Just because a place serves flesh off the bone doesn’t mean it can’t also be nirvana for those who abstain from eating things furry, feathery, or finned. That’s why this category is “Best Restaurant for Vegetarians” and not “Best Vegetarian Restaurant.” Baltimore does have some of the latter (though not as many as we’d like), and some of them are pretty good, but the most deeply satisfying meatless meals we’ve had have been at the Helmand.

Sure, the main menu is heavy on lamb and ground beef—as basic to Afghan cuisine as yogurt and mint are. But as the restaurant’s vegetarian clientele has grown, the menu has grown too, to include an extra page of items for the agriculturally inclined—say, an entrée-sized portion of aushak, leek- and potato-stuffed ravioli; or vegetarian dolma, tasty little eggplant-and-spinach bombs; or sauteed whole mushrooms in a spiced tomato sauce, topped with sour cream and cilantro. These aren’t, like so much of the veggie fare you find around town, meat dishes without the meat; boldly spiced and generous of portion, this is hearty, filling, unusual vegetarian food that even a carnivore could love, as if that matters.

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