Pakistani restaurant Karahi Adda opens in Westbury

The contraption emerging from the kitchen resembles nothing so much as a hangman game, the server ferrying it to the table so carefully that a pair of suspended kebabs swing only gently from side to side. The morsels of chicken — marshmallow-sized, faintly golden, singed black at the points — appear proud of their tandoor scars, and proud too of the marinade that got them there, a clever combination of cream, pulverized cashews, ginger and garlic. With creamy juiciness, they surrender willingly to the tongue, gifting a special sort of delight that no true lover of chicken malai boti can live without, a delight that Imran Moeen’s father first introduced him to on the streets of Lahore’s Old City.

“When we were kids he would take us there and we would walk with him holding hands,” Moeen recalled. “He would tell us, this is the best pulao place, the best biryani place, the best karahi place. From childhood we knew what good food was and what was not.”

Being aware of what’s good and what’s not is a wonderful thing, but such knowledge comes at a price. For one thing, it ruins you for mediocre food forever, something Moeen discovered when he left Pakistan in 2009 and opened his own limo business here, a job that entailed constant eating out. “I got so sick and tired of it. I said, I’ve got to take matters into my own hands.” For another, it can make you do crazy things, like teach yourself to cook, plead with your mother and grandmother for recipes, study and refine them endlessly, practice your art at umpteen family barbecues, and save your money for years to open a restaurant. 

Moeen opened Karahi Adda in Westbury in November. Rather unusually for a desi restaurant, the 44-seat establishment has a disciplined menu, a shortlist of dishes that never disappoint. And while matchless malai boti ($13.99) is a standout starter, the restaurant is properly named for the karahi, a wok-like pan used all over the Indian subcontinent. Moeen himself presides over a fleet of them in his kitchen, stirring up fine versions of chicken keema ($23.99) and biryani ($29.99), and an even finer baby goat karahi ($34.99), before setting each in a heat-tolerant basket for servers to deposit tableside with a large spoon.

The goat in particular, apparently unaware or unafraid of its competition from malai boti, arrives bubbling and fragrant of garlic, chiles, ginger and cilantro, its meat succulent, its broth begging shamelessly for naan (available in four flavors, $2 to $3.50). This is family-style dining at its finest, even as competition for the spoon may risk a family-style fight.

Moeen gladly customizes heat levels, but don’t skimp on the fire. If anything, douse it with a glass of velvety mango lassi ($5) or, at meal’s end, a scoop of fried coconut ice cream ($7.99). The baseball-sized dessert, which spends three days in the freezer to get it cold enough, requires just seconds in the fryer to brown its coating of breadcrumbs and flaked coconut, seconds more to be plated with squiggles of chocolate syrup, and seconds more for a standard table to devour it without a trace. 

Notwithstanding the street fair quality to that concoction, or the street food roots of his karahi dishes, Moeen’s dining room is refined bordering on elegant, and as refreshing as his cooking. “When I was doing my research, I realized that there was something lacking from my desi community,” he said. “The restaurants, they are small-type places and get really loud. I wanted a place with top-notch food where you want to take your family.” 

It’s a one-two punch that’s made reservations hard to come by at Karahi Adda, particularly on Saturday nights, which often see a line of hopeful waitlisters. Still, Moeen tries to greet every table and poll every diner, soliciting opinions on what he can do better. 

“I want to make Pakistani into a fine dining experience,” he said, “a place where people dress up nice. I’m starting at the bottom, but I’m trying really hard to do it.”

Karahi Adda, 467 Old Country Rd. in Westbury, 516-303-9399. Opening hours are Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday from noon to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from noon to 11 p.m. Closed Monday.

By Scott Vogel

scott.vogel@newsday.com

Newsday writer and restaurant critic Scott Vogel aims for a refreshing, gimlet-eyed take on the Long Island food scene, often while drinking a refreshing gimlet.