Nasrin Restaurant, Baghdad Street

This place (12 Baghdad Street, tel : +65 6295 1280) looked to be one of numerous Middle Eastern (Persian for this specifically) themed joints that catered more to people who were into smoking shisha rather than eating food. Evidenced by the number of hookahs that were laying around and the people that were smoking them. But I was told that there was a kebab koobideh on their menu and it's been quite a while since the defunct Banoo or even Persepolis. True enough, there was a menu that offered a small selection of various grilled meats with rice along with finger food and assorted drinks. As per my initial impression, this was indeed a place that people lingered over smokes as I found my way up to the carpet draped second storey; where there were even more people smoking shisha.

What I didn't expect of the kebab koobideh was that it tasted very much like mystery meat. That was not to say that it wasn't tasty but I was hoping for the flavour of lamb that should have been in it. The lightly buttered basmati rice was fragrant and delicious while the grilled chilli on the side brought a welcomed kick to the food. The suspiciously smooth and creamy hummus tasted more lemony than I was expecting.

In retrospect though, this place was quite pleasant to chill over apple tea, especially by their window under the rain.