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Persian food is a must-try at this Woodland Hills restaurant

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Persian restaurants have long felt like the Moose, Elks and Rotary Clubs of our Iranian population. Head for the Persian restaurants of Westwood — the ethnic ’hood known as both Little Tehran and Tehrangeles — and you’ll find much of the conversation going on in Farsi.

But at the new wave of shirazi salad, tahdig rice and beef soltani houses of the West Valley, that clubbiness, though certainly present, seems lighter and lesser. The population of diners is an eclectic mix of Iranians … and those who love kebabs and exotic rice. Like Vietnamese cooking, Persian has moved from for the community to for everyone.

One recent Saturday night, there was live entertainment at the wildly popular Shirin restaurant on a market-heavy section of Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills. It was the sort of man-on-a-keyboard music you’d find at any number of upscale Italian or American eateries — an assortment of old-school nightclub music, interspersed with the occasional musical tip of the hat to the eggplant borani and pickled vegetable torshi. Though the music could barely be heard over all the lively chatter and chewing.

People go to Shirin for food and fun — and they get both in portions as big as those on their platters. And when I mean big, I mean seriously big. No one leaves Shirin hungry — or without a bag of food for the next day.

  • Cherry rice at Shirin in Woodland Hills (Photo by Merrill Shindler)

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Cherry rice at Shirin in Woodland Hills (Photo by Merrill Shindler)

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Since I was at a table of four, I asked for the large order of nigh-on perfect house-made hummus with freshly baked pita bread. It was enough for eight. It traveled home very well. Both the hummus and the bread were terrific for breakfast. Along with the sundry kebabs that were left over, and the mountains of rice. Thank goodness this is a cuisine that travels.

And a cooking that has mastered rice preparation to a degree that, unlike Chinese white rice, it’s not dry the next day. The oil used in the cooking of the rice keeps it not just edible, but downright delicious. The flavored rices here run from lentil and herb, to my favorite, cherry rice, which is like a disassembled rice pudding, but without the pudding. And the raisins.

There’s a baby lima bean and dill rice as well. Another tossed with green beans and diced beef. And with a very tart cranberry lookalike called a barberry … a sour barberry, which is both sweet and sour at the same time. A very exotic rice.

There’s a vague perception that Persian cooking is sort of Arabic. But to me, the food of Iran is actually the bridge between the cooking of the Arabic world, and the cuisine of Russia — a style that both draws from its neighbors, and offers much to them.

At the heart of Iranian cooking is the kebab, an infinitely variable dish of marinated, charcoal-grilled meat, sometimes flavored with sumac berries and yogurt; so simple, and so full of flavor.

At Shirin (2.5 stars; 21826 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills; 818-887-1010; www.shirinrestaurant.com), there are six different beef kebab plates, three of lamb, seven of chicken — several of which mix and match the various preparations. One of the soltanis includes lamb chops or boneless lamb, along with ground chicken or ground beef. And, of course, broiled tomatoes, vegetables and basmati rice with saffron. Because you can never have enough rice.

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And speaking of rice, there’s an appetizer that’s big enough to be an entrée, called tahdig — which is the rice crust from the bottom of the pot, crunchy and good — and served with a choice of stews: eggplant and split pea, split pea with diced beef ghormeh sabzi herb stew (with veal) and walnut stew (fesenjoon) with baked chicken. In Persian cooking, too much is never enough.

There are numerous non-rice basics of Persian cuisine — including the Olivieh Salad (sometimes called a Salad Olivier), a madly filling order of diced potatoes, chicken and peas, held together with a mayonnaise of sorts. There’s also the ubiquitous Shirazi Salad, reminiscent of the salads found in Middle Eastern restaurants, made with chopped cucumber, tomato and onion, with a lime juice and olive oil dressing.

There’s a Greek salad and a grilled chicken salad as well, along with a grilled jumbo shrimp salad, described on the menu as “European.” The same can be said of the chicken soup; it’s made with noodles.

And I do love how Persian cooking uses yogurt — not as a sweet dessert dish, but as an appetizer that stands on its own. The mast-o khiar is snappy, tangy yogurt with chopped cucumber and mint. The mast-o-mooseer is yogurt with shallots. The taste can be a revelation after years of Chobani and Dannon.

Like the fermented yogurt drink — doogh — it takes just a sip to rewire our perception of yogurt. After a pitcher of doogh, it’s Oikos that begins to taste wrong. And far too fruity.

Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email mreats@aol.com.

Shirin

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