An Infusion of Afghan-French Cuisine in a City Known for Gambling, Shows and Shopping

I know what you are thinking. Why are there so many weeks between posts? Well, I’m not going to lie to you. My travel season is a bit slow for now because of work and home life. However, I do want to share with you a great restaurant I was able to visit last weekend. (I hope this post will help you to forgive me *wink*) I cannot remember how I found out about this restaurant but what grabbed my attention was the décor. An oasis in the middle of the city seemed like a great place to visit. So, I made reservations for Setaara in Atlantic City, New Jersey and excitedly waited for the day to come!

Setaara explains on their website they serve Afghan and French cuisine. I looked forward to experiencing both. I made this a mother/son date and took my son along with me. The weather was horrible to say the least. The wind and rain made me hesitate to keep the reservation, but I decided to move forward to see if it would live up to the hype.

The restaurant is a hidden gem in the heart of the city. When I first arrived, I was a bit underwhelmed as the outside was not what I expected seeing as how the pictures of the inside on the website were so beautiful. My mind changed a bit as my son and I walked through the front swinging doors.

The hallway was nicely decorated as the gateway for what was to come. We checked in and was immediately escorted to our table. The table area was decorated as if it was a courtyard in France.

The booth was simple yet elegantly decorated. We were not seated in the main courtyard Setaara boasts about but it was still a nice atmosphere as a live violist played in the background. The host explained everything in detail since we informed him it was our first time there.

If you dine with Setaara on the weekends, they have a special menu. Since it was Saturday, my son and I were treated to what they call a tasting menu. It consists of four courses: an appetizer of your choice, soup of the day, main meal of your choice, and the dessert of the day.

For our appetizers, we had Bolani and Borani kachaloo. Bolani is a fried dough filled with seasoned potatoes, green onions and cilantro and served with chutney. Borani kachaloo is seasoned potatoes cooked in a special house sauce and topped with yogurt. (Yeah, I know. It was a lot of potatoes, but it was good!) The chutney paired with the bolani gave it just enough spice to make it good.

I also tried the Moroccan Mint Tea. It was a smooth tea with a hint of mint that opened my senses and warmed me up quite pleasantly on the rainy day we were having.

The soup of the day was chicken soup. To be honest neither my son nor I liked it. It just had a weird taste to me, but I say try it for yourself. You may like it. And that’s all I will say about that Lol

Now the main dishes were interesting. My son had the chicken kabob, and I had the Setaara kabob. The chicken kabob was marinated boneless chicken served with white rice. The Setaara kabob was a charbroiled rack of lamb served with brown rice. The lamb was very tender and flavorful. The rice was weird to me because it had raisins in it (Lol), but it was good.

For the non-sophisticated/not so high classed foodie like

me, it was like a rice-aroni but seasoned well. I cannot speak for my son when it comes to the chicken kabob, but he ate all of the chicken so I can only assume he liked it Lol

The dessert consisted of pistachio baklava and chocolate mousse. I really liked the pistachio baklava, and my son really liked the mousse, so we ended up making a trade after the first taste of each. The mousse was too rich for me, but the baklava was just enough sweetness to sooth my sweet tooth without going overboard with the sugar.

Overall, I really enjoyed the dining experience, and I would go back and try other dishes.

Disclaimer: I, Artilya Key, also known as A. Key (A Key To Adventure), am not affiliated with any of the links, places or sites mentioned in this blog nor did I receive any compensation for this post. Should you need more information, please refer to the linked information or contact the company or entities. Any copywritten information belongs to that entity and is not associated with A Key To Adventure.