Strange, Strange Meals

Between being harassed by a janitor at the Treasure Island public beach ladies room and almost ingesting dairy (that was a close call), my pal Lisa and I decided to try a new restaurant. Several weeks ago, we checked out Persia House of Kabob, located in the same strip mall as Kaleisia Tea Lounge. Both big fans of falafel, we were interested to check out their take on 'em, as well as some other items on their veg*n menu.

Imagine our surprise when we were told they had no falafel. It's on the menu, but they just didn't have any that day. I guess their designated Falafel Maker was on vacation.

We started with a vegetarian platter to split.

Tabbouleh, dolmades, and hummus. All very standard. I'm very picky about tabbouleh, and this one was pretty good.

But here comes the fun part: our entrees.

I ordered the Baghali Polo: "basmatic rice mixed with herbs, fresh dill, and lima beans." When I saw rice + dill, I got excited, thinking about the amazing dill rice I ate at Noon-a-Kabob in Chicago several years ago. Since the only veggies in this dish were lima beans, I also ordered a side of grilled vegetables.

On the left, what looks like a heart, is actually a whole grilled tomato. The rice itself was NOTHING like the rice I had in Chicago. This rice tasted old and dusty, like someone made it the other day, set it on a tall shelf, and then dusted a ceiling fan directly above it. It was dry and flavorless. I could not detect any fresh dill whatsoever. The grilled vegetables were okay, though a bit "well done."

Lisa ordered the Zereshk Polo: "sweet and sour currant-saffron basmatic rice." Sounds intriguing, yes? Now, think about that description, and imagine what that dish should look like. It sounds like it would be colorful and fragrant. It does NOT sound like a plate of white rice and Craisins, which is what it actually looked like.

I can't imagine what my face looked like when this was placed before us. Lisa rooted around and, no, that was it. No other goodness hidden anywhere else.

I gave Lisa my bleeding heart whole grilled tomato, which she said helped the fact that her meal was dry and flavorless.

So... I don't know if there's much more I need to say about my first impression of Persia House of Kabob. I think the pictures and descriptions say enough.