223099 Fri Jun 03 15:00:23 -0700 2005 10 18 Manhattan 0 1186731 man i was just reading a review for a new persian restaurant that opened back in cleveland and it made me hungry to try a persian stew called fesenjoon, which is chicken with a walnut pomegranate sauce. any recs? thx! Fri Jun 03 15:00:23 -0700 2005 0 mrnyc 1 1186734 Post this on the tri-state board and on the outer boroughs board. Persepolis is a Persian resto on the UES, but it's not very good. Fri Jun 03 15:09:19 -0700 2005 1186731 0 Nina W. 2 1186738 aww, i shoulda figured --- i was hoping i missed something! Fri Jun 03 15:22:53 -0700 2005 1186734 0 mrnyc 1 1186742 There's a Persian restaurant named Ravagh on East 30th Street that has the dish. (See www.menupages.com.) I have not eaten there, but I've had the dish at the sister restaurant of the same name on Long Island, and I think it's worth ordering, although it may be a bit on the sweet side for some people. Fri Jun 03 15:38:07 -0700 2005 1186731 0 MDekay 2 1186811 bingo! thx so much! Sat Jun 04 00:27:06 -0700 2005 1186742 0 mrnyc 1 1186745 Fesenjun is a standard "intro" dish for Persian cuisine for newbies--it's very sweet and does not have a lot of the sour/"different" flavors that could turn off westerners to Persian food. Make sure to try the wonderful Persian desserts wherever you go, especially some of the honey-filled sweets. They're all great! Fri Jun 03 16:24:00 -0700 2005 1186731 0 Dave 2 1186810 what are some other dishes with sour/different flavors? Sat Jun 04 00:26:18 -0700 2005 1186745 0 mrnyc 3 1186879 Persians are very big on sweet/sour and sour/bitter combinations, fresh herbs, mixing meat with fruit, and savoury use of spices that are sweet in the West (cinnamon, nutmeg), and highly fragrant sweets (rose water, orange blossom water, cardamon, mastic, orchid powder). In no particular order, here are some dishes worth exploring: Ghormeh sabzi is a stew of beef or lamb with herbs (parsley, chives, coriander, fenugreek) flavoured with bitter/fragrant dried limes. Some people actually eat the stewed bitter limes; not I. This same herb blend appears in an omlette called kuku-ye sabzi. A pleasantly citrus-y drink called loomi, made with powdered bitter dried limes, is a good introduction to this flavour. Gheimeh, a stew of meat, tomatoes and yellow split peas has an even stronger flavour of dried limes. Persians adore sour fruits in both savoury and sweet dishes: pomegranate, dried yellow plums (alu bukhara), sour red bayberries called zereshk, sour cherries. Some fish dishes use bitter Seville oranges. Khoresh-e bademjan, meat and browned eggplant stew, uses little unripe green grapes. Khoresh-e rivas is lamb or beef with rhubarb and cinnamon - a surprisingly good combination. In my perfect world, fesenjan should not be all that sweet. It should really be the deep sourness of the pomegranate syrup against the richness of the walnuts and poultry with just enough sugar to balance. Unfortunately, some Persians really do like this very sweet. The good news is that it isn't at all hard to make yourself and adjust the sweet-sour dynamic to your tastes. I'd recommend some desserts, but unfortunately I have never had decent Persian desserts in restaurants in New York. The ice cream made with sahlab (orchid powder) is called bastani - it might have suffered less than the dried-up baklava. You won't see it in a restaurant, but good home cooks make syrupy preserves (kumquats, citron, carrot, quince, orange blossom) to serve with tea. Ravagh is probably the best Persian restaurant in Manhattan, which isn't saying much. It's all right. I've heard there are better places out in Great Neck, but haven't been out there myself. Sun Jun 05 09:57:31 -0700 2005 1186810 0 plum 1 1186760 a more downscale suggestion would be the Burger Joint in the Le Parker Meridian. Great burgers, cheap Fri Jun 03 17:11:26 -0700 2005 1186731 0 Cpalms 2 1186761 Unless the burger joint has recently added Persian food to its menu, I think you're in the wrong thread. :-) Fri Jun 03 17:14:24 -0700 2005 1186760 0 RGR 1 1186938 All of my Persian friends go to Persepolis when they want Persian food. It doesn't have a large fancy menu and may not have that particular dish. They have great kebabs and wonderful sour cherry rice. They seem to have a lot of sour cherry in various forms actually. Wonderful rose water infused desserts. I've eaten there and found it very enjoyable. Mon Jun 06 10:32:51 -0700 2005 1186731 0 Trish