It was a cold and snowy afternoon when I popped out of my apartment and met a friend for lunch on Yonge Street. I had been meaning to eat at Darvish for months and was pleased to finally find a hungry partner in crime wandering about my neighbourhood ready to feast. I met Matt in the centre of the restaurants dining room shortly after 2pm on a Sunday. We were both starving.
A few fun facts: I would eat my first Persian meal that afternoon at Toronto’s first Persian restaurant a few hours before Argo (which takes place in Tehran Iran) won Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Needless to say I had Persia on my mind all day.
The restaurant is filled with little treasures and trophies from Iran and its simple menu offers a beginners guide to Iranian cuisine. We opted to share the Persian Taster wich included a greek style salad (cucumber, tomato, olive oil, herbs) thick yogurt, roast zucchini and eggplant puree and rice wrapped in grape leaves. Both of our entrees were fantastic and when I wasn’t shovelling the food into my mouth I couldn’t help but exclaim, “how has it taken me 27 years to savour these unique flavours?!”
Our steaming plates featured two rice pilafs (saffron and dill) and the most traditional dishes we could find on the menu, spiced minced beef kebabs and a beef, bean and lime stew. Matt and I spent the next hour catching up while popping our Persian cherry. After this memorable meal I am newly inspired to hunt for the next best thing. Iranian inspirations.
We enjoyed:
Persian Taster
dolme-barg, kashk-o-bademjoon, masto-moosyr, shirazi salad, persian bread
Chelo Kabob Koobideh
spiced minced beef, grilled tomato with saffron rice
Ghormeh-sabzi
beef brochette, fresh herbs, beans, dry lime stew with dill and saffron rice
