What to order in an Iranian restaurant, I have already told. Today we’ll talk about the restaurants themselves and places where it’s nice to eat. Actually, there are two ways to find a good place. Persians are very fond of tasty and high-quality food and will not sit anywhere.
The fewer tourists and more locals, the better. The second way is the Foursquare app. In Russia and Europe, it has already lost its popularity, but in Iran and the countries of the Middle East it is experiencing a rebirth. There are a lot of relevant reviews and photos from locals, so feel free to choose by rating.
A familiar Persian did not even give me a minute to rest and immediately took me from the airport to a restaurant. And not somewhere else, but to Durban, one of the most pretentious districts of Tehran. While we were climbing the serpentine.
it got completely dark and all that I could appreciate in Durban was the local cuisine. Be sure to come here during the day to sit on a sofa right above a small mountain stream, munch on a freshly fried kebab and relax in the cool mountain climate. And smoke hookah if you like it. Actually, along the street every five meters there are cafes and restaurants. I recommend Gemayel Tale Restaurant and Baran Restaurant.
Hungry men here. Persian cuisine, in principle, is distinguished by huge portions, but here they are completely indecent in size. And this also applies to meat dishes. Everything that is not eaten, you can ask to pack with you in neat boxes.
No.6, Malaki (Saad Abad) Street, Tarnish Sq., Tehran Game food court, 6th floor, Game shopping center, Tarnish Sq. Tehran No.1435, Vali-e-Ars Str., Tehran
We can safely say that this chain of coffee houses is very popular among the youth of Tehran. It attracts citizens, first of all, with affordable prices, and, of course, excellent coffee and desserts. In addition, visitors love this place for its cozy atmosphere and pleasant interior: in many cafes, window sills are arranged as places to sit, so you can sit and watch the life of the streets while enjoying delicious coffee.
North of the subway exit on the west side of Valais Street (opposite Book City), is a traditional tea house. This place is very atmospheric, largely because it is incredibly popular with locals who gather here in large groups to chat. Local dishes prepared according to homemade recipes are very eagerly tasted by visitors. In the evenings, you can listen to the performance of a musical group that plays traditional Iranian music. In the center of the café there are several large and beautiful Tula samovars – the pride and decoration of this place.
First of all, I went to the most popular and oversaturated place with tourists – Nagesh Jahan Restaurant. This is the main restaurant in Imam Square with a nice view. Actually, standing facing the square, you go into the left corridor of the bazaar, and there is already a passage to the courtyard of the restaurant. Very bright and revealing-Persian place.
It is always full of people and it is almost impossible to sit in the hall without prior reservation. But it is quite realistic to wait until someone leaves. I chose a sofa on the open terrace, where, of course, it was hotter, but there were fewer neighbors. It was here that I tried the most delicious in Iran Mirza Ghazali – a vegetable dish made from grated eggplants, tomatoes and other vegetables. With local fresh bread – just delicious!
Atmospheric café in one of the lanes of the bazaar. At first I mistook it for a junk shop. But when I squeezed into a narrow corridor of various rubbish, I thought that I found myself in some kind of drug den. I crawled out into a narrow tiny room with small tables and a whole crowd of Iranians sitting behind them stared at me as if I were an extremely inappropriate phenomenon. Be sure to go there, it turns out to be delicious food!
Quite a tiny café-dining room on one of the streets of the bazaar. I would have passed by without hesitation, but at once several Persians insisted on trying august here – the best august in Isfahan. Although, in theory, the restaurant itself specializes in another traditional Iranian dish – biryani. This is such a huge bread cake, inside of which is fried minced meat, some kind of mixture of herbs and nuts, and fresh herbs.
In Isfahan, I was in two more wonderful places, the addresses and names of which, unfortunately, I do not remember well. This is Helena Café, where they make delicious ice cream on the principle of “all in a bunch” – fruit juices, abstain, nuts, fruit pieces, caramel and toppings, cookies, coconut, and a couple of cookie tubes on top. A whole mountain above the glass.
Here you can also buy a huge fresh juice cheaply. From the melon was simply divine! Second place I don’t even remember the name. This is some kind of network institution where they make various magic from fresh pomegranate juice. An acquaintance found out that I really like pomegranates, took me there through the whole of Isfahan. There you can take just pomegranate juice, juice with crushed ice, juice with Faludi, juice with ice cream and many, many more variations on how to use pomegranates inside.
If in Isfahan life begins only after lunch, in Yazd the Iranians come to life closer to sunset. And no wonder in this heat. During the day, you can go to some cozy restaurant for cold drinks, air conditioning and coffee. But plan the main meal for the evening and always on the roof to admire the setting sun.
The most delicious dinner we had was at Karishma Café & Restaurant – a rather small establishment with traditional European tables on the ground floor and several comfortable sofas on the roof.
