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Shaherzad
Categories: Restaurants Middle Eastern Restaurants Persian/Iranian Middle Eastern, Persian/Iranian [Edit]
1422 Westwood BlvdLos Angeles, CA 90024
Neighborhood: Westwood
(310) 470-3242
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11:30 am - 11 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
213 reviews for Shaherzad
Review Highlights
"The chicken koobideh is delicious."
(in 15 reviews)
"ghormeh sabzi (veg): lovely stew."
(in 14 reviews)
"Kashk bademjan: grilled eggplant dip."
(in 6 reviews)
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213 reviews in English
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Review from Erin M.
Santa Monica, CA
1/2/2012
Love this place! Get the Kashk Bedemjan. It's the YUM. Also have had chicken kebab and cornish game hen, with adass polo. So, so yummy!
It tends to be pretty busy and service can be a little slow because of that, but once the flat bread arrives and you're buttering it up and shoving it in your face, who cares? -
Review from Miguel R.
2/1/2012
Why is Persian food so expensive? Maybe because they choose the more expensive parts of town to sell it out of! Oh, well :(
The food here is pretty good. The service is pretty good too. The decor is very nice! The place looks pretty classy inside!
We had the Mast' o Khiar $5.95 which is a cucumber and yogurt dip for the flat bread they serve. We also had the Boneless Chicken Kabobs $14.95.
The kabob is not as well condimented as at other places. It is definitely good but it can be so much better. Maybe it was an off day. I can't give them more than three stars because of this. I have eaten Persian food since my teens so I am pretty sure I have an idea what a good kabob tastes like. I have even been to places where they have traditional ovens for the fresh flat bread they make! My father is really into Persian cuisine and he got us all into it.
Parking is a problem around here. You can find free parking in the adjacent residential area if you are lucky. The day we came here we did not need to pay for parking. -
Review from Iamserge ..
Los Angeles, CA
12/20/2011
Food was nothing GREAT.
Service was POOR the Guy was talking to his friend the whole time.
NEVER GOT MY DRINK REFILL.
Shamshiri Down The STREET is way BETTER! -
Review from Grant G.
8/28/2011
The food is not bad but nothing special either. Service when I went was a little meh.
They do make their own flat bread and it's pretty decent.
High prices for what it is. Would probably go back if someone else insisted on this place. -
Review from Lia L.
Los Angeles, CA
12/28/2011
Really good fish! As a Persian, I'd say that I've had some pretty awesome Persian dishes, but this wasn't so bad for being a restaurant. Their fish is amazing, and their rice isn't too bad either. Of course I'm going to always be picky with my Persian food, but from what I've had based on the places I've been to, this would be one of the ones that is on the list that is actually tolerable to me. 3.5.
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Review from Audrey G.
Los Angeles, CA
10/16/2011
One of my regularspot when I'm craving filet mignon kabob.
Lunch menu is a great quality/price deal. -
Review from Meg K.
West Los Angeles, CA
12/31/2011
Excellent food! I like the waitress who looks like Girl With a Dragon Tatoo.
Their Filet Mignon Kabab is the BEST!!!! Lamb is excellent! My favorite Persian restaurant in LA. -
Review from David W.
7/29/2011
This place is not as good as other Persian restaurants on the same block.
The bread is really good cause it's made on the spot. Remember to ask for seconds!
The lamb was above average, but the place reminded me of my living room kitchen...=/
A great place to go for first timers of Persian food. -
Review from Ani P.
4/28/2011 1 Check-in Here
I struggle with this review. I'm no Middle Eastern food expert. So bear with me.
The prices are in the $15-20ish range and the portions are HUGE. I got a fried crispy rice noodle dish and the crispy noodles were too crisypy. My jaw hurt! And I don't know about you, but very few activities should induce that kind of pain. That said, the parts of the crispy noodle that absorbed all of the yummy gravy and flavor were fantastic. I also had a sour cherry rice dish -- awesome for it was, a rice-carb fest with delish cherries.
The yogurt drink that is carbonated is DISGUSTING. It's friggin minty. Uhm, I didn't ask for mouthwash. And I love drinks like salt lassi.
The atmosphere is pretty chill and very large. Definitely not a date night type of place but your toddler could probably go hog wild and no one would give a hoot..
Don't get me wrong, this place in another location would probably get a higher rating from me. But Shaherzad is located in Middle Eastern restaurant central, and in that kind of situation you definitely bring your A game. -
Review from Houtan H.
Los Angeles, CA
11/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
Lunch specials are great deal, big enough portions unlike most other restaurants that give you barely any meat and the fresh baked bread is amazing
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Review from Amber M.
Los Angeles, CA
6/1/2011
I love this place. Big enough to split a dish.
Order the combination koobideh, but skip the garden salad -- it's pretty tacky. Opt to spend the money on the shirazi salad instead.
The best. -
Review from anthony s.
Lawndale, CA
12/17/2011
have ate here numerous times, great fresh bread, best kabob north of LAX, the only problem the owner was arguing with one of his workers in front of all the customers and this is typical of Iranian men. hahah
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Review from Harro v.
Los Angeles, CA
6/20/2011
My first review on Yelp.
I went here with Iranian friends since they wanted to introduce me to their food. The waitstaff was rude, the food undercooked and the dishes prepared with untraditional recipes . Needless to say we won't come back. -
Review from Nicole S.
Los Angeles, CA
11/3/2011
Ended up at Shaherzad mostly because it stays open later than most restaurants. The prices are moderate but the portions are huge. The flatbread was delicious and fresh, and the rice was well done. We ordered the chelo kabob soltani, and the kabob proved to be much more tender and flavorful than the soltani. We also ordered a side of the zereshk polo, which was not as good as the rice side that came with our beef entree. My boyfriend ordered a glass of the house doogh (my first time trying it, a little shocking, but good). Overall, the food was ok as was the waitstaff. I would come back another time to try our their tadig.
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Review from Lucy Y.
Los Angeles, CA
It's been so long since I've been here, that I almost forgot how YUMMY the food is here! But after lunch today I was reminded, so this Yelp shall forever document this experience : D.
I met a girlfriend here for an early lunch, and scored one of the few parking spaces they have in the back. Free parking with no time limit was a nice way to start off!
We walked in a bit before the actual 11:30am opening time and the servers/bussers looked less than excited to see us that early. Even though we were the only customers inside, they looked over at us without coming over to greet us for a few minutes. Finally, I asked a woman if we could sit - even though they still had about 10 minutes til opening. She slightly reluctantly said yes, and seated us a the furthest back table.
The vibe was a little un-warm, but whatever - we were hungry and happy to be out of the almost 90-degree heat of this day. When the same woman who seated us came over to take our drink orders, and said they didn't have decaf (boo), and no coffee was made that early anyway (boo), I was content to wait til they came back about 10 minutes later with menus for us.
Our actual server was more friendly, so I was happier when she came over. After we placed our orders, it seemed like the food landed on the table fast, and then we got all caught up in how YUM it all was:
Tahchin Lamb ($12.95, lunch special) - served with a salad of tomato, gated carrot, romaine lettuce, beets and cucumbers with a creamy dill dressing, this layered lamb and rice dish was super yummy. The top of the rice was the bottom that had been allowed to get crusty/chewy, and browned. It was topped with sweet-ish barberries that were similar to cranberries. The saffron rice was baked with a yogurt sauce, so it was soft and aromatically saffron-y and yogurt-y and comfort food-y. A layer of lamb chunks in between was savory, and simply spiced. My only beef with this delicious dish was that there was not even close to enough lamb in the middle layer - especially for this protein lover!
Baghali Polo Lamb ($11.95, lunch special) - THIS was fantastic! A lamb shank, cooked til tender and juicy with the tomatoey cooking liquid, was served with a separate (huge!) plate of lima bean and green-from-dill rice, with a splay of gorgeous yellow saffron rice on top. The shank was fatty and tender and cooked PERFECTLY. Flavorful and not overly salty (awesome, because I'm super sensitive to a lot of salt), I was really tempted to order a 2nd one of these! Again, it would have been nice to have a bigger portion - so maybe the next time, I'll order the dinner and not the lunch size.
For those of you who eat carbs, the saffron yogurt rice was AMAZING with the soupy juice from the lamb shank. I wanted to DRINK that saucy lamb-y stuff!! Since I stay away from carbs, sharing these two lunches didn't give me enough protein to satisfy me - which I'll remember for next time.
And I do say there will be a next time, because that lamb shank was THAT GOOD!
Since we sat and blabbed for a while longer, the place filled up quite a bit when we left around 1:30pm. I can definitely see why - the food here is DELICIOUS! -
Review from Lucile L.
Redondo Beach, CA
4/27/2011 1 Check-in Here
I went to this place on the 25th of December and i was surprised it was packed.
Im just gonna say the food is amazing, well cooked, very tasty.
The chicken and beef i had with some rice was just excellent and the portion was huge, u can have left over for the next day for sure.
They re making their own bread and for a bread addicted i loved it.
The ambiance was great. I felt like it was in a really authentic Persian place.
The service was ok, they were busy and they were not paying much attention to us, but we got everything we needed when we were asking for.
Definitely a place to try! -
Review from Richard L.
Los Angeles, CA
Updated - 4/26/2011
The bread is still great but this place does not compare with some of the other Persian places in the area. We had their chicken with Lima bean rice.
The chicken was just boiled and kind of tasteless. The koobideh was average and ordinary. When we asked the waiter for suggestions he really had very little to say and his attitude was basically poor. My vote is still for Shamshiri ( better food, flavor and value).1 Previous Review: Show all »
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7/5/2008
Well you start with the bread = Great and hot! The appetizers were very good. The main dish we had… Read more »
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Review from Anna G.
5/3/2011 1 Check-in Here
One of the best Persian restaurant I have ever been to. I used to come here a lot when I lived in Westwood and it always hit the spot. The prices are a little high compared to the neighboring restaurants, but the quality of the food definitely makes up for it. I have never gone during a busy time, but I can imagine this place can get pretty busy. I always order the chicken barg here and it always tastes amazing. Reminds me of my mom's cooking, which is comforting when I am away from home.
Only recommendation is if you order the adas polo..order the chicken instead of the lamb. It tasted funny the last time I had it..Listed in: Westwoodia Eats and Such..
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Review from Andi C.
Los Angeles, CA
7/3/2011
The food here is really good and the portions are large. Definitely try one of their persian rice dishes.
The staff was 5 star - very attentive and professional.
The decor is outdated: pink, teal and gold. Did someone say 90's? They also have some dusty fake flowers. If you don't give a damn about the decorations, this place is the best. Not so great for dates, wonderful for going out with friends. -
Review from Mimi M.
Los Angeles, CA
3/26/2011
This place is awesome!
Went here tonight for an early dinner with a girlfriend. Well, I thought it was early but it was packed! So, I guess people who eat Persian food eat early.
The service was awesome. We had a cute lady server who explained the wines quite well- and let us taste too- and also the food before we ordered. She gave recommendations that were right on. She didn't bother us too much or rush us. It was just right
The ambiance was perfect. I felt like it was a really authentic Persian food experience. Not too american-ized. There was music (not live) and it was great.
The food was amazing. There was fresh bread- I only tasted it and then the entree. My entree was a lot of food. The food is not cheap. But, you get enough.
The bathrooms were clean enough. I went twice- once in mens and once in womens. Actually the mens was nicer and bigger. There was an older gentelman who seemed troubled when I came out of the Men's while he was waiting. I feel like bathrooms have no gender so I'll use either.
I had a broiled fish and my friend had an eggplant stew. Both dishes were perfect. The rice was amazing- as Persian rice is.
No dessert as I ate my dessert when I got home. I didn't look at the desserts but I am sure they are great as well.
Parking is street and I didn't have a problem on a Saturday night.
Overall, an awesome experience and I look forward to coming back.
Oh, 1 star off for not serving Shellfish! I wanted a shrimp kabob:) -
Review from Lainy C.
5/31/2011
I haven't tried the other Persian places on the strip but this one was really good. My friend and I took a study break and randomly decided to come here. Portions here are huge. We ordered way too much just by sharing the lamb shank and the saffron rice dish. Definitely could have split just one dish for us 2. It could be because we could not stop stuffing ourselves with the delicious freshly made bread.
We were bummed that they were out of eggplant cause the stew sounded awesome. The lamb shank was extremely tender, a little oily but good. I was pleasantly surprised since I generally dont like shank but my friend wanted it. The rice was really tasty, cant remember which one we got. Definitely recommend this place! -
Review from Chero Q.
San Francisco, CA
6/19/2011 1 Check-in Here
3.5 stars. My family and I stumbled upon Shaherzad one night wanting to try something different. Not all of us had tried Persian food before so we decided to give this place a go. Inside the restaurant is dim, but not super fancy so you can have kind of a romantic dinner or a very casual meal here.
The waiter was helpful, but rude at the same time. We decided on doing family style and was going to order five dishes. He was nice enough to tell us five would probably be too much to eat. We also decided on getting a dish that had fish, chicken, and beef on it, but he brought up that we were already getting a mixture of things so we shouldn't order that. We appreciated his advice and found it very helpful. During dinner, my Aunt would ask him a few questions about the food, "Wow, this is delicious! What kind of spice is in here because I've never tasted it before!" and he'd give a struggish answer while walking away.
The bread was delicious. You can see the guy making it in the clay oven thing as you're walking to the bathroom. It's chewy and warm, and if they brought me a whole bucket filled with it, I'd probably keep eating it until I exploded. I can't remember what the dishes were called (so sorry!), but we ordered a stew that was tomato based and had small chunks of beef in it, a chicken dish (the first chicken dish on the menu), a beef dish, and salmon. The stew was very tart and flavorful and was delicious with the basmati rice, the chicken was grilled and had a nice grill flavor to it while still being very moist, the beef tasted just like a beef sausage-nothing special, and the salmon was sooo good. It was not overcooked one bit.
The dishes usually come with rice on one side of the dish and the meat on the other. Since we shared everything family style, the rice was put into a seperate dish and and all the meats were placed nicely on a platter with grilled onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes. I'd come here again. -
Review from Isaac G.
Los Angeles, CA
5/28/2011
I've been to 4 other Persian restaurants on Westwood Blvd and Shaherzad is my favorite.
When my brother was visiting from NY we ate here. Ten minutes after we sat down the waitress asked if she could move us to a smaller table. I was kind of pissed off and thought it was rude, but then a couple of minutes later she came back with an amazing complimentary cucumber yogurt & pita bread (her way of apologizing for moving us). Since the appetizer was delicious and free, she redeemed herself.
The vegetarian Ghormeh Sabzi stew here is amazing! Best I've ever had. Definitely will be back. -
Review from Michael T.
Los Angeles, CA
10/17/2011
Plain and simple, the homemade bread sets this place apart from its competition. Other than that though, the food is average and pretty typical Persian fare. A little pricey but portions are generous.
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Review from Pathu S.
2/22/2011
I started coming here as a wee little freshman because my mom's Persian friend insisted that we give Shaherzad a try after she had heard I got into UCLA. I had many dinners with my mother here during her visits and we always walked away very satisfied and always with leftovers for lunch the next day and probably dinner too. It was our first introduction to Persian cuisine and we fell in love!
Our favorites are:
- Salmon kabob
- White fish kabob
- Shrimp kabob
- Saffron green rice
- *Persian tea: a MUST!
My one complaint is their price! $20+ for a kabob dish?? That's not college friendly at all! Their service is just mediocre but I'm willing to put up with about anything for their delicious food. -
Review from Jackie B.
Updated - 4/9/2011
I tried Shamshiri and thought that the food at Shaherzad was way better.
Check out A Blog For The Girls for L.A. Restaurant Reviews, Shopping, Animal Rescue, Party/Wedding Planning and Dating Tips
http://www.rescuelashe...1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/28/2011
Okay, 4.5 stars for this place. My date was speaking Farsi to the server so I'll do my best to tell… Read more »
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Review from Elnaz S.
WOODLAND HLS, CA
1/2/2011
So we went here with a group of people. It took probably a good 15-20 min for anyone to even come to our table to ask what we wanted to drink.
I heard the Tachen was the best id ever have in my life ... but we ended up ordering it, which when they brought the food out- they didn't bring plates...so we had to wait again.
The tachen was not crunchy at all...but it was still really good.
Our Service was the WORST. Our waiter seemed like he hated his job and he didn't even come to our table but 2 times probably.
we split the check in the end and he put the WRONG amount on the credit cards... obviously he can't hear.
We told the mgr which really seemed to care less.
On top of everything is was pouring down rain outside..and really cold inside with NO HEAT on!
I'm sure I'll return again to do an update sometime. -
Review from Hector S.
Alhambra, CA
12/7/2011
Another good persian food place in the area. I go either here or Shamshiri. Both good places. This place has a very family atmosphere.
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Review from Armen N.
Los Angeles, CA
1/3/2011
Kabob was pretty good, standard for persian restaurant.
Ghormeh sabzi was way too sour, could barely enjoy it. Waitress said it's always like that.
Charged for plate of greens which was tacky.
Wouldn't go back here given the number of alternatives. -
Review from Cynthia C.
Los Angeles, CA
4/2/2011 1 Check-in Here
Too. much. food.
Came here this past weekend and ordered the appetizer combo with eggplant, chicken cutlet, chicken salad, and 2 dolmehs. MY FAVORITE PART OF THE MEAL. I would eat this and hummus w/ bread everyday if I could.
We also got the eggplant-tomato stew with chicken and the grilled sirloin. The beef didn't have much flavor and the texture was kind of funny, so we cut it up and threw it in the stew, and that solved everything. We had so much food leftover that it made a full lunch the next day.
Highly recommend getting the combo appetizer to share and the eggplant stew.
Do NOT recommend the baklava. Server was nice, and the wine selections are decent. -
Review from Bev M.
Monterey Park, CA
4/15/2011 1 Check-in Here
Living in Monterery Park, my persian man surprised me with driving out of our local comfort zone and took me to one of many great Persian restaurants in Westwood.
Shaherzad is nice spacious restaurant, both for groups, kids or couple, ambience is simple but sophisticated, slight dim lighting, but enough so you can read the menu.
I noticed large portions of food as we were walking to our table.
I had the Ghorbeh Sabzi stew with veal which came with a plateful of fluffy saffron basmati rice.. I LOVED this dish. so much flavor in one bite. Veal as so tender.
My BF got the traditional Soltani which had a juicy beef koobideh (ground meat with awesome herbs) and thin slices of filet mignon with basmati rice.
Let me tell you.. my guy can grub! It was gone while I was still savoring my first few bites of Ghorbeh Sabzi.
The staff were helpful, courteous which is a big deal to me. Very well knowledged of the food.
Highly recommend for anyone to try. There are many persian restaurants to try just on that same block! Can't wait to try the others =) -
Review from Mark L.
2/17/2011
5 stars for the food here. More specifically the lamb. They have the best lamb I have ever had in LA. I cannot describe how good the food is here. Get the lamb cooked medium.
I've also had this red stew soup. seemed like it was tomato based. man thinking about this place makes me so hungry. -
Review from Evie T.
7/28/2011
Enjoyed a tasty lamb shank stew with herbs for dinner one evening. Enough for two to share. Reasonable prices and pleasant service. Had lamb kabob for lunch on another visit. Portion was enough for two meals. Kabob was nicely seasoned and grilled correctly. Rice is so-so. Homemade bread is better if you eat carbs.
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Review from Jean L.
Updated - 9/15/2010 3 photos
Stopped by with some bffs last Friday. I got the salmon kabob again but opted for the lima bean saffron green rice. Very little lima beans and the rice was a bit dry, but the fish was moist and fresh, generous and grilled just right. I split it with my friends, who shared a lamb kabob and still had leftovers.
We also started with the kashk bademjan. That and the warm, soft, slightly crispy outer crust bread....MMmmMmm...fill it, top it, and wolf it down.
My friends' persian teas were refilled frequently and strong enough just to keep them awake for our next party stop.
Service was absolutely great and better than I remembered it. I asked for water with no ice (still got a lingering cough) and during one refill, she said she had to heat the glass up for me because she accidentally got ice in it. Lol too sweet.
Parking is so easy (street).1 Previous Review: Show all »
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3/15/2010
The inside looks a bit like an office building cafeteria. Bright lights, mirrored walls, vintage… Read more »
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Review from Jenne H.
San Diego, CA
3/30/2011
Not quite sure what I ate, but it was delish. All of it. And huge portions-enough to feed the three homeless people we ran into on the way back to the car. And the price, couldn't beat it.
GO! -
Review from Jay M.
Updated - 2/4/2011 1 Check-in Here
I finally had the chance to dine in with a couple of friends. Service is wonderful.
But DAMN, that Lamb Tahchin is the shiznit!1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/25/2010
Beef koobideh lunch special came out to $10.92 including tax.
The restaurant was pretty busy on a… Read more »
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Review from Nicole B.
Los Angeles, CA
8/1/2011
I came here thinking I was going to have some delicious persian food. Needless to say, I was highly disappointed.
They didn't have any chicken breast shish kabob on the menu. We asked the server if they could make it for us. He said OK for $2 extra. When the dish came out, the chicken had the weirdest shape I have ever seen, and did not look appetizing whatsoever. My friend ordered the chicken koobideh, and it was not cooked well. We were surprised, considering the good reviews.
The service was very slow and our server was not attentive.
The only thing we enjoyed was the bread they gave us before our food came.
I'd rather walk a few feet and go to Shamshiri or drive down Santa Monica blvd and get some real Persian food at Darya -
Review from Julianne B.
Marina del Rey, CA
11/4/2010
I love persian food and I looove lima bean rice like none other. This place was pretty good. The lamb kabob was super tender and flavorful and my huge heaping pile of rice made me extremely happy.
We also tried an eggplant stew with chicken which wasn't my favorite dish but also was not my choice. Not a fan of stews with a tomato base in general so this one was no different.
I will definitely be back for more kabobs and rice! -
Review from Samira N.
West Hollywood, CA
9/29/2011
Tadig was old and was still served. Shirazi was not juicy enough. Chenjee didn't even look like chenjee and it was dry. The tahchin was so so. The mousto khiar was very good though. The rice was good too. The stews very yummy too. Oh and they didn't have the traditional AbAli yoghurt drink. Service was so so. Sounds like we ate a lot, but a lot of leftover..
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Review from Bethany P.
Monrovia, CA
4/16/2011
THE BEST FOOD I have ever tasted. It is absolutely incredible. Granted, I paid about $20 for lunch, which is a lot. The environment is a bit cold, it has sort of a cafeteria vibe because of the tile and the lighting.
If you have the cash to spend on good food, do it at Shaherzad.
I recommend the chicken kabob and lubia polo
