Polly Campbell reports:
Persian cooking, though it has some things in common with the Arabic cooking of the rest of the Middle East, is a distinctive cuisine to itself. Lots of herbs, sweet-sour flavors, saffron, different ways of cooking rice, roasted meat and fish are all part of Persian, or Iranian cuisine.
Persian Nights is a new restaurant on Cincinnati-Dayton Road that serves this complex and delicious cuisine. It’s owned by the Mostofi family, with Mehrdad Mostofi in the kitchen as chef. He previously owned the Caspian in Symmes Township. Son-in-law Tony Abbas is the general manager. He said this restaurant has more in the way of atmosphere and polished service than the Caspian did.
On the menu: must-o-khiar, a homemade yogurt with cucumber and mint, kookoo sabzi, an egg and herb dish, barley soup, shirazi salad, koobideh: kabobs of seasoned ground beef, chicken or lamb, and nightly specials often a polo dish, much like a pilaf. There are also lunch specials for $5-7.
Persian Nights is located at 7967 Cincinnati-Dayton Road and can be reached at 513-777-4111. It is open from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
