When my friend Mabel first mentioned getting Persian food, I poo poo'd her. I was feeling Thai food but couldn't come up with any good places to go in the neighborhood so I decided to give this a go. And I was really glad I did because it was just what we needed. It's an assuming quiet neighborhood restaurant with good food, big portions and really nice waitstaff. Who knew Persian food was so tasty?
The menu is very similar to Greek or Mediterranean food with lots of grilled meats, vegetables and seafood plates as well as spreads and stews. We started with a chopped salad ($8) and I got the lamb shish kebob ($17) and Mabel got the shrimp kebob ($21). The chopped salad was a huge portion and delicious - it was chopped lettuce, steak tomato, cucumber, red onion, feta cheese and tossed with a lot of tasty vinaigrette. It was pretty much a classic Greek salad - I could have eaten the entire thing and it's definitely big enough to me an entree. But luckily I left room for my main entree - again it was a huge portion. It was a heaping plate of cut up tender pieces of lamb served with a basmati type white and yellow rice and a grilled tomato and onion. The meat had been marinated and was cooked to just the right temperature. The combination of tomato, lamb and rice with some of the green sauce they give you is a great mouthful. Normally I have a huge appetite and clean my plate no matter what but even here I couldn't finish all my food. These days in New York, it's hard to find a place where they give you enough food that you can't finish it. I didn't try the shrimp but it looked like it was cooked well and tasty too.
The clientele is a lot of locals and the atmosphere is pretty low key, which was perfect for two friends to catch up and have a conversation without having to yell at each other from across the table. The one con would be that I had ordered an eggplant appetizer to start but they totally forgot about it but it was really ok in the end because of the portion size of everything else and it wasn't on the check, so we were probably better off that we didn't get it. Persian food definitely doesn't get the hype of Greek food but if you're looking for a no frills, casual place with good grill plates in the East Village, Ravagh should be on your radar screen. Total bill: $31/pp with tax and tip
Photo Credit: Yelp
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