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| - Solid 3 to 3.5. Keep reading.
Normally I preface my reviews with a blurb that may or may not be related to the subject matter, but let's get down to business. Khorasan had an uphill battle in my eyes. I'd been burned twice before by a Persian restaurant by me back home in Jersey, but my wife was looking for a less-heavy meal and she perked at Khorasan in hopes of the Wednesday special, a chicken stew sorta thing.
I was skeptical, and she raised a good point: it wasn't like me to condemn an entire cuisine at the fault of one restaurant. It was also literally 5 years since we went. Off to Khorasan Kabab, then.
We sat out front, they brought out pita bread. And pats of butter. What? I mean, okay, bread and butter I get... pita bread I get... but butter? Is that just a Canadian thing, to get butter with pita?
Here comes one star off. The pita bread was clearly from a bag. That I can forgive. The pita was not warmed up. That too I can forgive. But the pita was stale. 100% stale, breaking when you bent it or pulled it. That's a triple combo that could have easily been broken. One star down.
The server said that today's special was lamb shank. This was a Wednesday, and the photo of the review mentioned the nice looking chicken stew dish. We asked if that was available - no luck, it was yesterday's lamb shank. Okay, fine, she'll have the chicken koobideh, since she's restricted due to medical reasons from most red meats. I went for the lamb shank.
The meal came with soup or salad. I wanted the salad, my wife went for the soup. The salad was iceberg lettuce. That plus the specials mix-up? C'mon, man, we came here for the Wednesday special on a Wednesday. It was even on the menu in front of us. Together, .5 star off. Learn about romaine lettuce, people!
The mains, though? BOOM. Dynamite. Amazing. 100% redeeming Persian cuisine, her chicken kebab was perfectly PERFECTLY juicy and seasoned to a point where it TASTED GREAT AS A CHICKEN DISH, not IN SPITE OF being a chicken dish. A nice herbacious almost saffrony flavor, perfectly seasoned.
My lamb shank was stellar. The meat came right off the bone, and its braising liquid was this rich but semi-thin tomato gravy that was amazing on the dill lima bean rice with which it was served.
Complementary tea came at the end. Good stuff.
I'd definitely recommend Khorasan, but they do have to do something about the pita and the lettuce used in the salad. Don't hesitate to come here!
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