Al Markaz Carrollton Dallas

This is a restaurant that's attached to a grocery store. We had the following dishes: Karahi Gosht: Yummy! Good pieces, some bone marrow, spicy but not excessively oily. Great spice level and flavorful without being super spicy. My favorite dish. 10/10 Beef Bihari: Pasty, spicy, really yummy. Perfect with naan and raita. Smoky and very flavorful. 10/10 Chicken Tikka (leg): Personally, I don’t care for chicken tikka but this was great for what it is. Juicy, flavorful and smoky, with a good sized portion of chicken. 8/10 Chicken Makhni: Really good. The kiddo loved it, not spicy, and I liked it as well. Went perfectly with naan. Boneless and very kid friendly. 8/10 Naan: authentic Pakistani naan was so soft and flufy. 10/10 Mango Lassi: Kid and mama approved. Yummy and not overly sweet, just the perfect flavor. 9/10 Falooda: I don’t care for it but it was good for what it was. 8/10 Total was $90 with tip. You order at the counter and they bring the food to you. Someone checked in periodically to make sure we were good. It was moderately busy on a weeknight. Clientele was mostly Pakistani. All food is halal.

Do you enjoy eating chicken karahi but are worried about the insane amount of oil and potential for clogged arteries? Read on. Food here is so good. I've lived nearby so I've been here dozens of times over the years. I almost always get the chicken karahi, among some other dishes. The ONLY issue is that the food (e.g. karahi chicken) is quite oily, as is the case with a lot of this type of cuisine. To deal with this, I recently tried to use a mesh at home to filter out the oil. It honestly works so much better than I thought. See the photos. I'm able to remove a lot of the excess oil. For those who say that it's not going to taste the same, that's simply not true. There is still plenty of oil and it tastes just as great, if not better. So I highly recommend using a mesh to filter. In fact, I'd recommend the restaurant start doing this before serving. Don't let anyone tell you can't avoid clogged arteries and enjoy a good karahi anymore.

Restaurants come and go... but Al Markaz has become an institution and must visit place if you want to try great Pakistani food. I have been coming to this place since it opened and with some changes here and there on the menu it has been the most consistent place both in taste and quality of food. Variety is great, food is phenomenal and service is consistent. Our food arrived quickly and exactly what we had expected. Great tasting food with quality I come to expect. Our server was awesome and he packaged the leftovers for us at our request and even added the condiments for full take home meal experience. The attached grocery store is great and convenient to pick up what you need for an ethnic dish. The snack and sweets section offers a great variety of food items for quick snack and every item is authentic in taste at a reasonable price. This is a must visit casual joint to enjoy great food.