"Mahdi is my go-to place in the neighbourhood when I want to stuff myself silly with the Persian delights available with them especially served as a delectable, generous buffet. It has great location, just as you take the first right turn from Finchley road station, towards Canfield Gardens. Hard to miss, being, in a sense, next door to the massive Waitrose (not its entrance side but the left one). Its buffet that I speak of with such overwhelming love is something available seven days a week, during lunch hours. Mahdi’s interiors are beautiful – warm and mesmerising – lovely stained glass work, even better tile work, traditional warm-toned cushions and on the walls, haunting prints of Persian-styled paintings, right out of Rubaiyat as if!!! The buffet is an unlimited spread with different items every time. I have eaten off their a la carte menu as well – some of those items naturally feature in the buffet from time to time. These usually include some sort of barbecued meats mainly CHELOV KEBABS with lamb and/or chicken; HOMOUS; MAST-O-KHYAR (like a raita with cucumbers); KHORESH GORMEH SUBZI (which is a lamb and bean stew with an amazing kick from the whole preserved limes); to be eaten with either fresh NAN bread or ZERESKH POLO which is the typical Iranian pilaf dish garnished with the tart zereskh berries etc. For the superior grade of food available at Mahdi, I think it is remarkably competitively priced as well. To do full justice to the buffet, I need to always ensure that I have literally fasted before turning up here and that I have kept the afternoon free so that I can curl up and catch a nice afternoon nap after the heavenly meal one is always ensured one will have at Mahdi."
