It has never been this hard to summarize my dinning experiences in regards of any restaurants anywhere as it is in the case of Little Persia. This place is a tough one to figure out as I truly believe it suffers from a Borderline Personality Disorder.
Walking on Queensway Little Persia is easy to miss as it seems to be tucked in behind a colorless party tent. However beyond this tent lies a nicely and pretty authentic, but somewhat modern, colorful decorated dinning room. Dinning inside will grant you an authentic Persian ambiance while dinning outside grants you the pleasure of Shisha, the water pipe. It is a laid back restaurant with a relaxed atmosphere that is heavily noticeable in how the staff behaves and operates. You might catch them buying herbs not used in cooking of a boy on bicycle in the garage Port/Arch next to the restaurant or you might catch them styling/correcting their hair while waiting on costumers or even find yourself being hit on while your shisha is being prepared. You might be sited upon asking for the wine list just to be told 5 minutes later when asking of the wine list whereabouts that they in fact serve non.
Your order might be different from what is described or even shown in pictures on the menu or on the web site. For instance two skewers might become one mixed skewer of meat or you might get a skewer that has no resemblance to what you thought you ordered. A picture is said to say more than words but on the web site some dishes are titled incorrectly or shown as being served with fries whereas menu clearly says mains are served with salad or rice or bread. You might upon asking for doggy bag be helped or asked to help yourself in regards of loading the left overs. You might find yourself in need of repeating an order/request as you are served by different waiters. Furthermore asking for assistance from the staff might get issues solved or not depending on their mood or language comprehension. An Iranian friend of mine wasn't even sure they fully understood him!
Don't get me wrong the food as such is good, the charcoal grilled kebabs are tender, juicy and marinated as they should be all according to the Persian way of BBQ, but they never do justice for the phrases many associate with Persian BBQ "Fall of the bone" or "melt in mouth" tender. The steamed Basmati rice often lacks the al denti it should have and the usage of saffron is very moderate. I do get it, saffron is not cheap but at the prices asked I think one deserves a hint of saffron taste and not only the color. The menu in itself is not entirely authentic as prawn, hummous or tabbuleh are not typical for the Persian kitchen nor is the stew ghormeh sabzi a vegetarian dish! Mixed O'derves, smoked aubergine mash or salad Olivieh served without Nan also add to the feeling of a restaurant with minor identity issues.
The biggest problem with Little Persia is much like the problem one might experience with the soup/salad of the day. You are just not sure nor can ever be in advance what you will be getting and how good or fresh it is that day compared to the next. Little Persia has just too much of mood disturbances to be a serious contender among Persian kitchens in London. read more