310222 Tue Jul 18 15:59:22 -0700 2006 3 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 1751354 Another poster asked about Sahand here: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/310040#1750434 So I wanted to report that Sahand closed more than a year ago and was replaced by Garne, another persian restaurant. I posted a mini review of Garne as part of my long "Dearth of good restaurants in Blossom Hill" post that is now missing, so I'll recap here: Garne's persian food is flavorful and seems authentic, but in small-ish portions (except for the big mound of rice). They have a (small & standard) salad buffet included with lunch specials, a nice deal. I've enjoyed the tender & flavorful kebabs, and I really like the Gormeh Sabzi (sp?) but watch out for the preserved lime if you haven't acquired a taste for it. Garne is at 4268 Meridian (the NE Corner of Meridian & Branham), at the very corner spot of the strip mall. I've also been to Shamshiri, which I & my persian boss enjoy more than Garne. Also it's halal according to my boss. We went for my boss's big birthday lunch so I got to try something like 15 dishes that day. They have something like 5 or 6 gourmet varieties of rice that are out of the world and chock full of yummy things (sorry I can't remember them all). The beef kebabs (well they're not shaped like kebabs but they're on a stick) are really tender and so well marinaded & juicy, but the chicken kebabs are dry & not as good. I think there was a Koresht chicken stew that I loved. There was a lamb dish that was fall off the bone tender. I wish I remembered the other dishes, because everything was really good except for that one chicken kebab dish being dry. Prices might be on the high side however. It came to $25 per person that day but I think that's because we had pre-ordered food for something like 25 people and there were 4 or 5 no-shows. Shamshiri is on 1392 S. Bascom Ave., on the W side of Bascom. Oh I found an old review from MetroActive's website: http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/05.08.97/dining-9719.html Tue Jul 18 15:59:22 -0700 2006 10961 Alice Patis 1 1751418 Actually, my old "dearth of good asian" post is not missing, I eventually found it using the advanced search. Here it is for reference sake: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/43439 Tue Jul 18 16:24:50 -0700 2006 1751354 10961 Alice Patis 1 1752052 I don't understand - Maybe Sahand didn't close but moved? Or its a different restaurant that just happens to have the same name? I was there (4628 Meridian) on Saturday, it was open. I went in, saw people eating good looking food and got a menu to take home for reference. Tue Jul 18 19:47:21 -0700 2006 1751354 10252 larochelle 2 1752415 Now I don't understand. Looking them up on the web, both have the same address AND same phone. And I didn't realize you went there just this past Saturday; I didn't even see that part of your original post. So if it's called Sahand as of last Saturday, I might be wrong. I've been known to be wrong about restaurants near me closing before. So if I'm wrong that Garne replaced Sahand, maybe Sahand replaced Garne, which replaced something else. Maybe I'll just have to visit them and ask. Tue Jul 18 21:40:17 -0700 2006 1752052 10961 Alice Patis