Golestan

Persian food in Garhoud Discuss this article

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From Time Out Dubai Eating Out 2009

Stuck in the grey area of backstreet Garhoud, Golestan deserves far more attention from non-regulars than it gets. It might feel a bit like a cave in the banquet-hall back room, adorned with imitation stained glass lightboxes, but this is some of the cheapest yet flavour-sealed-and-seared Persian food we’ve got our teeth into yet.

Popular with locals and Arab and Persian expats, the back room has a persistent sweet shisha haze and there’s even a stage for oud and ribab musicians. The thick, almost meaty mirza ghasemi stands out as some of the city’s finest – chunks of tasty eggplant flamed with a steamy medley of tomatoes: incredible mopped up with the bread fresh from the tandoor.

Kebabs are good if slightly restrained on the ratio of meat to limp-looking rice, but give the kubideh kebab a try. It is a shame that the usually complimentary dishes of mast yoghurt and radish, tomato and cucumber are absent. While you can still order them from the menu, we are a bit of a stickler for good Persian hospitality.

But Golestan remains one of the cheapest decent Persian options in town, and worth braving Garhoud’s maze of roadworks for.

• Previous reviews
  • 26 March,2008- reviewed by Jeremy Lawrence
  • 12 March,2007- reviewed by Time Out Dubai Staff
  • 04 October,2006- reviewed by Time Out Dubai Staff

Time Out reviews restaurants anonymously and pays for meals. Of course, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or independence of user reviews.