Eating out with baby – Darvish Persian Restaurant

Persian food has always been a favourite but it’s not something that enters our daily repertoire  as much as I’d like to. Instead I tend to save it for special occasions as a treat. Not that Persian food is expensive, instead I find that there are some cuisines that just take up the level of poshness and the novelty itself brings about an air of sophistication. Persian food sits in my bag of tricks that I pull out when I’m looking to impress my palate or those around me.

Yesterday I shared with you the Mother’s Day Brunch Cruise but what I didn’t mention was that fate would have it that my other mom (mom in law) would miss her flight from Toronto to Cape Breton and that she ended up spending Mother’s Day/evening with the hubs, Little Monkey and I. Since it was a last minute surprise we decided to do an early dinner before their flight and checked out Darvish Persian Restaurant. A little spot just a few blocks down from us that we’d heard good things about but had never ventured to.

On arrival we were greeted by the owner, a lovely woman who answered my endless questions. Decor of lamps, pots and Iranian memorabilia transports you immediately. The place is small and wasn’t busy at all so we were able to get an impromptu reservation. They were nice enough to let us park our industrial stoller (UPPA) off the entrance as it was a slow evening and even had a high chair for the Little Monkey (it did need a good cleaning though! Carry those sanitizing wipes if you plan to use the high chair).

We started with a Dip platter of hummus, black olives, Mirzaghasemi (spiced eggplant and zucchini purée with garlic and tomatoes, served with Persian bread ) and Mast-o-Moosyr (homemade yogurt dish). Remember to save some of that yogurt because it goes amazingly with the kebabs! Rice dishes are the highlight for me when it comes to Persian food. The dried fruits and nuts in currys and the rice dishes just make my taste buds dance. I had the Chelo-Kabob Soltani (skewer of each Barg sirloid beef and Koobideh minced beef Kabob) with basmati saffron rice, sprinkled with dried tart cranberries and complemented the meal with a glass of Doogh (tart yogurt based drink, I love my sweet lassis and while I always attempt to try out the tart ones, they just don’t hit the spot for me). The hostess also gave me the heads up that I should sprinkle the Sumac on my meats. AHA! Glad I asked what that red powder on the table was! I thought it was chilli initially but it was too tart to be chilli powder.  The hubs got the Gheymeh-polo (beef with split peas and dry lemon in a tasty tomato sauce topped ) and mom got the best dish of all, the Fesenjoon (Chicken breast with walnut and pomegranate sauce). 

As you can see the baby was well entertained trying to feed herself some rice and meats. I was too stuffed to have the dessert I’d been craving, Faloodeh but I’ll have to go back! The friendly service, good food and the fact that they didn’t mind me asking for spoons for the Little Monkey are big hits in my books!

Do you have any good Persian Restaurants you can recommend? Always looking to add more to my list!