Gilaneh

Jordan Street

Tehran

Iran

Overall rating: 7/10

Date of visit: December 2011

Gilaneh was one of the better meals I had in Tehran, although I didn’t like everything. The neck of lamb with caramelised onions was wonderful and very, very tender. The aubergine purée was also great.

The salty yoghurt drink with dried marjoram was a bit too odd, though. The same goes for the olives with a purée of walnuts and pomegranate, although this is a specialty in Iran. The trout was overcooked and really salty, but the amount of salt seemed intentional. You’re supposed to cut up this small piece and mix it with all of the rice.

Haney is the best restaurant I’ve been to so far in Iran, but the food is very similar to that at Gilaneh, so if you can’t go to one, you can go to the other. I probably liked Haney better simply because we happened to have some other dishes (that you can probably also find at Gilaneh).