Sadaf Restaurant

"If you’ve spent much time at Westwood Persian spots Shamshiri and Darya, this big, banquet-friendly restaurant in Encino will feel immediately familiar—and that’s not a coincidence. The founder of Darya originally worked at Shamshiri decades ago, and now his daughter operates Sadaf. And while we’re not sure if we could tell their food apart blindfolded, the traditional Persian staples at Sadaf are reliably delicious and built to be shared with a crowd. On weekends you’ll families passing around gigantic koobideh platters, stew combos, and creamy eggplant appetizers in glassed-in private rooms.  There’s also a full bar, so don’t be surprised to find entire tables crushing house margaritas and Persian mules gin as instrumental covers of Bryan Adams’ songs play on the sound system. photo credit: Brant Cox Food Rundown photo credit: Brant Cox Eggplant Delight Our favorite of Sadaf’s appetizers. The sauteed eggplant-yogurt mixture is smooth and smoky with little bits of fried onions for crunch. But what takes this dish to another level is the fragrant sauteed mint leaves on top. photo credit: Brant Cox Stew Combinations All three of Sadaf’s stews are excellent, so you might as well get them all. There’s the sour ghormeh sabzi, pomegranate-based fesenjan, and the best of the bunch , tangy gheimen bademjan made with sauteed eggplants, yellow split peas, and dried limes. photo credit: Brant Cox Juicy Chicken No false advertising here, this chicken is juicy. So much so, we prefer it over the koobideh and various skewers. Be sure to swap out the saffron rice for zereshk polo mixed with slightly tart barberries (for an additional fee)." - Brant Cox