Taste of Persia NYC

I’ve upgraded my review to five stars because the lamb stew was terrific. Lamb, chickpeas, potatoes, and more topped with fried onions and garlic in a savory, delicious, hearty stew. I got it with a bowl of rice and loved every bite.

Despite being one of the least visible bizes in the Flatiron, Taste of Persia has become a favorite for patrons in the know. Sharing the space with Pizza Paradise (
), the signage is so limited that it’s likely people miss the spot all the time. «Hidden gem» can certainly be applied here.
After a short but successful stint in the Union Square Holiday Market (
), owner Saeed finally went brick and mortar and has been a lunch favorite ever since. The space is less of a restaurant with a handful of tables in the back (which really belong to the pizzeria) and the menu changes daily. While some folks call in to ask, the wiser choice is to come by and sample whatever is being served. Trust me, something will stand out.
Each plate is around $ 12, which can include a hodgepodge of the daily offerings (mix!). The base can be anything from salad to basmati rice and there is usually a meat option as well plentiful veggie ones. Don’t be intimidated if you don’t recognize any of the dishes, always ask for a small sample and whoever is manning the counter will usually comply.
One of my favorite stews is the Gormeh Sabzi, a fantastic spinach and lamb stew, almost somewhat reminiscent of Indian saag with tender chunks of lamb. There is a similar dish like this with sliced almonds and salmon, which is a crowd favorite. Saeed’s rendition of Fasenjan, a walnut and pomegranate stew with chicken might be one of the best things he serves. It is sweet, yet savory, and perfectly complemented by the basmati rice. Soup fans might enjoy the Ash Reshteh, a super tasty noodle soup that is generously topped off with caramelized garlic, yogurt, and mint. It is the consummate dish that helps anyone concur the winter blues.
Lastly, I would recommend going with takeout during lunch hour only. Since they close at 7pm each day, don’t count on any post-​work dinners unless its around happy hour time. While there are other Persian options in the city, Taste of Persia is easily the least pretentious of the bunch.

I have reviewed Taste of Persia before but it is a NEW YEAR and we recently went for dinner. IT was STILL so GREAT! The Ash Reshteh soup gets better the colder it gets in NYC, it is the most hearty and delicious tasting soup ever. The owner is so hospitable, describes the dishes and truly is giving his all as a labor of Love. Persian Cuisine is one of the oldest in the world and we look forward to visiting and savoring the piquant dishes. Give this man a restaurant, NYC! And give Taste of Persia a try some cold evening. The ASH RESHTEH soup and stews will warm u inside and out.

so good, so friendly. Yes, it’s tucked into a small corner of a pizza place, which is a little weird. I eyed it many times passing when it was closed wondering what was up with this window of a pizza place. But the purveyor has nicely decorated it to be a small catering counter. The hearty Persian stews hold very well meaning your food is ready instantly. The enthusiasm with which the owner handed us samples (of everything!) showed how proud he is of his product. The star dish of veggie noodle soup was like a chili with an unfamiliar flavor profile the toppings of fried garlic and sauteed mint made it amazing! I pulled a friend over to try it with me, then I returned to get some to-​go for my bf.
additional seating in the back. under 10 if you go with a soup for a snack or small meal. Yum!

Simple persian fare but, no compromises on the flavor. Totally defines the «hole in the wall» concept. Being close to work so whenever I need some hearty comfort food this is where I go.
I usually get their pomegranate chicken and chickpea and lamb stew, I personally like the chicken better. The rice that they serve with the onions on top is so delicious!
NYtimes recommended. its a must try!

Oh, how I love thee, Taste of Persia! You are a taste of home, away from home! I will stop by every time I’m in this neighborhood because I just absolutely love the food. I’ve been greeted by the owner himself a few times and he’s super friendly and sweet, he gave me a free sample of halim (a Persian stew that contains slow-​cooked wheat and lamb) and it was the best thing I’ve ever had in my life. It was a cold day outside, so the warm halim and toasted bread really hit the spot. My usual favorite stews are the ghormeh sabzi and fesenjoon. Ghormeh sabzi is a mix of greens with red kidney beans and meat and fesenjoon is made with meat, crushed walnuts and pomegranate syrup. They’re both delicious served over rice. I also love the aub goosht (soup) — I get that every time!
There are very few, mostly two-​top tables in this store (which is shared with a pizza place). Taste of Persia is in the corner to your left as you enter. I usually take my food to go. Good value for the food — about $ 12 for a combo that includes rice and two stews. I brought my mom here when she was visiting and even she loved the food and said the stews and soups are as good as hers (maybe even better… shhh…don’t tell mom!).

Come with a friend.
My sister and I were on our way from D.C. to Boston, and — rather impulsively — decided to jump off the Amtrak at Penn Station and be homeless for the night. We originally were aiming to get dinner at Ootoya, but after seeing the crazy line outside we decided to stroll for other options. As if it by fate, we came across this place. Saeed immediately made us feel at home. He gave us carefully prepared samplers, and once we knew our options he told me, «Don’t look at the menu. Look at me and just tell me what you liked. I’ll prepare the dishes for you.» Wow. That interaction has NEVER happened to me, and I loved it. It’s 100% focus on the food, experience, and customer satisfaction. I’ll be coming here again (and again).

We had a meatball and cherry rice dish that alone was worth the price of admission. Also the lamb stew was quite expertly done. I’d actually give this place 5-​stars if it wasn’t for an unfortunately overcooked chicken dish. The taste was still there but it is what it is… We’ll still go here often. You can tell they care about the food they’re preparing here and we’re lucky to have this little food booth in our neighborhood.

God I so badly wanted to like this place.
NYTimes reviewed and raved about it. Trustworthy friends love it. Its a hole in the wall, and mom-​n-​pop run which are plusses.
But the product? Good, but not out of this world, as I had been expecting. Lamb stew was cold, and I couldn’t find any chunks of lamb but a lot of potatoes. Fish dish was delicious, but portion was tiny. Rice was okay, but not dreamy-​fluffy or crusty warm as I had been expecting, having grown up with an Iranian best friend, whose mom used to stuff us with saffron rice after school.
Maybe we went at an off time… I’ll give it another shot sometime before I croak.

I feel bad for giving such a mediocre rating, but when I went I had two types of stew: a beef stew with dark green vegetables and a chicken stew with pomegranates and walnuts.
The beef stew was great but the chicken stew was the strangest thing I ever tasted. I hated and loved the strange combo of flavor. I don’t think this is the place for basic people, but if you’re adventurous with your taste palette — go for it!

Can I say everything was very perfect?
Thank goodness I came with a friend. I thought it was a good idea to get every single thing on the menu and I’m glad I did. Yeah yeah, I can oink and squeal.
Sadly, I walked past it more than once. I saw the sign and immediately thought it was actually an Italian deli –which it is… on the right-​hand side. It doesn’t take up much real-​estate. It’s literally the size of a small desk cubicle.
The person at the counter was charming and unassuming.
Four dishes over two plates of rice, with the two different soups. I wish I remembered the names of everything.
One thing I realllly enjoy about Persian cuisine is the use of preserved limes (limoo). I love having that in stew and soups. That, and pomegranates… like in the chicken fesenjoon (chicken cooked in a paste of ground walnuts with pomegranates).
And miraculously, meat falls off the bone. Is that always a Persian thing?
The mint paste dollop in the ashreteh made me so happy! So did the whey, and the dried, fried garlic and matchstick potatoes.
Delicious. And am I qualified to comment? Maybe. Maybe living a block from the Persian Cultural Center helped.

This guy makes some good stews. Easy and well priced. Pretty much going to be a weekly usual for me once it starts getting cold.

I had the fortunate luck to have their DELICIOUS lentil soup one cold winter night. It was just delicious! It had plenty of flavour and felt very homey. I have never been to the actual location, I had the soup at a pop up location. He was only serve a few items for the night and had made the suggestion for the vegetarian meal for the night. The owner is very very passionate about his food and he’s a total sweet heart.

New to the area and was scoping out some lunch spots, came across this and decided to give it a shot. Came away really disappointed. I paid $ 13.07 for a large container of rice. One small ladel-​full of lamb stew over the rice that was pretty good, but it was so small that once you ate the good part, the few pieces of lamb and stew-​soaked rice, you’re just left with a giant container of rice with no protein or vegetables. Maybe the person that helped me forgot my side of vegetables (green looking dish), not sure what happened here.

I love everything about this place, especially the iconic owner who’s clearly honed his craft and deserves all the accolades in the world…
You will be surprised when you step into this whole in the wall joint with an italian sbarro’s like glass count on the right, and narrow corridor leading to a few sit down tables for 2 on the side. But in the every front, what stands out is an oasis of red signs and neatly arranged set up of curries, soups, and toppings, and at the center of it all is the man himself.
The food: hard to describe, as it changes up every day. A white board in the back lists the day’s must tries, although the constant that’s served every day is the «best soup in new york» says the owner as I asked what it was I was looking at.
On my excursion, I had to try to the soup of course:
#experience flavors and textures, I didn’t know I could experience — sour, sweet, spicy, crunchy, savory all there and distinctive. That’s probably the best way to describe it. There’s the soup itself, which is then carefully topped with crispy garlic, onions, something else I can’t describe as well an mysterious white sauce… so good.
#rice and curry platters (i got the combo lamb stew and salmon dish) again rich and deep in flavors, rice was well cooked, though the soup is what shines here.
OVERALL: yums the word

First spoonful of that soup with the dried mint, fried onions and sauce was just as incredible! Perfect meal on a cold winter day.
The platter of the 2 stews this time — very small portions of stew and were not as high quality as last time and too much rice. Definitely will return for the noodle stew/​soup!

The veggie soup was tasty and fresh and the okra was also good, though those were the only two vegetarian options so you can’t really make a meal out of it. The lady serving was extremely friendly.

Small booth inside a food plaza serving only 3 – 5 variety of food. I tried the stew combo & his popular Ash Reshte (bean & veggie soup).
I think the name of business says it best, «The Taste of Persia», meaning not necessarily the best or highest quality taste, but an affordable decent Iranian food without the restaurant price tag. Even high end restaurant can’t do justice to Persian food especially outside Iran, knowing that Indian saffron costs more than gold and quality persian food costs a lot. But at least Saeed (owner) is doing his best to add charm to your quick lunch, which is why I gave him an extra star for effort.

My first ‘Taste of Persia’ happened when I first walked in and Saheed (the owner) looked at my husband, then looked at me, smiled and said, «You are not Persian.» I laughed and wondered to myself what gave it away? Was it the blond hair or could it be that my husband (who is Persian) hadn’t had a shave in about two weeks and painted an extreme portrait of Persian goodness and I looked un-​Persian by comparison.
Anyway, back to the food…
Yes, this place occupies a front corner of a pizza place. I think that all pizza places should install a Persian food corner.
Saheed chatted while serving up samples of every dish. I will mangle the names, but there was a lamb stew, a beef with prunes (which sounds odd but was delicious), and about three other dishes. I was pretty full from samples, but my husband ordered the spinach lamb and the prune beef. Saheed poured the lamb and beef on either side of rice which he drizzled saffron oil for an extra flavor boost. All in all our meal cost $ 12. This did not include the 6 free samples. I got a Snapple from the pizza freezer. It was great. Cheap, amazing eats. Tasty. Refreshing, real business owner behind the counter. Love it.

I liked the ashreshtah a lot.
In reading the reviews, I was wondering if it would change my life, but it didn’t. However, it was very good and for a long time after eating it, I kept thinking about it. And not in a «burp» kind of way, I was just thinking about the flavors.
Along with that, I got a side of rice which was very good. I ended up pouring the ashreshtah over the rice and eating it like that, which is probably frowned upon, but it was very good.
As others have said, it’s a great place to carry out and there’s no ambience there. If you want a drink, you have to order it from the pizza guys. The lady who helped me was fairly informative and gave a good overview of the dishes they had on offer.
I would definitely stop back in for that tasty veggie soup.