As colourful and exotic as a Persian carpet and with all the simplicity of a poem by Omar Khayyam, Persian cuisine is one of the world’s oldest and richest culinary traditions.
These are characterised by a combination of rice with meat, poultry, fish and vegetables, flavoured with a delicate balance of dried and fresh fruit, nuts, herbs, flower petals and spices such as cardamom, cumin and saffron.
Now, for the first time in the Middle East, Seef Mall’s Yas-e Isfahani restaurant is serving up modern Persian cuisine that marries authentic cooking techniques with contemporary, healthy eating styles.
A collaboration between the Alqaseer family, who are behind Bahrain’s popular traditional-Persian Isfahani restaurants, and Najmieh Batmanglij, perhaps the world’s foremost innovator of this ancient cuisine, this delicious new addition to Bahrain’s restaurant scene offers the best of both worlds: Persian cuisine that’s at once authentic and modern, low in fat but high in flavour.
The menu of exquisite dishes was devised by Ms Batmanglij, who is the author of five cookbooks and has spent the past 27 years travelling, teaching cooking, and updating Persian recipes, earning herself membership of Les Dames d’Escoffier and acclaim for her books.
Her New Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies was called “The definitive book of Persian cooking” by the Los Angeles Times, while Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey was selected as one of the Vegetarian Cookbooks of 2004 by the New York Times.
Her collaboration with Yas-e Isfahani continues her life-long mission to introduce the world to the joys of Persian cuisine through dishes that traverse its spectrum of flavours.
She said: “The recipes I have selected for Yas-e Isfahani are authentic, home-cooked Persian dishes with a contemporary slant from around Iran – from the Caspian to Mashhad, from Tabriz to Isfahan and Shiraz, from Kerman and Yazd to Bushehr.
“They demonstrate that Persian food has much more to offer than just Chelow Kebab. Although even the kebabs here have marinades that will delight the discriminating palate.”
Your culinary journey begins with a range of delicious mazzeh. These bite-size appetisers were originally designed for sharing, and you’d be wise to respect this tradition in order to enjoy the full range of flavours in signature dishes such as Caspian olive and walnut tapenade with flatbread, and delectably sweet-and-savoury pomegranate and pistachio meatballs.
Move on to a refreshing chilled yogurt, cucumber and rose-petal soup, then take your pick from the selection of grills and khoreshes (refined Persian stews) such as lamb shank cooked in saffron and rose water, served with fava-bean and dill rice.
The jewel and foundation of Persian cuisine, rice is a prominent feature on the menu and comes in a variety of incarnations, including the popular chelow – steamed with a crispy, golden yogurt crust.
Finally, Yas-e Isfahani’s light, healthy approach to cooking means you’ll almost certainly have room for one of the delectable desserts –rose-scented baklava, perhaps, or the velvety-textured quince baked in pomegranate molasses.
In addition to lunch and dinner options, Yas-e Isfahani offers breakfast specialities including a choice of unique omelets – date, rose-petal, apple or walnut and cheese – and light snacks and drinks throughout the day. So the shopping-weary can break for a salad, fresh juice or a pot of Yas’s special aromatic tea with almond biscuits on the side.
Like the food, the airy double-volume space designed by Bahraini architect Jalal Alnajjar (of PAD) is clean and contemporary with traditional touches.
“I wanted the interior to reflect the two worlds that meet in the food,” says Jalal, “so I came up with the concept of wrapping the space in two ‘skins’, a contemporary one and a traditional one, that blend together harmoniously.”
The restaurant’s modern ‘skin’ is represented by a sleek glass and metal mezzanine, glossy finishes and stark white floors and walls that merge with one another.
Yas-e Isfahani is on the first floor of Bahrain’s Seef Mall extension and is open from 10am to 12 midnight, seven days a week, for breakfast lunch, dinner and light snacks.
For reservations, call 17 581151. Walk-ins are also always welcome, provided tables are available. Najmieh Batmanglij’s recipe books are for sale in the restaurant.
