Agha Juice Atlanta

Posted on Jan 02 in Take Outby hrcookiewomanPrint

Like all great restaurants I know, I found out about this place through word-of-mouth.  When my coworker mentioned a Pakistani juice bar opening in Atlanta I almost couldn’t contain my excitement.  Although the city has a plethora of almost every type of Asian-style resturant known to man, there weren’t any specialized in street-food like kulfi (desi-style ice-cream), juices, snow cones, bun-kabab etc.  Recently introduced to Atlanta this past summer, this restaurant takes its inspiration from the famous Juice Bar in Karachi Pakistan, and it does not disappoint.

At this point you might be asking yourself, “What the heck is a bun-kabab?”  Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like: a kabob in a bun.  Think of a spicy hamburger made of super-soft, finely minced beef mixed with lentils.  Now imagine that patty brushed with an egg wash, fried, topped with a sweet and spicy chutney, sprinkled with chopped onions and surrounded by a toasted bun.  There you go: bun-kabab. The first bite gives you a sweet oniony crunch mixed with the spicy beef patty that’s so soft it literally melts in your mouth.This thing is amazing, and takes you right back to the streets of Pakistan. I almost started hearing the honking of downtown Karachi traffic with the first bite…

Ok, where was I?  Oh yeah, the food.  With our most recent visit to the restaurant we tried the  breakfast-platter special that included a sweet semolina based halwa, a savory potato dish, a chick-pea dish and two parathas (lightly crispy flat bread)–all for $4.99. For the price this platter was incredibly satisfying and filling. All the food was also very authentic. The bright yellow color of the sweet halwa, the combination of yogurt with the potato tarkari and chick-peas brought me back to my mom’s breakfast table.

The downside: I didn’t particularly like the gola ganda, which is basically a snow cone with special sweet syrup and condensed milk–it was a little too sweet for my taste. And although it was tasty, the chick-pea dish that came with our breakfast platter was overly salted. Another downside is that you have to pay for water. It’s only .50 cents per bottle but water should be free at every restaurant, especially any restaurant that serves spicy food!

In a nutshell the food at Agha Juice ATL is very authentic. It not only reminded me of my mom’s cooking, but it also took me back to a breakfast my family once had in a small village near Swat, PK 11 years ago. I could go on with this story, but since this is a food blog the point is that the food at Agha Juice Atlanta will either take you back to Pakistan or give you a unique taste of what it’s like to be there if you haven’t visited before.  When the flavors of food have the ability to transport you into another time and country, you know you’re eating something special.

Pictures

Recommendations

• If you join their Facebook group or check their website often you’ll learn about special deals and discounts.  For example if you mention the FB group you get 5% off your order.
• Do try the bun kabab, chicken samosas (the mint chutney that comes with them is also very fresh), halwa, mango ice cream, kulfi, falooda and chai.
• Free wireless, so you can bring your laptop and study (or pretend to study and Facebook instead).

Rating

• Food: 4.5 – Other than the gola ganda, I haven’t tried anything I didn’t like.  The quality of the food is great: fresh, tasty and authentic.
• Value: 3.0 – The food is reasonably priced, but you have to pay for water.
• Service: 4.0 – Service is quick.
• Lota-Pani: 4.5 - The bathroom has new fixtures and they seem to be pretty clean.
• Decor: 3.0 – Well decorated but not overly fancy.

Overall

Halal Rating

Location

5050 Jimmy Carter Blvd, Suite 180 Norcross, GA 30093

Contact

Phone: 678.368.4186

Website: http://www.aghajuiceatl.com/

2 Comments

• ShanMasala says:

  January 5, 2010 at 11:19 pm

  this looks very interesting, i would really like to check it out when i get to atl
• ROHIT says:

  April 26, 2010 at 7:10 pm

  I don’t recommend this place especially after my last visit. I ordered a mango shake, which didn’t have any taste. I told this to the guy and instead of trying it he said your taste is not right about the shake. This is not the way you talk to your customers.

  After that he offered me another one, I said I don’t need it I was just giving my comment

  Take it or leave it, saying that I left from there.

  I think they need to learn how to treat customers.

Trackbacks / Pingbacks