Banoo, 7 Mohamed Sultan Road

Dinner tonight with Junie at Banoo. I've been hearing about this place for months, specifically about the lamb kebab koobideh. Tonight, I finally got to see what it's all about.

Banoo is a Persian restaurant along Mohd Sultan road. The interior of the restaurant was decorated with what looked to be Middle Eastern-ish ornaments but I'm just guessing since I haven't been to anywhere in the Middle East or Iran myself. Made a reservation for 8 p.m. to avoid having to wait or queue for a seat, however the place was actually quite empty when I arrived. Only one or two other tables were occupied.

Not having been here before, I didn't know what to try apart from the lamb Koobideh and hummus. The result were some hits and misses though there's a good chance that I will be back just to have the lamb Koobideh again. It's as good as the people whom have recommended me have described.

Since it was a first visit, I thought that we shouldn't miss trying the appetizers...

The above was the hummus. It's mashed chick peas with lemon juice, garlic, olive oil and tahini. This was delicious. I'm not sure how to describe this. I've had them before at a few other places including a pretty good one from The Original Sin. The chick pea paste which was a little creamy tasted lightly salted. It was accompanied by flat bread and what appeared to be Turkish bread. I'm not sure. This was really good.

I didn't find Naan-o-Paneer-o-Sabzi enjoyable much. It was a flat bread wrap with mint and basil, onions and feta cheese. It was served deconstructed. The best part about it for me was the feta cheese. The pile of greens which the menu described to be fresh basil also contained coriander, a vile herb that I thoroughly detest. I wonder how they could forget to mention that. The onions were rather sharp which meant that I could only eat a little before finding them overpowering.

This was the much talked about lamb Koobideh. This was every bit as enjoyable as I thought it would be after hearing so about it and imagining how it might taste every time I see it on picture. The minced lamb kebab was spiced and made into a tubed shaped roll and grilled. Texture was quite tender and the flavours were a mix of the lamb and the marinade, neither overpowering the other. The basmati rice was very delectable especially with the melted butter. I should have asked for more butter. This was one of those rice that made me want to overeat.

This above was the kebab barg, made of grilled beef fillet. It didn't taste bad except that it was overdone resulting in it becoming quite chewy. I generally enjoy beef so I thought it wasn't too bad. Just too well cooked. But that's probably just me.

The baklava wasn't on menu but the waiter specially pointed that out while we were browsing for dessert. I was aware that they do have them from D on his visit so I wanted to try it. They're a compact filo pastry filled with crushed mix nuts drizzled with syrup - something yellow which I couldn't really identify. Aside from the excessive sweetness, it didn't taste bad. This was my first baklava so I wasn't really sure what to expect.

And that's the Banoo Special. I recommend against this unless one is into into a nutty toasted rabbit food like thing soaked in syrup. It was mostly made of fried and crushed vermicelli with sesame seeds and a some nuts. To be eaten with the syrup which results in either being dry (if you use the syrup sparingly) or sticky sweet (if you're generous). The bits of the vermicelli got stuck between my teeth and every ridge in my mouth. I didn't enjoy this at all.

That's being said I would like to re-visit Banoo again. If just for the lamb Koobideh. There's probably a couple of other things in the menu which I don't mind checking out.