Amoo Akbar

Kish Island

Iran

Overall rating: 4/10

Date of visit: October 2012

We were recommend to go to this restaurant for the fish and shellfish, but actually another restaurant had been our first choice, but that one was closed when we arrived.
As fish isn’t common in Iran, and as I know how much care and precision has to be put into cooking it, I had avoided it in Iran, but then it’s not like you see fish offered in many restaurants there anyway.
Anyway, this restaurant didn’t change my perception. We had prawns and a fish that I don’t know the name of. The accompaniments were, as usual, rice, saffron butter on the side, and a few slices of carrot and green pepper. The fish was grossly overcooked and very dry. The prawns were definitely better cooked, but still had that taste of ammonia that you find when they are not fresh. My guess is that these prawns had been frozen and then thawed.

The vegetables on the side were as dull as always in Iran, but the rice was the best part of the meal. Iranian rice are usually really nice, but these were not among the best I’ve had. There was nothing wrong with them, but they simply weren’t as good, nor as precisely seasoned, as the ones at Safdary, although the preparation was very similar. Then again, the price was almost half of what it was at Safdary, so of course you can’t expect the same thing.
4/10 is a somewhat generous score, which I give mostly due to the rice, as the fish and prawns were not worth a 4/10.
The service was as “absent” as any other place in Iran, but I found it a bit amusing that the staff was standing in the middle of the room glued to the TV screen for the duration of our entire meal.

The total price came to 380.000 rial for two including soft drinks, meaning €12 per person.