This Persian restaurant was recommended to me by a fellow Persian and Washingtonian now living in Germany. I have to admit I was skeptical when his recommendation included, "Oh, and for the record- better than Amoo's."
If you know me or have followed my reviews, "Amoo's House of Kabob" in McLean, VA is my gold standard. Their kabob soltani is to Persian kabob restaurants what pad thai is for Thai restaurants and pho is for Vietnamese. It is the one dish you judge the entirety of the restaurants food because after all, if they can't do that right, why bother?
So, finding myself in Köln with my brother-in-law one evening, we had to put my friend's claims to the test. I started with an appetizer sampler of sorts: mirza ghasemi, kashk-o-bademjan, mast-o-mooseer, and mast-o-khiar. With their homemade bread and a spread of sabzijat va paneer (herbs and feta cheese), Pinocchio pulled ahead with an early lead.
My friend had also told me to try the Persian stews and not base my entire judgement on the kabobs. Unfortunately, they were out of ghormeh sabzi so I had to settle with gheimeh but they had a wide selection of other dishes like khoresheh-karafs, fesenjan, etc. They also did not serve tahdig which was a huge bummer.
The place is cozy and comfortable and the service is friendly but I can see why some people might feel ignored if they aren't Persian.
But with serving the main dishes, Pinocchio did not live up to the hype. Their kabob was nowhere as good as Amoo's!
So the final verdict:
The gheimeh was great! It was made with lamb and slightly fatty but it was fresh and very tasty.
The kabob soltani did not come close to Amoo's. It is good. But neither the size or the quality of the meat comes close to Amoo's soltani. This place is a good kabob fall back but I would rather go there for the stews and appetizers than just for kabob. The best part, they serve Kolch (regional beer of Köln).
I look forward to being back here soon with more of my family and trying out the rest of their menu. read more