NOW CLOSED...Formerly:
Romantic ambience and classic Middle Eastern eats meet in this hotel-turned-apartment-building lobby. From top to bottom, the space has style: Art Deco-inspired chandeliers, tabletops covered in impressionistic paintings, pictures of Odalisques hanging on blue, red, and yellow walls, and a classical, though now dried-up fountain gracing the middle of the dining room.
On a recent visit my date and I started with the sampler platter for an appetizer. Out of the hearty portions of dolmeh (grape leaves), hummus, baba-ganush, kashke-bademejan and Persian salad, we were most surprised by the smoky flavor of the kaske-bademejan, a dish made from pureed eggplant, caramelized onions, mint and whey. For entrees, we shared the Barg, marinated steak with grilled vegetables, and the Fassenjan, a signature dish made of grilled chicken breast in pomegranate and ground walnut sauce. The sauce was thick brown, sweet and salty, a delicious Persian answer to Mexican mole.
Full of grilled items, lentils and dill rice, the menu offers plenty of options for all, from seafood-lovers to meat-eaters to vegetarians. No entree costs more than $16 and several seafood-steak combination platters make choosing a bit easier. The servers graciously keep the baskets of warm pita bread coming.
One of few options for Middle Eastern dining in Rogers Park, this charming atmosphere and expansive menu at this BYOB spot (there's an affordable corkage fee of $4) could even lure in South Siders.
Reviewed By: Joanne Hinkel
