, like the mantu. Our preferred dishes were the lamb kebabs and the aubergine (bandjan borani).

My partner found the dishes unexpectedly soft compared with the Persian food he is more familiar with from his days as a correspondent for Swiss public television. Our vegetarian company gave high marks to the aubergine. Lamb bones were clearly a necessary component for the flavor of the Kabuli pulao, something noted for when it would come time to offer our own rendering of Afghanistan’s national dish.

Our server told us the owner began his culinary life in Zürich with street food before expanding to a brick-and-mortar restaurant. He was not on site, however. He had just opened a second location in the Hottingen quarter (Zürich’s District 7) – a clear indicator of success for immigrant restaurateurs.

On our way home through the Zürich main station, we saw three boys, one dressed in the traditional South Asian shalwar khameez. They were sharing a bench, laughing and joking while listening to regional music on their smartphones. We had a train to catch and need not disrupt the peaceful moment, though they seemingly had nowhere to go.

It was a small reminder, a last taste of a region that has been plagued by so much conflict and at the center of the war on terror in recent decades. Before NATO’s turn, there was the anarchy that came after the Soviet invasion and the fall of the Soviet empire. Like the subtleties of some of the dishes, it was a peaceful, delicate reminder that the unholy violence of recent decades in Afghanistan endures and transforms the lives of some to a greater degree than others.

How to get to Afghanistan from Switzerland:

Over land, it is approximately a 79 hour drive fraught with potential peril through Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran and finally Afghanistan. Certainly check conditions before embarking on such an odyssey and talk with locals and those with experience in adventure road tripping if you are even contemplating the journey. Travel warnings, restrictions and advisories may be in place depending on your nationality. However, a word of caution: anti-personnel mines remain in place following the 1989 Soviet withdrawal and are indiscriminate of one’s country of origin.

By air, most flights are routed through Turkey on Turkish Airlines. Following the dramatic withdrawal of US and NATO forces from the country in August 2021, now only Emirates, Turkish Airlines and Kam Air fly routes into Kabul due to safety concerns and Taliban control of the country. 

How many Afghans are in Switzerland: 16,000

Distance from Bern to Kabul: 6,821 km

Distance from the Afghan Anar to Kabul: 6,705 km

Learn how to make Afghanistan's national dish, Kabuli pulao, and about its origins.

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