Wifey and I have become quite partial to Persian food over the last year or so. We’re not sure if there genuinely is a proliferation of Persian restaurants of late, or if we’re just observing the “since I bought my new car I see them everywhere” effect, but we’re learning to tell the difference between good and - well - indifferent Persian food.
Behesht, unfortunately, falls into the latter category. We had passed it many times and Wifey in particular had one of those “feelings” about the place, so on Saturday we decided to try it for lunch.
On walking in we had high hopes. Split into five rooms and much, much bigger inside than you could ever guess from the street, the interior is a fantasy land of Middle Eastern décor and indoor water features.
We sat down and ordered from the very reasonably priced menu, which, by the way, somebody really should proof read. My okra main course included something called “green papers” while, alarmingly, several of the starters including my baba ganoush, had as their main ingredient either grilled or baked aborigine!
We were refused tap water. I think it’s an urban myth that it’s a legal requirement to offer it, but it’s the only restaurant I know of that doesn’t and that alone is enough to stop me from going back.
Something we really like about Persian restaurants is breaking a raw egg yolk into the rice. That too wasn’t available.
The service was, to put it politely, offhand. Our waiter had all the charm and some of the sleaze of a used car salesman and we were left feeling as if we’d turned up at an inconvenient time at the house of someone who then felt obliged to entertain us.
The portions though, are very generous especially given the price. So much so in fact that we decided to finish early and asked for the food to be wrapped up to take away. We were somewhat nonplussed when our waiter returned with three Tupperware boxes for us to pack the food into ourselves!
1082 - 1084 Harrow Road
London NW10 5NL
But don’t go there