Nasrin’s Kitchen [NYC / Manhattan]

[Saregama]

We had an enjoyable group dinner at Nasrin’s Kitchen – homey Persian fare, with some ups and downs but mostly tasty (and we left clean plates, so there’s that).

We shared appetizers, including some dips that were listed as sides to go with the house bread.

We each ordered our own entree but without overlap, so we could taste more things.

We ended with the Persian Tea Service which had some baklava included, and added another order of baklava (just to be safe ).

In the beverage category, the interesting picks at the table were Doogh (yogurt with mint and rose petals) and Persian beers brewed in Brooklyn (flavored with sumac and dried lime - separately).

Excuse the blurry pics – bad lighting has become a plague upon our time! (But also, I hope others will post their better pics!)

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Kotlet: Ground beef and lamb patties

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Kuku Sabzi: Frittata of herbs and greens

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Mirza Ghasemi: Eggplant dip topped with a fried egg

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Mast Mosir: Yogurt dip with shallots

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Borani: Yogurt dip with spinach

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House-baked bread

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Baghali Polu Ba Mahicheh: Lamb shank served with dill and broad bean pulao (special for the night)

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Fesenjoon: Chicken stewed with walnuts and pomegranate molasses

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Gheymeh: Beef and split pea stew

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Zereshk Polo Ba Morgh: Braised chicken with barberry pulao

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Chelo Khoresh-e Ghormeh Sabzi: Beef stewed with greens, kidney beans, and dried lime

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Basmati rice accompanying the stews

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Persian Tea Service: Tea, baklava, assorted little sweets

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Persian Baklava: Almond-filled pastry

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Doogh: Yogurt drink with mint & rose petals

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Persian beers

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[DaveCook]

Here are a couple of phone-flashlight starkly lit photos from our dinner at Nasrin’s Kitchen.

Kuku sabzi, a green-herb frittata.

Fesenjoon, braised chicken in a walnut-pomegranate sauce. It wasn’t quite crowded off the table, but once the entrees arrived, and even after we consolidated rice plates, space was tight!

[Saregama]

My favorites were the lamb shank special, the beef stewed with split peas, and both the yogurt dips.

Each rice serving came with a small chunk of tahdig / crispy rice, which was fun to crunch on.

The lamb was tender and well-flavored, as was the green rice with it (even if a bit scant on broad beans).

The beef stew with split peas was perfectly spiced and cooked, very reminiscent of Indian dal gosht (which is not one of my favorites but this now has me craving; it also had “salli” / potato straws as a garnish, as the Indian Parsi dish salli boti does).

Both the yogurt dips were perfectly balanced.

[JenKalb (Jennifer Kalb)]

Offering a few more pictures of the meal. We enjoyed the atmosphere and friendly service. The dishes were an interesting mixed bag - my khoresh was exceptionally smoky, from the dried lemons (limau omani) and probably long sauteeing of the herbs and spinach, making the dish intense, citric and almost black in color. With its small quantity of meat and beans it served mainly as a condiment for my mountainous serving of rice (a typical attitude to stews in the region) Jim’s Gheymeh, was similarly scant in the meat department but the split peas and spicing with cinnamon and other spices made it a more filling seeming dish. The two chicken dishes were both very good and each included a generously sized chicken leg quarter, nicely cooked. Note I wouldnt have called zereskh polo a pilau because the barberries and nuts were applied as a very pretty garnish rather than being included in the cooking of the rice. the Liked Several of the appetizers, particularly the two yogurt dips and most of all the eggplant with the fried egg topper, excellent. Tea service was charming (i also saw individual large cups being served) and my yogurt based drink, doogh was lovelyI liked the “iranian baklava” but if you are looking for crunchy pastry in the dish you will be disappointed…

[Saregama]

@JenKalb

I liked the “iranian baklava” but if you are looking for crunchy pastry in the dish you will be disappointed

I was trying to remember why the dessert tasted so very familiar (semolina, coconut, rosewater), and it finally struck me this morning — it was the Iranian version of Basbousa / Namoura, which I had made for our Egyptian dinner last year.