12 April,2010 09:33 AM IST | | Amrita Bose
Experiment with Persian cuisine right here in town in an authentic Iranian atmosphere
Ever been to a restaurant where every dish on the menu reads like a term of endearment?
Rolling your tongue around the exotic names of Persian dishes at Sufi in Koramangala can only be considered as a pleasure activity. And the food adds to the heady experience.
This restaurant formerly located at Wind Tunnel Road has a new address and avatar at Koramangala now, which is good, for the all new Sufi is big, spacious and resembles a cavernous Persian home with dome ceilings.
Sufi is unlike any other restaurant you might have visited in Bangalore.
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Don't expect to find swanky interiors, steel, chrome or glass, instead you will step into an old world, slightly moth-eaten (in a good way) space.
Intricately carved urns with Persian inscriptions, vintage lamps, embroidered tapestries on the wall, brass plates and a huge hookah form the d cor at Sufi.
Colourful Persian carpets, spacious seating with huge pillows and quaint chandeliers create an old world charm.
Open the menu and you will be forced to read out every name that has a rhythm of its own.
Ghoosth that means ghosth or meat or Bademjan that means aubergine to Shirini that means sweet, you will be spoilt for choice.
The Iranian menu is divided into salads, soups, starters, mains and desserts and there is an Indian section for the safe players too.
We started our meal with the effervescent Doogh (Rs 55) a lassi-like drink made of yoghurt, mint and spices but spiked with soda water. The soda-water definitely added a zing to the usual lassi.
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While we were sipping on the Doogh, we admired the paintings and prints of famous Persian monuments and ancient relics like Ruins of Persepolis and the Tomb of Cyrus to strains of what we guessed at was soulful Iranian pop ballad.
For starters, we ordered the Kabab-e- Loghme (Rs 300), minced lamb skewered and grilled with tomatoes and onions and served on a bed of parsley.
Loghme means a bite in Iranian. To call the kababs just good wouldn't be doing justice to them.
The tender on the inside and charred on the outside meat tempered with Iranian spices did melt in our mouths and induced us to take more than just a bite at a time.
And when dipped into the Moosto Masir (Rs 80), hung yogurt dip spiked with wild garlic, the kabab opened up our palates fully.
For the mains, we wanted to try the Chelo or the traditional Iranian meal of saffron infused basmati rice, kababs (beef, chicken or mutton) served along with grilled vegetables.
Our other chelo experience was the most famous Chelo Kababs served at Peter Cat, a restaurant in Kolkata.
Using that as a reference we were ready to be very critical about the Chelo-Kabab-e-Gafghazi (Rs 375) served to us.
But one spoonful of the fragrant rice softened with butter along with a chunk of the grilled beef tenderloin (typical of Ghafghazi, a region in Persia) coupled with grilled green peppers and charred onions and we were happy that this was indeed the real thing.
The Khoreshte-e-Goosht-o-Bademjan (Rs 250), chunks of lamb and charred aubergine cooked in a tomato gravy was good enough to be mopped up with the naan but could not match up to the Chelo.
Shirini is the dessert portion of an Iranian meal.
The chilled Sholerzad (Rs 75), rice cooked in milk, sugar and saffron and sprinkled with pistachios and almonds and topped with ground cinnamon was cloyingly sweet and did not provide us with a sugary high to end our lovely meal.
Sufi's high point is the novelty of its cuisine and the unusual flavours. This eatery is definitely another recommended addition to Bangalore's global cuisine map.
At 103, 5th Floor, Empire Building, 5th Block, Koramangala
Call 6590 1177
Meal for Two Approx Rs 1200
SUFI didn't know we were there. The Guide reviews anonymously and pays for meals.
