Don't be fooled by the name of Miami Food. Located next to the K in Lautern mall in Kaiserslautern, Germany, the restaurant offers authentic Afghan food. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes)

By the K in Lautern shopping center in Kaiserslautern, Germany, is a new eatery mysteriously called Miami Food. But if you go there expecting a sampling of South Florida, you’re in for a shock.

Miami Food is an Afghan restaurant offering dishes such as kabuli pulao, bolani and chapli kabab. This was a delightful discovery for me because after more than three years reporting in Afghanistan for Stars and Stripes, I had grown to love the country’s cuisine.

On my visits to the restaurant, I often heard Dari and Pashto, the biggest Afghan languages, as customers eagerly ordered baked goods. Most often, they were buying bolani, a thin stuffed flatbread that I enjoyed often while in Afghanistan.

The Afghan-style flatbread at Miami Food is fluffy and stretchy on the inside, crunchy on the outside. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes)

It was a perfect light snack to grab from local food carts for a few cents on my walk back to the office after a day of work. The bolani at Miami Food lived up to my memories.

Each piece is baked and includes a thin, flaky layer of bread on the outside, with savory and lightly spiced potatoes or onions inside. I found myself going to the restaurant daily for lunch in hopes of getting a bolani before they sold out.

My favorite dinner dish at Miami Food is the kabuli pulao, consisting of marinated lamb under an ample pile of steamed rice and adorned by raisins and carrots. Known as the national dish of Afghanistan, it served as the centerpiece of so many lunches and Ramadan dinners while I was reporting there.

The headliner dish at Miami Food in Kaiserslautern, Germany, is kabuli pulao, a rice-and-lamb entree known as the national dish of Afghanistan. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes)

Miami Food in Kaiserslautern, Germany, offers cuisine popular in Afghanistan such as lamb curry, kabuli pulao and chapli kabab. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes)

The lamb meat was soft enough to tear apart with a fork, and I could tell that the cooks took their time in making it tender. The rice was soft and fluffy, and glistened from the meat juices it had been cooked in.

Afghan cuisine is not spicy, but it is rich. The carrots and raisins added sweetness that cut through the savory meatiness of the dish.

It’s recommended that you order kabuli pulao with Afghan flatbread and a cup of tea. Having bread with a pile of rice might seem like being on the verge of carb overload, but this is not a dish for those on a diet.

Shirendel Gulahmad, owner of the Afghan restaurant Miami Food, said he picked the name because of his affection for American culture. It is derived from the 1980s television show "Miami Vice." (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes)

Restaurant owner Shirendel Gulahmad told me he knows that Afghanistan isn’t what comes to mind when people hear the name Miami Food.

Gulahmad said he chose it out of affection for American culture. When he arrived in Germany 38 years ago after fleeing the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, he took a liking to the 1980s crime drama “Miami Vice,” he said.

Now, Gulahmad hopes to share Afghan culture through food with U.S. troops at the bases around Kaiserslautern. He said he doesn’t intend to alter Afghan recipes to German and American tastes, but he might introduce Syrian and Kurdish food at some point in the future.

There are other restaurants in the area that specialize in Afghan or Persian cuisine. But Miami Food, despite its misleading name, cooks the culinary fare that transported me back to Kabul most, and to the memories and meals I shared there.

Ali Alizay, a baker at Miami Food in Kaiserslautern, Germany, brushes oil on bolani, Afghan-style flatbread stuffed with potatoes or onions. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes)

Miami Food

Address: Fruchthallstrasse 19, Kaiserslautern, Germany

Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-11 p.m.

Prices: Kabuli pulao and biryani rice dishes are 10 euros and come in ample portions. Pizzas are 8 euros. Pastries and breads are 2 euros apiece or less. Cash only for the time being, but the restaurant intends to set up payment by card in the future.

Information: Phone: +49 01577 6934126, Online: facebook.com/people/Miami-Food/61558188013654