Pars – The best Persian Restaurant in Vienna

Today’s story is all about taste of a distant cuisine – we are taking you to Pars – the best Persian restaurant in Vienna !

Vienna is a genuine multicultural city which is reflected, among other, in its rich gastronomic offer. The competence is big, and it can be a real challenge to find a restaurant (especially if with some more exotic, non European cuisine), where you can taste authentic dishes. The most confident way to discover such places is to know a “local” person, who originates from a country whose cuisine you would like to try. Someone who is an expert and who will know to recognize if the tastes have been adjusted to the European pallets, or have remained authentic.

When it comes to Persian cuisine, we are glad to know a true gastronomic expert – our dear, charming friend Mahsa from Teheran. Mahsa is very kind and passionate about her food culture. A few days ago, she took us to a genuine Persian restaurant, called Pars in the Viennese 8th district. Pars is a very popular place among people from Iran now living in Vienna, but also for other foodies who were lucky enough to discover this authentic place. The interior of the restaurant is very elegant and the walls are decorated with beautiful Persian rugs and numerous symbols of Iran.

For us, this was the first time to try Persian cuisine. Mahsa ordered everything and during the lunch, she was explaining us what the dishes are and talked about traditions related to them. We have truly enjoyed her stories and the delicious Persian dishes. We will share with you some of the most interesting things we learned in a little guide through Persian cuisine. 🙂

STARTER

While waiting for the starter, we drank freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. In Iran, this fruit stands for the symbol of love and fertility, and it is a part of the wedding ritual. Apart from this, pomegranate is a common ingredient in Persian cuisine, used in sweet and savory dishes.

1. Plate with fresh herbs (dandelion leaves, parsley, celery, tarragon, mint…) is always at the table while having a meal in Iran, since people nibble them while eating.

2. Yogurt is another common ingredient in the Persian cuisine. It is used in cooked dishes, like a sauce or base for salads. In Pars, yogurt is homemade, and the taste is very mild and creamy. At the photo, you can see two salads with yogurt that we ate – Borani (yogurt with cooked spinach), and Mastochiar (yogurt with cucumbers, garlic and mint).

3. Torschi – aromatic pickled vegetables.

4. Lawash (flat Persian bread) and Turkish bread.

MAIN COURSE

Doogh – a mild yogurt drink with mint. People in Iran drink a lot of doogh while eating, since it is believed that it helps digest food more quickly.
Update (June 2016): We love this drink and take it every time we visit Pars. 🙂

1. Ghorme Sabsi – the national dish of Iran, containing boiled green herbs with lamb, beans and Persian lime. Mahsa told us that this dish is especially popular among men. It is considered that a girl is ready to get married, once she learns how to make this delicious dish. It is eaten with saffron rice and fresh onions. The taste is very specific and fresh, due to the green herbs. We have never tried anything alike, but we liked it a lot.

Update (June 2016): We really recommend you to try Ghorme Sabsi, it is a great dish, our top favorite next to Choreschte Fesendjan. 🙂

2. Baghalipolo – roasted chicken drumstick, and then cooked in a sauce with Persian plums, carrots, tomatoes, red peppers, and celery. Sweet-sour tastes dominate this dishes, which is served with saffron rice and dried cranberries. It is very delicious!

3. Choreschte Fesendjan – chicken cooked in pomegranate sauce with Persian plums and minced walnuts. Has a very rich, nutty flavor, and we really liked it. This dish is Mahsa’s favorite. And update June 2016: This dish became our favorite as well! 🙂 But kind of hard to pick between this one and Ghorme Sabsi. We always take both and then share.

DESSERT

For dessert we had Nane Chamehi (crispy pastry, filled with cream) and Scholezard (saffron rice pudding with almonds and rose water – our absolute favorite! The taste is perfect, and not too sweet. A week ago, Mahsa made this dessert for us, and we got the recipe, so we will try to recreate it at home). And of course, we drank black tea from Iran.

We had a great time exploring Persian cuisine! We liked everything we tasted a lot, and we will certainly be coming back to Pars to have a Persian kebab as well as some other interesting cooked dishes.
We are hoping that you liked this post and that you will give Persian cuisine a try (if you haven’t so far). Believe us that you won’t regret it 🙂

And in the end, we would like to thank a lot to our lovely Mahsa for this unforgettable culinary experience!

xoxo,
Una and Isi

Restaurant Pars
Address: Lerchenfelderstraße 148, 8th district
Closed on Sunday!
Website, Facebook

Jedna od najdominantnijih karakteristika Beča je svakako njegova multikulturalnost, što se ogleda i u njegovoj bogatoj gastronomskoj ponudi. Konkurencija je velika i pravi je izazov naći restoran (posebno ako se radi o nekoj egzotičnijoj kuhinji) u kome možete da probate autentična jela. Najpouzdaniji način da otkrijete takva mesta, je da imate pored sebe nekoga ko potiče iz zemlje čiju kuhinju želite da probate. Nekoga ko poznaje ukuse, i ko će znati da prepozna da li su jela prilagođena kako bi se dopala većinskom stanovništvu, ili su pak zadržala svoj karakterističan ukus.

Zahvaljujući našoj divnoj drugarici Mahsi iz Teherana, imale smo priliku da otkrijemo čari drevne persijske kuhinje u restoranu Pars, za koji sa sigurnošću možemo da potvrdimo da je autentično mesto, gde ćete probati baš onakva jela u kojima biste uživali pri poseti Iranu. Pri samom ulasku u Pars, ambijentu i klijenteli, biće vam jasno da ste na mestu gde se okupljaju pravi Iranci. Restoran je veoma otmen, zidove krase prelepe persijske tapiserije, elegantni lusteri, i slične dekoracije koje simbolišu Iran.

Za nas je ovo bio prvi kontakt sa persijskom kuhinjom, o kojoj nismo imale nikakvo predznanje. Prepustile smo se Mahsi, koja je sve poručila i uz ručak nam pričala o svojoj kulturi i običajima vezanim za jela koja smo probali. Celo iskustvo je bilo neverovatno zanimljivo, a ukusi neočekivani i potpuno novi. Možemo da kažemo da je prava šteta što persijska kuhinja nije mnogo više popularna. Prenećemo vam neke od najzanimljivijih stvari koje smo naučile, i nadamo se da ćemo uspeti da vas ubedimo da (ukoliko već niste) probate neka od jela persijske kuhinje. Verujte nam da se nećete pokajati!

PREDJELO

Dok smo cekale na predjelo, pile smo sok od sveže ceđenog nara. U Iranu nar predstavlja simbol ljubavi i plodnosti, i sastavni je deo rituala tokom venčanja. Osim što se pije kao sok, nar ima široku upotrebu u persijskoj kuhinji, kako slanim, tako i slatkim jelima. Iran je prva zemlja u svetu po uzgoju ovog voća.

1. Ono što je veoma specifično za persijsku kuhinju je tanjir sa svežim začinskim biljem, crnim lukom i rotkvicama, koje se grickaju uz jelo. Tu su nana, maslačak, peršun, celer, estragon i još par njih koji su nama bile nepoznate.

2. Jogurt je još jedan bitan sastojak persijske kuhinje. Koristi se u kuvanim jelima, kao sos, ili osnova za salate. Vrlo je kremast i blagog je ukusa. Na slici vidite dve salate sa jogurtom – Borani (jogurt sa barenim spanaćem) i Mastochiar (jogurt sa rendanim krastavcima, nanom i belim lukom).

3. Torschi – u pitanju je aromatična Iranska turšija, koja je mnogo začinjenija i kiselija od naše.

4. Lawasch (tanki iranski hleb) i turska lepinja

GLAVNO JELO

Doogh – nažalost nemamo posebnu sliku ovog pića, koje se u Iranu pije uz jelo. Veruje se da potpomaže varenju i konzumira se u velikim količinama. Vrlo je blagog i prijatnog ukusa, kao razblažen jogurt, ne previše kiseo, sa dodatkom mlevene sušene nane, koja mu daje veoma svež ukus.

1. Ghorme Sabsi – kuvano zeleno bilje, sa jagnjetinom, pasuljem i sušenom persijskom limetom. Važi za nacionalno jelo Irana. Mahsa nam je ispričala da je posebno omiljen među muškarcima. Smatra se da je devojka spremna za udaju kada savlada kuvanje ovog ukusnog jela. Jede se uz kuvani pirinač sa šafranom i svež crni luk. Ukus je vrlo specifičan, a meso mekano. Nama se mnogo dopalo.

2. Baghalipolo – pečeni pileći batak, a zatim ukrčkan u sosu sa persijskim šljivama, šargarepom, paradajzom, paprikom, i stabljikama celera. U ovom jelu dominira slatko kiseli ukus šljive, meso je mekano i prožeto ukusima povrća. Služi se uz pirinač sa šafranom i sušenim drenjinama. Odlično je, i verovatno bi se dopalo i onima koji ne vole mnogo da eksperimentišu sa ukusima.

3. Choreschte Fesendjan – kuvano jelo sa piletinom, u sosu od nara sa persijskim šljivama i mlevenim orasima. Bogato je raznim ukusima, malo je slatkasto-kiselkasto od šljiva i nara, a tu je i orašast ukus. Takođe se jede uz pirinač sa šafranom. Ovo izvrsno jelo je Mahsin favorit, a nama se sve stvarno mnogo dopalo tako da ne možemo da se odlučimo.

DESERT

Na kraju jela se pije tradicionalni Iranski crni čaj. Uz njega se dobije i urma, koja nije onako lepljiva i suva kao što su urme obično. Vrlo je sočna i slasna, toliko dobra da smo rešile da potražimo po gradu gde imaju da se kupe. Inače, Iran je druga zemlja na svetu po proizvodnji urmi.

1. Nane Chamehi – izuzetno podseća na naše princes krofne. Fil je umućena slatka pavlaka sa ružinom vodom.

2. Scholezard – ovaj desert je definitivno naš favorit! Pirinač se kuva sa šafranom, bademima i ružinom vodom. Odozgo se stavi mleveni pistaći i cimet, a tekstura je najpribližnija pudingu. Nije puno slatko, a ukus je savršen.

Nadamo se da vam se ovaj nas mali vodic kroz persijsku kuhinju svideo!
Mi planiramo da sa Mahsom obiđemo još neke persijske restorane, jer ima još puno zanimljivih jela koje zelimo da probamo.

xoxo,
Una i Isi

Restoran Pars
Adresa: Lerchenfelderstraße 148, 8.becirk
Website, Facebook