The phrase “ugly delicious” has become a commonplace for foods that explode with flavor but offer very little to the eye. Brown, gloopy, saucy: some of the world’s best foods don’t put much effort into their appearance.
This week’s lunch pick scores very highly on both the ugly and the delicious elements. It’s a sandwich from Pakistan that’s spicy, comforting, slightly messy, very filling—and not at all good-looking.
Bun kebab, also spelled bun kabab, is a street sandwich involving a meat, lentil, or potato patty, raw onions, and spicy chutney. Everything gets served on a grilled burger bun. The fillings are very customizable: you can enjoy bun kebab with pulled beef or ground beef, substitute a vegetarian patty, add potatoes, add a fried egg, or use mutton.
Many of those options are available at Bun Kabab, a restaurant on Royal Lane in Dallas’ Koreatown named after its signature dish. When I visited recently, I opted for the “special” bun kabab—a combo sandwich allowing you to choose two different fillings.
I chose beef and potatoes (aloo), and the result was a real mash-up. Sorry, but that’s a pun: the potatoes are mashed and the meat is, too. If you have sensitive teeth but love spicy food, this sandwich is for you. The potatoes and meat are spiced individually, then layered on top of each other, with the addition of raw onions for bite and green pepper chutney for even more complexity. The top layer of all this is a simple, thin strip of cooked egg.
I’ve spent a few hundred words telling you that this sandwich has little texture and no good looks. But know this: I’m a convert. The warm, rolling glow of spice kept me excited for each bite, and the $6.49 sandwich kept me full all afternoon. I want to try all the other options at Bun Kabab, which include a lentil patty sandwich and roll-up wraps featuring grilled meats or paneer tikka. What a good place. If you saw the photo of Bun Kabab’s special bun kabab up above and thought, “that looks great,” you were right, and you deserve it as a reward.
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