Lahori
Tomato-heavy and unapologetically peppery. Ginger cut into matchsticks goes on at the end, along with whole green chillies that you can eat or push aside. This is the one most people picture when they say karahi.
Our Story
We opened for people who care how food tastes
There is no secret recipe here. There is a kitchen that will not take shortcuts, and prices that let you come back next week.
The beginning
Why we started
Al Ashfaz began with a simple frustration. Too much food is cooked early, held warm for hours and served tired — and everyone has learned to accept it. We wanted a kitchen where nothing is made until somebody asks for it.
So that is how we built it. The meat is cut and prepared the same morning. The tandoor is lit from the moment we open. Every karahi starts from raw when your order reaches the kitchen — which is why it takes fifteen or twenty minutes, and why it tastes the way it does.
The rest was about price. Good food should not be an occasion. We set ours so a family can eat properly on an ordinary day and not think twice about coming back. We opened opposite Lulu Hyper because that is where people actually walk, and we have cooked for that street ever since.
Know your karahi
Four karahis, four different arguments
People order "a karahi" and mean four completely different dishes. Here is how to tell them apart before you order.
Shinwari
The purist. Meat, tomato, salt, green chilli and the animal's own fat — that is the entire recipe. No onion, no garlic paste, no garam masala. It tastes like the meat, which is the whole point.
White
No tomato anywhere. Yoghurt and cream carry it instead, with white pepper for warmth rather than heat. Order this one for anyone at the table who does not want to sweat through the meal.
Chatkhara
The loud one. Lemon, chaat masala and a lot of green chilli make it sour and sharp at the same time. It wakes the whole table up, and it is the karahi we sell the most of.
The house rules
What you will and will not find here
What you will find
- Meat cut and prepared the same morning
- A tandoor running from open to close
- Halal throughout, without exception
- Room for a big table, and for a big order
- Takeaway, cooked to order while you wait
- Prices a working family can repeat
What you will not
- Anything reheated from yesterday
- Frozen naan from a bag
- A plate that sat waiting under a lamp
- Table bookings — it is first come, first served
- A delivery app in between, taking its cut
- A separate family section
Good Food, Good Mood, Always
That is the whole of it. Nothing more, nothing less.
Delicious Food Brings People Together
Come and eat with us
Walk in and we will cook it fresh while you wait — or send your order ahead on WhatsApp and collect it, or have it brought to you.
We still take no table bookings — seating is first come, first served. Ordering ahead is for collection and delivery only.