QUEEN OF PERSIA Restaurant – 672A St Clair Ave W, Toronto, ON M6C 1B1
Country: Iran
Seating: Indoor seating, with a few outdoor tables 
Must-try dish: Torsh Kebab
Dinner guests: Chronicles of Farnia & Young Matt 
The high: The glasses, plates, serving platters, and tea sets are spectacular, giving the impression of being at a royal dinner.
The low: The more that we’re exposed to Persian cuisine, the more we want to go on an eating tour around Iran, but it doesn’t seem like that’s in the cards anytime soon.

It’s no surprise that Mandrea Bike adores Persian food, so it’s even less surprising that when the opportunity arose for us to dine with a Persian friend at her family’s favourite restaurant in the city, we jumped at the chance. It was refreshing to be guided through the menu in detail with historical and regional references while deciding our order, and then chatting about growing up in Tehran over cocktails crafted with Persian ingredients.  

The Queen of Persia’s menu has dishes from across the country with traditional ingredients such as pomegranate, walnuts, and saffron. There’s no shortage of lamb, beef, and chicken, and even a couple of fish dishes. Persian food is excellent for vegetarians because of the reliance on eggplant recipes and stews with legumes. This style of cuisine is soaked in flavour without being spicy and can appeal to all types of diners.

We started with a majestic looking platter of warm dips that included one of the most addictive melanges ever tasted – Zeytoon Parvardeh, which consists of green olives, pomegranate reduction, walnuts, and herbs. It’s marinated for days to achieve the level of intense flavour in each bite. 

Accompanying the Zeytoon Parvardeh was the Kashk O Bademjan – a smoked eggplant and yogurt whey medley topped with walnuts. The third spread is a blend of eggplant, tomato and garlic that is expertly seasoned and fresh at every bite: Mirza Ghasemi. 

Two stews made the cut to enjoy with saffron infused rice that literally melts in your mouth. The first is Ghormeh Sabzi, which is slow cooked chunks of beef, kidney beans, and fresh herbs. It’s light and fresh because of the generous portions of parsley. It’s a staple of Persian menus, but it never gets old.

The second dish was also a beef based stew, called Gheymeh Nesar. It complimented the Ghormeh Sabzi with its sweet and sour notes – tender pieces of beef are cooked for hours with barberries, orange peel, then topped with slivered almonds to elevate the texture. The Gheymeh Nesar is unique to the other dishes because completely different ingredients are used to flavour the meat. 

The finale was our favourite, and the dish that came most recommended from our guest – the Torsh Kebab with lamb. This dish is both savoury and sweet from the lengthy marination process in pomegranate molasses, walnuts, and fresh herbs. The meat is tender, and worth getting while visiting this restaurant as it’s not your classic kabab found in other places.

The desserts were tempting but we decided to have tea instead because of the impressive sounding selection. The tradition is a Persian black tea that would be more bitter in flavour but can easily be sweetened, but if you’re looking for something a little different, there are saffron infused teas that are exceptional, both caffeinated and herbal.

It’s not just the restaurant’s name that made us feel regal but the entire vibe of the place excuded elegance in a humble way. It would be on the fine dining scale compared to other Persian restaurants in the city down to the décor, the serving plates, and attention to detail in drinks and food.

Eat with you soon, 

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)