MIDDLE EAST ON THE MENU
Persian eatery pleases
The consistency of the Persian cuisine that I’ve sampled over the past few years, in a handful of modest strip-mall eateries from Kanata to Orléans, has been really striking.
Here’s what I’ve come to expect: a focus on kebabs that are reliably moist, tender and flavourful, a supporting cast of intriguing stews in which sour and herbal notes often feature, and fluffy white and saffrontinged rice in abundance. All dishes will be reasonably priced and leftovers are likely.
The latest restaurant that admirably fits this bill is the straightforwardly named I Cook Persian Cuisine, located in a wee, easy-to-miss strip mall across from Mooney’s Bay.
I Cook Persian Cuisine opened almost a year ago, where TNT Smokehouse had been. The neighbourhood has lost baby back ribs and pulled pork sandwiches, but gained Iranian dishes flavoured with pomegranate paste and walnuts, cinnamontinged savoury stews and more.
The property’s interior has just as significantly changed. The restaurant seats perhaps 70 or so, in a well-lit room split in half into a dining side filled with comfy banquettes and a bar side. (Although alcohol is banned in Iran, it is served at this Iranian restaurant.) In terms of ambience, the restaurant seemingly plays down its foreignness, and I’ve heard its piped-in music switch from Middle Eastern folk to Bruno Mars, perhaps depending on the clientele.
What’s varied less is the quality of the food, which was well-made and unfussy when I twice had dinner here. There were one or two dishes that I thought somewhat less of, but considerably more that I’d happily eat again.
I’d look forward to more of the house-made naan bread, a meal-starter on the house that has emerged warm and tasty. Of several dips, we’ve enjoyed the eggplant and yogurt spread (kashk e bademjan, $7.99), which was warm, mellow, comforting and studded with walnuts. We would have welcomed more intense flavours and even some smokiness, given the menu’s mention of “BBQ eggplant.” Still, we found the dip perked up a bit with some tart ground sumac from the shaker on the table.
Well-seasoned, soft-skinned mantu beef dumplings ($6.99 for six) needed no such help. Their ground beef interiors were sufficiently flavourful and the tangy sauce that covered the plate was a nice add-on.
Persian noodle soup (ash reshteh, $4.99) was a mild, herby concoction thick with beans, lentils and noodles, while red lentil soup ($3.99) was a simpler potage with a bigger kick of flavour.
Of several stews that I’ve tried here, I’d give top marks to the fesenjoon ($15.99), which immersed chunks of chicken breast in a heady pomegranate paste mixed with cinnamon and walnuts, and to the ghalieh mahi ($17.99), which starred moist salmon in a punchy sweet-and-predominantly-sour sauce enlivened by tamarind. Both stews won us over with clear, distinctive flavours, although in our books, the fish stew as well as the eatery’s butter chicken ($14.99) did not live up to the menu’s note that they were “medium-spicy.”
Interestingly, when it comes to stews, I Cook Persian Cuisine offers a few that I’ve not seen at other Persian restaurants, namely vegetarian renditions that substitute tofu or soya chunks for chicken or beef.
Of the restaurant’s lamb dishes, my least favourite was the lamb shank ($16.99), which was less interesting than the rice with dill and lima beans that came with it. Mind you, I’ve had the exact same gripe about lamb shanks with rice at another Iranian restaurant in Ottawa.
Lamb kebabs, however, were much better, their flat, oblong chunks still juicy and improved by their marinade. Chicken kebabs
with an overlay of saffron were just as good. A combination plate of the two kebabs ($30.99) seemed like an especially good and shareable deal. With these and other mains, plates of fluffy basmati rice helped us to feel stuffed.
Of two house-made and typically Persian desserts, I preferred the saffron pistachio ice cream ($5.99 for three scoops) to the very floral milk pudding ($4.99).
Service has been attentive and kind, especially at the end of dinner earlier this week, when our server offered us Persian tea, which was lightly tinged with cardamom, on the house. “Before going outside, it’s better to be hot,” the server said as she brought the steaming tea.
The restaurant was very quiet that night, but perhaps after the weather warms and once Mooney’s Bay attracts swimmers and volleyball players, I Cook Persian Cuisine will see more customers filling its tables. By and large, its dishes are more than worthy of a bigger following.