Farsi Cafe sits in the location where the original and famous Shamshiri Restaurant (not to be confused with Shamshiri Grille up the street) operated for years before the original owner closed the restaurant in the mid-1990’s.
Farsi Cafe is participating in DineLA Restaurant Week, which runs from July 13th through July 27th. They are offering a $15 2-course lunch or a $29 3-course dinner (actually, more like 4 courses as you get to choose 2 items from the appetizer section), and it is a lot of food. Persian restaurants are known for serving large platters of food: kabobs or stewed proteins served with a huge amount of basmati rice, and here it was no different. By the time you finish you appetizers, some lavash bread and the plate of raw white onions, mint, basil and tarragon leaves (used with butter to wrap in the lavash for a pre-meal nibble), you’re almost full.
The food was excellent, and the service was solid. The Tahdig & Stews were nice and hearty. The lamb shank was huge and could easily feed 2 or 3 people. Tachin (crusted rice mixed with yogurt, eggs and saffron with layer of boiled chicken at the middle served with sautéed barberries on the top) is also offered on their DineLA menu, but only until 7pm, that is if they don’t run out of it earlier in the evening, as was the case during our visit.
The Persian Ice Cream dessert was probably the most interesting of the 3 options, as the ice cream is made with the combination of saffron, rose water and pistachios, sandwiched in between 2 waffle wafer layers. Unfortunately, the combination of flavors were more muddled than distinct, and the waffle wafer layers were just soggy from being a pre-packaged item.
DineLA Restaurant Week Menu, July 2018
Naz Khaton – Yogurt blended with grilled eggplant, walnuts and herbs
Olovieh Salad – Chicken and potato salad mixed with egg whites, peas and pickles
Tahdig & Stew – Default choice was Gheymeh, chunks of beef shoulder cooked in tomato paste with split yellow peas and crispy potato strips.
Tahdig & Stew are served separately. Here, I poured my Gheymeh all over the crispy basmati rice.
Mirza Ghazemi – Grilled Eggplants mixed with tomatoes, scrambled eggs, and sauteed garlic
Soup & Salad – Split Yellow Pea
Soup & Salad – Side salad.
Chicken Breast Kabob with saffron basmati rice, grilled tomato and grilled serrano chile
Grilled Salmon with Baghala Polo, lima bean and dill infused basmati rice
Lamb Shank, served with a side of Baghala Polo
Seasoned, Boiled Lamb Shank
Baghala Polo
Ground Beef Kabob (Koobideh)
Tahdig & Stew – Stew choice here was the Ghormeh Sabzi, made with parsley, spinach, fenugreek and chives (vegetarian version)
Black Chocolate – Three Layer Chocolate Cake
Persian Ice Cream – Saffron, rose water and pistachios
Persian Ice Cream (Sandwich)