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House of Kabob

If there’s one thing that House of Kabob has got, it’s kabobs. Naturally. All the standards are on offer: kubideh (ground beef, $9.95), barg (marinated steak, $13.95) and jujeh (chicken, $11.95). It’s not all skewered meat, however. The restaurant also serves popular Persian specials, which co-owner Mary Ann Rahnema drew to my attention when I visited her restaurant on a recent kabob kick.

So I decided to revisit the place with a dinner guest. The restaurant is a converted house on Edmonton Trail N.E. with a casual atmosphere; its curtained windows cozy the place up and camouflage its proximity to the traffic that speeds by the front door.

We started our meal with a complimentary basket of pita wedges and a dish of butter pats. Hummus ($3.95) was the obvious pairing. It arrived generously splashed with olive oil and a dusting of bright paprika. Light on garlic (I couldn’t taste any at all), the chickpea taste of this light dip came through nicely.

As for our main course, I’d come for the Wednesday special. Baghali polo mahich-e, or lamb shank with mixed rice ($12.95). My guest ordered ghormeh sabzi ($9.95), a popular Persian stew, also served with rice. Our mountainous rice platters arrived first, with no explanation from our pleasant but somewhat less-than-helpful server that the meat was on its way in separate dishes. Also not mentioned was that you could reduce your rice intake with a half-salad option,which I discovered later. Slightly confused, the balance of our meals arrived soon enough.

The golden lamb shank is served on-the-bone in a square bowl filled with au jus the same appealing colour as the meat. Though our cutlery selection didn’t include a knife, this wasn’t a problem. The tender shank was easily taken apart with spoon and fork. The taste was buttery and succulent, the rice soaked up the jus.

On the phone the following week with Rahnema, she told me that the lamb takes time to cook (two to three hours), but the recipe is relatively simple. It’s simmered with salt, pepper, onion and dried lemon. Two versions are available (again, our server was mum on this) — one with au jus style and another with tomato paste.

The huge rice portions, she explained, are typical of Persian cuisine. The shank is accompanied by rice prepared with dill and lima beans, which is also time-consuming to prepare. The basmati rice is soaked overnight in salty water, then steamed with a bit of oil and mixed with the other ingredients. The result is very fluffy rice, garnished with onion slices, parsley and a lemon wedge.

My guest’s ghormeh sabzi stew was served in its own bowl beside an accompanying shovelful of white rice with a sunny band of saffron rice atop. “I always recommend that to people on their first time to eat here,” says Rahnema. “It’s really, really authentic Persian food.” The dish consists largely of green herbs and vegetables: parsley, cilantro, spinach, spring onion and fenugreek (a plant used in Mediterranean cooking but rarely served in these parts). My guest’s stew also included lima beans. These ingredients, says Rahnema, are fried in oil and puréed. The beef is fried with salt, and onion is added, as is dried lemon. The whole thing is then simmered a further four to five hours.

Again, the rice nicely soaked up the mild and hearty stew with its tender, substantial beef chunks. We both enjoyed its wholesome, greens-heavy richness.

Dessert consisted of lady-finger baklava ($1.50) served with drizzled maple syrup, which was a nice touch, and Persian ice cream ($2.95). This was frozen too hard for my liking. Served in a small plastic tub, the presentation left something to be desired. However, the lightly sweet, orange-yellow ice cream was wonderful, tasting of rose water and pistachio.

We left with a wave and smile from the chef, and two big take-home boxes of rice under our arms, relieved that, next time, we’ll order the half-salad instead.