The other night, my ex-workplace organized a farewell party for a coworker who is transferring to different location. They picked an Iranian restaurant, something that I have never really tried before.
The restaurant I Cook Persian Cuisine is located at 713 Ridgewood Ave, near Mooney’s Bay, in the middle of a tiny inconspicuous plaza that I drove past and had to do a U-turn. The interior is well-lit (especially good for pictures – selfie or no selfie) and very clean. The atmosphere is cozy and welcoming with ethnic plate decors on the wall. The server is very polite and attentive. My friend was going to order the Persian fizzy yogurt drink called doogh (pronounced more like do, not dough, because I asked an Iranian friend and he had no idea what I was talking about?), the server was considerate enough to inform us that it tastes salty and sour, contrary to the sweet yogurt drinks that we normally have. And a good thing she did, as my friend immediately changed her mind.
They started us off with some homemade warm Persian naan, which were thin and crispy on the outside. It had some pleasant herbs and spices embedded, if I had to guess, maybe cumin seeds or turmeric?
We ordered the vaziri kebab, chenjeh kebab, and lamb shank stew. I love stew, particularly on a cold windy night.
Chicken chunks were marinated well and very moist, and the Koobideh was juicy and tasteful, exploding with flavours in your mouth.
The sirloin chunks were a bit over-cooked for medium rare.
The lamb shank was cooked very thoroughly, tender and drenched with the ground tomato, went amazing with the fragrant Baghali Polo. Near the end, I discovered the sumac shaker, it’s a sour spice that you sprinkle over your kababs with.
The portions were definitely shareable, both my boyfriend and friend took half of theirs for another day, I somehow managed to finish mine. But man, I was sooo overstuffed?! Nevertheless, the proper finish to a meal is always a bit of dessert, so I sampled a bit of another friend’s order of Persian ice cream. It was very creamy and flavourful, although I don’t think I appreciated the combination (but that’s just me).
Everything considered, I Cook Persian Cuisine seems like the real deal for hearty Persian food?, definitely worthy of many future visits.