Restaurants

The Iranian equivalent of a chip shop but for deep-fried fish and chipped potatoes substitute grilled meat and rice. But this is fast food of the highest order, with immaculately fresh, leafy salads, thick own-made aubergine and yoghurt dips (with chopped cucumber or shallots), and huge wheels of flatbread, delivered too-hot-to-touch from the oven. The handful of lamb and chicken kebabs that make up the menu (supplemented, in season, by sea bream and sea bass) are prepared over a smoky charcoal grill in an open kitchen that takes up half the tiny ground-floor room. The meat, which is marinated for several hours before cooking, is sensational, particularly the lamb fillet and the boneless chicken, yellowed with saffron. No alcohol is served, but you can bring your own. Competition is fierce for Patoghs half dozen or so cramped tables, and you may well have to resign yourself to queuing outside or settling for a takeaway.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008