Restaurants

Hafez displays few of the flashy embellishments that characterise the neighbourhood’s more self-consciously Persian restaurants. Its white and bare brick walls forgo elaborate tapestries in favour of calligraphic Farsi prints, its handful of wooden tables are dotted around the small space with workmanlike regularity, and ornately tiled clay ovens are notable by their absence. All of which might hint at an authenticity refusing to bow to orientalist stereotypes, were it not for the fact that our meals at Hafez have been so hit and miss over the past few years. Bread comes hot from the oven to accompany starters that almost always do the business – masto khiar, for example, a cucumber, mint and yoghurt dip, or aash, a bitter soup thick with herbs and mung beans – but mains are less reliable. The kebab-e makhsous (one skewer of filleted lamb and one of minced) was tender, but surprisingly diminutive for £13.50, and we’ve found the jujeh kebab (marinated chunks of chicken) unpleasantly dry in the past. Various stews are also delivered in less than gut-busting portions, including a decent khoresht-e bademjan (lamb with tomatoes and aubergines) and a disappointingly meagre ghorm-e sabzi (lamb with greens, dried lemons and kidney beans).

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008