Returning to The Persian Grill After 30 Years

The Persian Grill in the western suburb of Lafayette Hill is likely the oldest restaurant that specializes in Persian food in the Philadelphia region. While I don’t know that for a fact, my last meal there before Tuesday was about 30 years ago, and they weren’t new then. If there is an older one, I’d expect to have heard of it. 

When I ate there three decades ago I was with my Iranian girlfriend and our server was her sister. Her aunt also used to do some of the restaurant’s cooking in those days. I’d guess they’ve been through multiple ownership changes since then, but the name, address and style of cuisine have remained the same – although the interior appears to have been updated to a more modern look at some point.

I made my long-awaited return Tuesday for lunch and was joined by my friend and former colleague, Virginia. 

The Grill has a limited lunch menu that features smaller portions and lower prices, but we were also given dinner menus to peruse and requested a hummus appetizer to share from it. 

We stuck to the lunch menu for our entrees, with Virginia ordering a lamb wrap, while I went with a ground lamb kebab platter, which came with saffron-topped basmati rice.

The hummus was extra creamy and extremely good. I started to feel just a little full from eating so much of it on warm pita bread and had to force myself to stop so I’d have room for my main course. 

Virginia was expecting her lamb wrap to be more like a gyro and was surprised that it contained ground lamb as well as by the lack of sauce. Yet she seemed to enjoy it aside from the issue of how to unwrap and eat it without the contents falling out – a problem I’ve never fully mastered. 

My ground lamb kebab brought back memories of the ones my former girlfriend and her aunt used to make. They grate onions and squeeze out the liquid, which is used to enhance the flavor of of the meat. It’s a brilliant technique that probably goes back countless generations in what is now Iran. 

And I’m a big fan of basmati rice, with or without saffron. It went extremely well with the lamb.

I can see returning to The Persian Grill with my wife for dinner at some point. I’d like to branch out and try something other than a kebab from the dinner menu next time.