Kash Cool

It was Korean Thanksgiving last Wednesday to mark the beginning of harvest season, and strangely enough, my sister, my dad and I dined out to a Persian restaurant! I was missing Pomegranate, one of my favourite restaurants in Toronto and I have wanted to try this place for a long time as I heard it’s one of the best Iranian restaurant in town. After I have experimented with making Fesenjoon and Zereshk Polow with golden Tah Dig at home, and I really wanted to try out what other dishes Persian dishes I should try making!

Fesenjoon- Chicken Pomegranate Walnut Stew
Zereshk Polow- Basmati Rice with barberries and saffron
Tah Dig- Crispy Golden rice as a result of making rice on the stove.

The location of this restaurant is actually very strange as it’s basically on an empty road with auto body repair shops, a whole sale jewellery supply store, a signage making store and it’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere. I know that there’s a huge Iranian population in North Vancouver, and with that alone, it’s a good location for an Iranian restaurant, but really… it’s a little out of the way. It’s not even a major street!

When we got there around 6:30pm, we were only one of 3 tables having dinner in the whole restaurant and I figured it’s because it’s Wednesday night. The service was prompt, the decor inside was ornate and the food was delicious! My dad usually is pretty picky when it comes to ethnically diverse food, but surprisingly he loved it! He kept on saying how the barbequed meat was cooked to perfection, he mentioned that the way they make rice is like an art, and marvelled at how the grilled tomato tasted so good! I was relieved because I don’t see him often and we all left happy and enjoyed our meal together on “Choo-Suk” Day.

     

The ornate interior features columns imitating marble and the capital of double headed bulls pays homage to Iranian architecture at the ruins of Persepolis, and there is beautifully embossed scripture on the walls in Arabic. There is a lot of gold, rich, vibrant colours, and the gold fish pond’s trickling of water is actually very soothing. My dad was pretty impressed with the interior decoration and attention to detail.

This was the first time I ever tried Doogh and I really liked it! It’s a yogurt drink made with dried mint. I had expected it to be sweet so I was a little hesitant to try it, but nope, it was cold, tangy and subtly minty which was nice.

We had Gormeh Sabzi on Tah Dig which is a parsley cilantro stew with kidney beans, saffron and dried lime. It came with Lavash Bread, onions and fresh parsley and the dish was great! I didn’t have any with the Lavash but it was awesome nonetheless. The crispy rice was delicious with the rich stew and the fresh parsley along with all the infused herbs in the dish made it kind of refreshing!

I had a chicken joojeh kabob with (finally!) an authentic Zereshk Polow. I guess the dish doesn’t really look that big in the picture but the plate was a good 35-40 centimetres long! The chicken was tender and succulent, tasted of saffron and tasted oh so good with the barberry rice which was also heavy handed with the saffron. Did i mention that I love saffron? Oh man, I could only finish half the dish as I felt soooo full. I also wanted to take some home for lunch the next day.

My dad the meat lover got a tender beef fillet (barg) kabob and a ground beef (koodibeh) kabab flavoured with saffron, onion, and garlic served with white rice and a broiled tomato. I admit I had a bite of his and the meat was juicy, tender, and mouth watering. He could barely finish the thing and he usually eats a lot!

My sister got the Lamb Shank with Baghaley polo (rice with dill and fava beans). The lamb just fell off the bone as it was cooked for hours and had such great flavour. You could taste the cinnamon, coriander and a little nutmeg mixed in with a little garlic.

For dessert we had in-house made vanilla rosewater ice cream with pistachios that was mildly sweetened and fresh. It was a great end to our flavourful meal as the rosey ice cream cleansed our palates and satisfied our sweet tooth.

I highly recommend having dinner at Kash Cool. It’s not a cheap restaurant, as mains are around $15-20 dollars each, but you will definitely have a great meal with middle eastern flare and you will probably leave with the belt loosened a bit. I full heartedly agree with all the hype about this restaurant in saying that it’s one of the best Persian restaurants I have ever been to. I guess I won’t miss Pomegranate that much after all!

Kash Cool
222 Pemberton Avenue, North Vancouver