Chili Chutney Afghan Restaurant - Experience Middle Eastern Delights in Lake Forest, CA

Food was great. Mantu and Qabli Palao were great. It was also clean and the renovations look good as well. Thank you for the service.

Very tasty food, great service and okay environment. Middle eastern food is always the way to go! Recommended!

I'm not sure how authentic the Afghan food is here, but the leek bolani is so crispy and absolutely delicious. You can either order off of the menu or do the lunch buffet which is all you can eat and includes a mango lassi type of drink. The buffet has a lot more Indian food than Afghan food so I prefer to order off of the menu.

My family and I have been to Chili Chutney many times but am long overdue to leave a review. The ambiance was warm and inviting, making it the perfect spot for a relaxing meal. The service was exceptional; Mr.Malik was attentive and knowledgeable, offering great recommendations to our family. Overall, Chili Chutney has exceeded our expectations time and time again, and we can't wait to return. Highly recommended!

Found this place on yelp and found the pictures interesting. My curiosity got the best of me and i gave it a shot. I am glad I did. The food has a lot of crossover with, persian, indian, and uzbek and other central Asian Cuisines. We tried the lamb shank with rice raisins, carrots. Also the koobideh and some dumplings. All of it was really good. I loved the lamb shank and will definitely order it again when i come back. Dumplings had an interesting flavor and was tasty as well. The koobideh was interesting, it looked like the persian versian the spices and flavors were very different. All in all, great little spot. I'll definitely be back because there are many other things on the Menu i want to try. If you like Indian and Persian food, this is an interesting blend of the two.

We first ate here before the remodel. We perfer the old look that had an exotic. Foods are always good. The sauces are what make me want to come back again and again.

Food: 5/5 Service: 5/5 Ambiance : 5/5 I recommend it to you and your family especially good for groups , parties, gatherings, reunions, weddings I recommend it for the best food around in lake forest

*HALAL FRIENDLY* This is our go-to restaurant for Afghan cuisine. Over the years, we've ordered large takeaway trays for events or just at-home get-togethers, and have been very content with the result. I would definitely recommend doing this for events or parties at home. I also dined here during Ramadan this year, where I saw they incorporated a buffet style system for iftar with a set price. You could still choose to order off the menu if you pleased. They also have a stage setup used for events if you'd like to rent out the space or attend an event hosted by the restaurant. Today, we dined in the evening before dinner time, so it was substantially empty. Our server was very kind, attentive, and made sure to get us whatever we needed at all times, including asking the kitchen the questions we had about certain things. We ordered two servings of bolani gandana (leek) as an appetizer, qabuli palau, and ashak. The leek bolani is a must to have as an appetizer or side to your main dish. What took it to a 5 star level was the yogurt and chutney that was provided. The ashak was also pretty decent and something I would order again. The qabuli palau was definitely the highlight as it was very flavorful and overall delicious, especially the meat. The portion size for the respective prices were also decent. We also ordered sheer chai afterwards. It was pretty standard, but on the creamier side for sure. Chili Chutney is a staple!

Had an amazing early lunch at 11:30am. We ordered the appetizer sampler: samosa's with dip, egg plant, dumplings topped with yogurt/savory sauces, the smoothest hummus ever, and a fresh middle eastern chopped salad. For our main we enjoyed grilled lamb kabob with salad and grilled veggies (onions, bell peppers and half of a roma tomato). The salad portion was super generous. Everything was fresh and tasty. I would come back for the lamb!! It was that good. Then we tried some appetizers: Stewed beef meat balls in sauce and pulao rice with tender carrot slices and warm raisins. There were two sauces on the table: green sauce (perhaps cilantro based) was awesome! The spicy hot sauce was good too. We also ordered iced tea. It didn't taste like tea, but had a fruity note. Service was ok, except perhaps a touch understaffed, one very hard working woman serving about 5-6 tables. She did great for the situation. The place is very clean and welcoming. Excited to go back to try more things.