Yet another restaurant making its debut at the bustling and picturesque Hauz Khas village is Faarsi. As the name suggests it’s a Persian cuisine restaurant serving some delectable versions of Persian kababs and much more. Though sometimes finding a restaurant in the narrow bylanes of Hauz Khas village is a struggle, Faarsi is quite easy to locate. Faarsi seemed to me more of a take-away joint having a small seating to cater to just 10 to 15 people.
Usually, I prefer sitting next to live kitchens but this one was way too near where the faintest of sounds — from the opening of water tap to the beep of microwave — was easily audible. However, the advantage of sitting there was I could see my kubideh kababs being prepared in front of my eyes and even enjoy the smoke from the grill. The menu features select traditional Persian delicacies. Till the time my kababs were on grill, I tried Faarsi signature non-vegetarian salad. Presented beautifully on a flat plate, the salad was colourful and fresh. Shredded strips of chicken from the shawarma grill made it even tastier. As I was about to finish my salad, the chef brought in lamb kubideh, which was absolutely delightful. It was juicy and tender and had fingers’ impressions on it. Made traditionally on a flatter seekh, kubideh was grilled to perfection. Chef served me the chicken and fish version of kubideh as well. While the chicken lacked in succulence which could be because it used the boneless breast portion, fish kubideh was a bit spongy in texture, a feature completely unacceptable in a kabab. But nothing beats the flavour and aroma of a kubideh. Next to come in was a shawarma, a Lebanese dish, which sells like hot cakes in Delhi. Served with pickled veggies shawarma was delicious and quite filling. A must-try dish at Faarsi. Lamb chelo and lamb shish are worth trying as well. Full of flavours and perfect on succulence, the kababs at Faarsi score well.Sambousek was also nice and cheesy boasting a crisp and thin layer. In my main course, I opted for grilled cottage cheese and fish in lemon butter sauce. Cottage cheese was grilled so well that it just melted in the mouth. On the other hand, the fish was very average and didn’t absorb the flavours of the sauce.
With hardly any options in desserts, I tried halwa made out of cous cous, which was innovative and tasty.
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Meal for two: Rs.1000