Hafez, 5 Hereford Road, London W2 4AB

Hafez, 5 Hereford Road, London W2 4AB
www.hafezrestaurant.co.uk

22/11/2014

She said: We love Persian and this place was recommended to us by local Persians so we had to go. Unassuming on a Notting Hill side street, Hafez is a small but perfectly formed gem. The knick-knack décor inside is quirky and endearing and the menu has a good choice of mezze and main dishes. For the first time that I can remember, they made the Ash soup the way my Iranian childhood’s family used to make it – thick, rich in herbs and no pasta (it just never seems right with the pasta that most Persian restaurants seem to add). So good. The warm aubergine dip with the oven-baked Persian bread was compulsively good. Our Persian acquaintances has recommended the pomegranate stew (Fesenjan) which is normally with meat but the menu offered a vegetarian version. The stew sauce was tremendous but sadly vegetarian meant no meat but nothing else – literally just the sauce. A couple of vegetables would have done wonders. Luckily we also had the absolutely delicious Ghorme Sabzi with the herbs and kidney beans making my mouth water with every bite. When we received the bill it came with the juiciest baklava, better than any after-dinner mint ever produced. Hafez is an excellent neighbourhood Persian and probably the best I’ve been to. I wish they did my favourite tamarind fish dish, but even so the menu has enough to come back for, at good value.

He said: Hafez, named after Iran's answer to Shakespeare, was recommended to us by an Iranian couple who swore it was the best Persian in London, and also dissed another place around the corner which I agreed was over-hyped. So we hightailed it to Hafez at the earliest opportunity, and ordered a couple of classics: Fesenjan and Gormeh Subzi. Both were very tasty but I was really mystified when the veggie version of the Fesenjan came with no veggies: sauce only.  OK it tastes best with chicken, but that is just weird. Having said that, the flavours of everything we ate were just great. I also liked that Hafez has been around a very long time and has that neighbourhood restaurant vibe. I would definitely go back, but I can't help but think that London's best Iranian has yet to be found. I will be enjoying looking for it!

Dishoom, 1 Stable Street, London N1C 4AA

Dishoom, 1 Stable Street, London N1C 4AA
www.dishoom.com
08/11/2014

She said: We were in on the first day of the soft launch so even the website didn’t mention the latest addition to what is becoming the Dishoom chain. Forget the other branches, this St Pancras-based wonder will blow you away. I can spend ages praising the stunning industrial space with a great open first floor dining space and stylish basement bar; and go through the magnificent list of fantastic food and drink options which led us to order as much as we could fit on the table but this is really somewhere you have to go yourself. I was so overwhelmed by the grand setting, delicious chilli martini and compulsive flavours in everything from prawns to beans that the fact I found a bit of plastic in one of my mouthfuls (which the manager guessed was from packaging) and that my yoghurt was forgotten were minor mishaps in an otherwise perfect experience. Yes the 50% off helped, along with the lovely company of a good friend and him of course but service was keen and friendly and Dishoom just has that buzz balanced with calm that makes you want to keep coming back. I hope they don’t lose the magic when this place becomes over-run, which it will.

He said: this branch of Dishoom is miles better than the 'ho hum' Leicester Square branch we hit some time back.  The huge converted Kings Cross warehouse space is perfectly suited to Dishoom's street food/railway snacks gambit. It's a very cool space to hang out in, and with lots of good reasons to keep you there: the cocktail list is extensive, and the menu has been made more veggie-friendly. We went during soft launch, armed with a half off discount, so we ordered much more than usual. Every dish we tried has been engineered to be the best version of itself. The crispy fried bindi is like crack, the black dhal is excellent, the kati rolls delicious, and ditto the stewed kidney beans. We went back with my brother a little while later, paid full whack, and still enjoyed it.  My only minus is that the menu is not as extensive as in most traditional Indian restaurants, so you might end up repeating yourself on return visits. But what you do get there is really great, and the vibe is very cool and laid back.  I'm looking forward to going back already!