Mirza Ghasemi
Termeh restaurant

Termeh restaurant

2 Canfield Gardens London, NW6 3BS, United Kingdom

Grill • Persian • Vegetarian • Mediterranean


"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."

Arnika Co

Arnika Co

26 Craven Park Road, London, NW104AB, United Kingdom

Halal • Persian • Vegetarian • Middle Eastern


"Having recently been subjected to a number of over priced, snotty, lack lustre restaurants that had left me utterly depressed and frustrated, I was more than relieved to step into Arnika on a sunny week day evening, a modest little Persian restaurant in my local hood of Harlesden. Sitting outside Arnika doesn't afford Parisian style views but it matters not a jot when the manager is most welcoming, polite and entirely happy for you to BYO without a corkage charge. Excellent start. In the mood for a little mezze, four of us chose a range of meat and vegetarian starters that were ludicrously cheap and had me wondering how on earth people could survive in the face of gigantic London rents and rates. Anyway to the food. Prettily presented, I am delighted to say we were in total unison about the delicious, fresh, clean tasting dishes that were put before us. Saffron and garlic chicken wings served with a garlic aioli; crisp pastries encasing succulent chicken with a tangy, fiery tomato salsa; creamy hummus topped with tiny but juicy pieces of lamb; babaganoush which was eagerly scooped up with super thin flat bread; a couple of the house salads which were adorned with feta and walnuts. This sort of food is neither complicated nor requires years of training in a sweaty French kitchen. It is, however, honest, simple fare that involves thought, spankingly fresh ingredients and a cook who knows about flavour combinations. Get this will you? We had no room for mains and so we asked for the bill. It came to a whopping £30. For those of you who are **** at maths, that means you would be £7.50 lighter of pocket. Shut the front door! By the way, I shouted about Arnika on the local Harlesden FB page and since then, I have heard nothing but similar reports from very happy customers. I should cocoa. Well done Arnika; If they don't make it, it will be a sad day for us all."

Alborz

Alborz

820 Stockport Road, Manchester, United Kingdom

Vegan • Halal • Persian • Vegetarian


"Alborz is a wonderful hidden gem in Levenshulme that serves a variety of Persian and Middle-Eastern food, located on Stockport Rd you could be forgiven for thinking that Alborz is as unassuming as it's humble exterior suggests. However, what lies behind those modest doors is truly fantastic restaurant both in terms of food and service. The interior is understated and tasteful, furnished with Persian vases and ornate tea sets, the tables are close together to make the most of the limited space available but this lends a refreshing communal atmosphere to your meal. The staff were friendly and attentive and more than happy to talk you through the menu and explain the various dishes. We ordered the Mezze Platter to start, this consists of four different starters, and is ideal if you're not overly familiar with Persian cuisine, the homemade hummus was a particular highlight being both fresh and tasty. We then ordered the Alborz special grill for two, which looks as wonderful as it tastes, succulent skewers of koobideh and chicken accompanied by grilled vegetables, saffron rice and a freshly baked taltoon bread which was frankly quite ridiculous in its magnificence and is so large it came supplied with its own stand. This was a true delight to eat and I can highly recommend it. After all of that, we were overloaded with food and couldn't possibly consider having dessert and so, asked for the bill, which led to true surprise of the evening, all of this wonderfully authentic and fresh food came to a grand total of £42. This reflects tremendous value in a time where a meal for two can often prove quite expensive. Overall I would say that Alborz is definitely worth visiting if you're in the area and if you're not well then it's worth making the trip for. If you're a fan of Persian food or perhaps want to try something new then you would genuinely struggle to find such a quality dining experience at this price point."