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!