Persian Restaurant serving Iranian food in Ryde, Sydney
Persian Restaurant Review. We were invited to attend a banquet by a good friend of ours at an Iranian restaurant in Ryde. For those of you who aren’t aware, Iran used to be called Persia by the rest of the world until 1935. Iran is actually the original Farsi word for the country, much like Deutschland is the native word for Germany. But many have never connected the beautiful heritage buildings, fun skiing, beaches and other wonders of Persia with the negative media spin for Tehran and Iran so, let me just say, you’re missing out!
Persian Food
I didn’t take any photos of the Persian restaurant food for this blog as it wasn’t typical. The host of our group had requested specific stews and other items, and as it was a banquet rather than a normal meal, we got to try quite a number of different Iranian dishes that were presented in huge combination plates.
The overriding flavours were more umami style – sour, slightly salty and tart – though the kebabs were nicely oiled and lightly spiced.
Dry July
As the restaurant had people both celebrating Ramadan and taking part in Dry July many were drinking water from their wine glasses or enjoying cans of softdrink with straws. In fact, it was very amusing to see hundreds of adults all drinking softdrink through blue straws in cans. I’ve never seen that before in Australia and it was actually cool to see people from my generation still having a sense of fun and without needing to drink much alcohol. Certainly it is a rare thing in a heavy drinking country like Australia.
Anyway, a quick review of what they do usually sell along with some pictures from the menu.
The Shirazi Salad was lightly dressed and had a nice herby taste, not too overpowering.
The many and varied Kebabs that were put out on combined plates were tasty and juicy, with the right combination of herbs and spices to bring out the flavour. The butter chicken kebab was definitely a favourite, even though I could only try I small amount of it.
The Aykra was a smooth and light dish, easy to eat with blended flavours, with the mint leaves adding a welcome surprise to the taste.
Interesting Flavours
There were a couple of stews, one that was deep green and tasted very sour, similar to Okra in flavour, and another that had pieces of lamb and peas in a gravy like broth. Both were surprising and interesting, though to my palate wanting something sweeter, also slightly shocking!
One of my favourites, though being lactose intolerant I couldn’t have much of it, was the Kashke Bademian. It was a selection of pureed vegetables, herbs and spices with a slightly tangy and creamy taste that brought to mind other similar middle eastern dishes, but with an underlying flavour combination finish I hadn’t had before that was unusual and interesting. It was an ideal entree dish. (Apologies for the picture quality.)
There were about 20 people in the group and we were all huddled around the banquet table, exploring the delights of this restaurant. People were great, waiters and waitresses were friendly. NB: Being a Saturday, the place was absolutely packed with people and the loud music made it difficult to hear anyone that wasn’t right next to you. Ideal for a fun night out for a couple or group of four, but if you had a large group, you would definitely need to get out and mingle so that you could hear each other. (Which is what, incidentally, everyone was doing, adding to the festive cheer of the evening.)
If you’ve never tried Persian food before, check out Farsi Restaurant in Ryde. A highly recommended Persian restaurant in Sydney.
