Ciao & welcome to my food blog!! My name is Lisa & I grew up loving authentic Italian fare, being that is my heritage. However, as I expand my travels & restaurant cuisine types, I have found a passion for ALL foods! I intend to share my enthusiasm in this blog with cooking stories, recipes, pictures, and reviews of my eating out adventures! Most of which are done with my husband, Greg!

Please email me comments/questions/suggestions! BootyFoodie@gmail.com


Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Nooshe Jan... Farsi for Bon Appetit :)

Last week I explored a new cuisine, Persian! I was extremely enthused since one of my friends, Sahar, is from Iran. We have enjoyed many meals together and when she mentioned eating Persian, it only seemed fair to try her culture’s food. 


The restaurant name, which I have no idea how to pronounce along with MOST of the dishes on the menu, is Maykadeh Persian Cuisine. Not only are the reviews favorable on yelp, but they also hold a Michelin rating. Michelin, to me, is the top of the top. If it’s Michelin rated, I am overjoyed to go there!



Sahar took the reins and ordered some apps and entrees to be shared family style by our group. (There were 7 of us, Greg had to stay behind & study booo!) All I requested was to not have any part of the Lamb Tongue, Head, or Brain on the menu…lets leave that to Andrew Zimmern! On to the food....

The appetizers we ordered:

Shirazi Salad- Diced cucumber, tomato, and onion with olive oil & lime juice. This reminded me of a fresh Mediterranean salad. Delicious none-the-less!

Kashke Bademjan- Eggplant, mint garlic sauce. Its texture was Baba Ghanoush/Hummus style. In my opinion that texture can be somewhat deceiving, but the dish was very flavorful. It made for a great spread using the Persian Style Flat Bread that was served on the table.

One Item I found particularly interesting came with the flat bread. A plate consisting of fresh basil leaves, radish, raw onion, and feta. Everyone seemed to make a little sandwich with it and I followed suit, sans the raw onions ;)

The entrees we ordered:

Joojeh, Koobideh, and Barg Kabobs. Joojeh: boneless chicken thighs marinated in saffron, onion, and lime juice- EXCELLENT. I am not one to order chicken at a restaurant since it can be made at home, but the seasonings & juicy-ness were just remarkable. Koobideh: mixture of beef, lamb, onion, & Persian spices. The flavor was really good but the way the meat fell apart made it easy to tell it was a combination of ground meats. Lastly, the Barg Kabob. Barg: Filet Mignon marinated in lime juice and onion. Can’t go wrong with Filet Mignon YUM!


Kabobs ready for consumption!

Zereshk Polo: chicken thighs, barberry, and saffron rice. The chicken again, was just fantastic!! The saffron rice was fluffy & moist, but the barberry mixed into the rice was very tart. It looks like a dried cranberry but the taste is very different, very tart. 
*Click here to read more about the tart berry

Khoresht Fesenjoon: chicken thighs in a pomegranate sauce that Sahar called a stew. I can’t stress enough how on point the chicken is here. The pomegranate sauce was quite subtle but yet bold in flavor… odd given pomegranates have a distinct taste, really really good dish tho!

Lastly, we ordered Basmati rice with saffron for the table. I am a rice lover, so I heavily enjoyed having rice with my meat. Sahar mentioned most people typically add more butter to this dish, so I did, and I mmm’ed my whole way through eating it!!


Starting from the roasted Tomato going counter clockwise: Saffron rice with barberries, chicken with pomegranate sauce, Koobideh, Barg, & Joojeh kabobs, Basmati Rice with Saffron.

Overall, the Service was impeccable, the place was very clean, & the corkage fee was low! I happily ate my food and chatted away with some great company :)

Oh and not to mention a few glasses of vino down the hatch on a Wednesday night is a fabulous way to get rid of that weekend itch!!



2 comments:

  1. I honestly had never heard of the Michelin ratings for restaurants. And you know what? I learned something today.

    Your comment about "never ordering chicken at restaurants because you can make it at home" is actually the reason I often order chicken at restaurants. I know what I'm getting. Sure, I'm not adventurous, but if I'm paying a premium for my meal, I want to know that I'm going to enjoy it.

    Persian food looks good, though.

    Bender

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  2. You're so cute. Thanks for indulging my Persian cravings with me. You were fantastic and I was so happy to have you there. I'm sure I'll force some new stuff your way soon enough :)

    XOXO Sahar

    P.S. I also hold Michelin ratings above all else and generally avoid chicken at restaurants (pasta too but that's another story).

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