Babani's Kurdish Restaurant

When visiting the Ordway recently, I took the opportunity to experience Kurdish food, a genre I couldn't even really picture before entering the restaurant.  Would it be like Afghani food? Middle Eastern in some way? Indian-esque?

My experience at Babani's would result in a "none of the above" answer to those possibilities, if only because the food was uniquely its own.  Located walking distance from the Ordway, Babani's has been opening the eyes and mouths of Twin cities folks since 1997, which I think is wonderful!  The exterior of the restaurant is unassuming and easy to pass by, but the interior is a colorful homage to a culture about which I will honestly plead ignorance.  The rugs on display and some of the dress reminded me slightly of the decor and clothing of the Berber women I lived with in Morocco.   The mixing of the rice and entree reminded me of the activity involved in ordering a curry, but the flavors were specific and there was a different type of warmth (not better, not worse) than the cumin-heavy delicacies I lived off of in North Africa.

We had Nareen to start, a Kurdish bread topped with feta and served with a spiced tomato sauce.  I just love to see how different cultures land on the same general concept of awesomeness. Tomato+bread+cheese = delicious.  It's not rocket science and it's hard to mess it up.  This was a wonderful way to start off a yummy evening.

We each had soup with our entrees, Niskena for me and Dowjic for my date.  The Niskena was a blend of lentils and spices and wasn't too different from other lentil soups I've had.  I would say that they nail the perfect balance between lentil and broth, which can be tricky as I've had some intensely goopy lentil soups recently.  So while the soup wasn't a particularly new experience for me, it was a well-executed one.  The Dowjic was a unique blend of chicken, yogurt, rice, basil, and lemon, and it was incredible.  It was soft and brothy, not like some yogurt-based soups that can be cloying and almost sticky.  It reminded me of a chicken and wild rice soup with the added benefit of perfectly blended yogurt, just enough tang to make you wonder what could be different about your bowl of goodness.  When we go back, I'm getting the Dowjic.

I'm a sucker for a good description and despite cutting back on my meat consumption of late, the description of Sheik Babani, named for the appearance of a man's striped trousers, sold me on diving into a meat-laden dish. Honestly, I don't even know the type of meat.  Maybe beef?  A mix of beef and lamb? Regardless, the meat mixture was simmered in a delicate, mildly spicy tomato sauce and stuffed in eggplant and served with a plate of basmati rice.  It was a healthy, but not overwhelming portion, that stuck to my ribs for the night in a comforting, almost-winter-so-you-better-warm-up-those-bones sort of way.

Babani's is almost hidden in downtown St. Paul, and given that it has been around for 15 years, it's probably not high on anybody's list of "new" places to try.  But if this place is new to you, it's worth the trek to St. Paul.  It's delicious.  Order the Dowjic, you'll thank me.

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