tom f.
Yelp
Kheli Khub! Very Good! That's one of the few words that I still remember when I studied Persian years go. It was my fascination with the impressively old Persian history and the origins of Zoroastrianism that led to my interest initially. So the Persian phrase being very close to the English "Very Good" helps me remember it, in order to use it for Middle East Market.
Caveat: I have not actually tried that many Persian places as you think I have, so please take my opinions with a micro-grain of saffron. And also for Persian food, I generally do not go for the more general "Mediterranean" Items like wraps or kabobs, as I prefer "Khoresht"s (stews). ( Koresht-ha Plural form ok? =) ) And just to say, I have been to this place sparsely throughout the years so this is not my first time.
Fesenjan (Fesenjoon) With Chicken - 3 stars. Sweet and Tangy-Sour pomegranate dish cooked with ground walnuts, pomegranate syrup and/or juice. Too bad something was lacking, maybe it was a little on the sweet side, or not enough tang, and probably could use more walnut taste - comparing to some restaurants. But also, the white chicken meat was not cooked with the sauce, it seemed to be cooked separately in other broth, and then included into the plate, resulting in the taste not going all the way in. So if I had ordered this with meatballs that can absorb it more instead, Ill give it a little higher, but the base sauce still isn't as good as many other places. Plus I always prefer dark chicken meat and with bones.
Ghormeh Sabzi (Qormeh Sabzi) - 5 Stars. I love the earthly herbs in this dish, had this without meat. Whole dried limes as well as other spices are part of this dish, but this time I was surprised with the inclusion of the dried lime, which I had never been lucky to get at anywhere. I ate the whole lime, not knowing if its usually eaten traditionally. This dish might be too herbally for many people. If i had to describe the taste, imagine grinding up Dolmeh to start as a base, and also instead of regular vegetables, only use herbs! Also by the way, it translates to "Braised Herbs", true to the dish. (I somehow cant help but think the English word Gourmet, which came from French, originally goes back to Ancient Persian, Ghormeh, as many English or Romance language words do.)
Gheymeh Stew (Qeimeh)- 4 Stars. Tumeric, tomato, peas. Flavorful and good. As it is premade, I have set expectations for that too, as I had better in sit down restaurants as well. But this seems like it tastes like good home cooking, not too flavorful like a sit down restaurant, and not bland - is what I mean. My wife says it reminds her of a popular Japanese (imported from abroad however) Rice dish. I can see some people might mistake this appearance for Indian curry though.