Alborz Review

Alborz served us decent Persian food.

To start, we were given a basket of warm lavash, traditional, creamy Persian yogurt, and a mild white onion. All respectable.

Rather than being automatically delivered, we had to order sahzi, the plate of feta, cilantro, mint, green onions, walnuts, olives, and so forth, with which we made sandwiches with the lavash. The selection on the plate was larger than we've had elsewhere, including unconventional items like tomato and cucumber. The feta itself was pretty decent, though not as good as Maykadeh's.

We also tried the tah dig, and had it topped with ghormeh sabzi, a stew of spinach and kidney beans. This tah dig, in contrast to the previous versions, was made with fried pita at the bottom, not fried rice. It was crispy, exactly as it should be, and Oj said it was "done just right." The ghormeh sabzi was also likable and seemed identical to every other rendition we've had.

We tried three types of kebabs:

• Koobideh (ground beef). Tender and soft. Good stuff. Although one skewer was only okay until we moved it so it rested in the meat juices, we decided this was the best type of kebab. We ordered a third skewer.
• Barg (filet mignon). Pretty decent.
• Joojeh (chicken breast). Very moist and lemony. Good.

The kebabs came with the traditional rice, nicely decorated with saffron, roasted tomatoes, some sumac for sprinkling on the meat, and some lemon slices for the chicken. S described sumac as a "sophisticated salt." Oj liked the description so much he'll use it in the future.

For dessert, we tried:

• Persian ice cream. Creamy and good.
• Zalabia. Zalabia is a pastry made of intertwined strands of deep-fried batter, sweetened with honey. Alborz's rendition was poor. It looked dry and crusty and indeed clearly wasn't freshly made. It didn't compare to the real thing, which we were told is supposed to be served hot and sticky and almost too sweet to eat.

Alborz has a nice decor, fairly standard for an up-scale restaurant. Located on the corner of Van Ness, we got to watch passing cars through the large windows. Apparently not far from the tenderloin, as we entered, we heard yelling from a crazy guy at the bus stop just outside the restaurant. Later, a beggar came in; the staff efficiently chased him away.

Service was random. They refilled water glasses promptly. But they tried taking our plates at odd times, often when we weren't finished. And when they replaced spoons for dessert, they didn't give us all the same size!

The total was $24/person including tax and tip. We didn't order expensive drinks, only tea.

Original Announcement

I'm in the mood for meat. Hence, we'll head try Alborz, the other major Persian restaurant beside Maykadeh in the city. It's in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of SF.

As always, please tell me if you are coming!

Comments from Other Attendees

Feel free to add remarks here.