Iran

This weekend I found a relatively new place just a couple of miles from me that serves Persian cuisine so I had to go check them out.  Nayeb is a restaurant and hookah lounge on Anderson Road in Rock Hill.  It is easy to spot because it looks like a yellow barn.  When I say yellow I mean bright like Tweety bird kind of yellow.  The place has plenty of parking places and lots of seating inside.  Outside there is a courtyard kind of set up the picture below shows a corner of.  In front of this are some outdoor tables and to the side there is what looks like an outdoor lounge with sofa and everything.  I’m guessing the courtyard is the hookah hangout.

I was the only patron in the place the whole time I was there.  The only other person I saw was my waitress, Cindy.  I’m guessing on the spelling since she didn’t have a nametag, it could be Sindee or Cyndi for all I know, not that it’s relevant.  Anyway, she greeted me and I had my choice of seats so I grabbed a table with a window and a view of the hookahs and assorted tobaccos.  The menu was presented and my drink order of unsweet tea was taken without delay.

The menu is limited but the dishes all had Persian names even if they weren’t exclusive to Persia so it felt authentic.  The entrees were mainly kabobs which was cool with me and although I was tempted to get the combo platter which had 3 kinds of kabobs I decided to stick with the koobideh so I could try an appetizer as well.  For the appetizer I selected the dolmeh stuffed grape leaves.  After I placed the order Cindy brought me a pre-appetizer appetizer they serve each guest.

What we had here was warm, almost toasted, flatbread with basil and parsley, feta cheese, a wedge of raw onion and butter.  According to her you take a bit of the herbs (sometimes you might have mint as well or in place of one of the others depending on what’s in the larder) and the feta and put them on the bread and either add some onion or just take a bite of the onion.  I dutifully tried it with some basil, cheese and a layer of onion.  It was ok but the bread by itself was the star of the little quartet.  I didn’t eat much because I didn’t want to be full for my app and entrée.

The grape leaves arrived next.  As you can see there were four grape leaves and what you don’t see is that they were stuffed with rice, herbs & spices.  My first taste caught me by surprise because they were tangier than I expected.  The grape leaves were tender and the filling was almost creamy in texture but you could see the grains of rice.  I have since learned that dill and lemon juice are constituent parts of these stuffed grape leaves and account for the tanginess.  I also tried some spice concoction that Cindy recommended trying on everything.  It was ok and actually acted as a counterbalance to the tartness of the grape leaves.

My koobideh arrived nice and hot from the grill.  Koobideh is ground, spiced meat formed around a skewer and traditionally grilled over hot coals.  I’m not sure if these were grilled over a gas fire or a coal fire but they didn’t have any smokiness to the flavor so the flavor was all from the meat and spices.  Again there was a tartness to the first bite that caught me off guard but it went well paired with the relative blandness of the rice.  I have to say the odd segmentation of the kabobs was unexpected as well.  They were handy places to cut the meat in bite size pieces but didn’t really enhance the visual appeal.  The rice was just about perfect.  There was no stickiness and you could have easily eaten one grain at a time if you were that weird.  The bit of saffron added some color but not much in the way of flavor.  The grilled tomato also was a nice touch.

A last note on the tea.  I enjoyed it quite a bit and could taste something other than teas in it.  I asked and was told it was a Persian tea that included cardamom and it clicked.  I was basically drinking iced Earl Grey.

I’ll definitely be going back, if not for the weekday all you can eat Mediterranean buffet for 6.99, then at least to try one of the other types of kabobs.  I’m surprised they aren’t busier than they are and they have a lot of tables and parking sitting idle.  The Yelp reviews may be keeping some people away.  The most recent 4 reviews are a couple of one star reviews sandwiched between two five star reviews all within a couple of weeks.   Maybe the money’s in the hookahs.

If you’re interested in how to fix the koobideh or in Persian music or just a random fact check out the Tell Me More page.