Helmand Kabob Palace Pickering

We were craving kebabs, and this restaurant popped up in our recommendations—glad it did! The place was clean, and we were warmly greeted by Yasmin. We ordered the family platter for four, and it was more than enough for all of us. The food arrived hot, the meat was juicy and flavorful, and Yasmin was incredibly accommodating, making sure we had everything we needed. Great experience overall! ☺️

I visited Helmand Kabob Palace in Pickering a couple of months ago with friends. The chicken kabab was flavorful and enjoyable, but the salad fell short of expectations. The rice, topped with carrots in traditional Afghan style, didn’t quite suit my taste. The pricing was reasonable, which was a plus. The restaurant wasn’t crowded during our visit, creating a relaxed atmosphere, but the service left room for improvement. While the amenities are limited, the ample parking space is convenient. Overall, it’s a decent spot to explore Afghan cuisine, especially if you’re curious to try something new, but there’s room for enhancements in both service and presentation.

I will start with the positives. The prices were good, with two shawarma sandwiches at $12. The Shawarma Plate was 10.99. For the quantity/price ratio, it was decent. The wait wasn't too long however I suspect I know the reason why. First I will start with the fact that when I walked in, there was no shawarma spit nor were the grills on. That should have been an indication of something is wrong. I chalked it up to slow due to the holidays and it was kind of late, around 730ish. The full menu was only available via QR code, which isn't an issue for myself luckily, however anyone who doesn't know how to use it, is stuck with looking at only a fraction of the menu on the TV displays overhead. FYI we got two items for take out 1st Item: The chicken shawarma wrap. It was bad. The Wrap was a tortilla wrap filled with chicken which was clearly boiled in turmeric. Only taste came from what seems like ranch dressing, couldn't really tell. Not even a hint of spice. I didn't even get a chance to look at what they were putting in the wrap as they prepped behind their kitchen walls. As mentioned before, the grill wasn't even on, so it was just soggy. Unfortunately I ate it all without taking any pics, however you can see in the photos of the second item, the chicken is just boiled. 2nd Item: Chicken dinner plate. I don't know where to start. First thing is they put some fries in, nice touch IF they were actually fried properly. Clearly fried in oil way below temp, so they were soggy and oily. I can't even give the excuse that it was because of take out, we live about 2 minutes away. The chicken, which was supposed to be the star of the show fell flat. As you can see in the image, not grilled on the spit or on the flat top or anything. The sauce which was supposed to be hot, definitely was not. The salad, almost non existent. I cannot recommend this place to anyone, and if you are able to read any of the 1 star reviews, believe them as the owner is flagging any negative reviews as false. Fight me