Celebrate Iranian (Persian) New Year At Tandis.
Alphabet Foodies is made up of two writers for Onin.London (myself and Kara Buffrey), One Hungry Asian, Anna Johnstone from Hello and Amira who writes for The Independent and House of Coco. As a diverse bunch of foodies who love experiencing all that London has to offer, we were excited to complete a new challenge. For those that don’t know, London is the only City in the world, where you can eat cuisine from nearly every country in the world. Our mission was to eat cuisine from 26 countries, ranging from A to Z (and yes we know there is no country for X… but we have a back up for that)… hence the name Alphabet Foodies.
We’ve done B-H (featured on our instagram reels) but now it’s time to feature I and what better time to write than now with Iranian (Persian) New Year coming up on March 20th 2024. For I we visited Persian Restaurant Tandis.
First though? What is Persian (Iranian) New Year?
Nowruz or Norooz is the first day of the Iranian (Persian) solar year, which occurs in the first of Farvardin month. This marks the celebration of the Iranian (Persian) New Year and is one of the oldest surviving festivals from ancient Iran. People across vast regions of Asia and other parts of the world celebrate it and what better way to celebrate this than a feast at Tandis!
A little about Iran.
Iran also known as Persia and officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Iraq to the west and Turkey to the northwest, Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan to the north, Afghanistan to the east, Pakistan to the southeast, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south.
With a population of 90 million in an area of 1.648 million square kilometers (0.64 million square miles) it currently ranks 17th in the world in both geographic size and population. The capital of Iran which also happens to be the largest city is Tehran, with around 16 million people in its metropolitan area.
In 1935, when Reza Shah became the new king, the country’s name was changed from Persia to Iran in an effort to signify a new beginning.
Now on to Tandis…
Tandis is a traditional Persian restaurant – authentic and is loved by tourists, locals and native Iranians alike. Their mission is to deliver superior quality authentic Persian dishes and that’s exactly what they did.
They use the finest ingredients and take pride in serving tasty, fresh food prepared in their Michelin rated restaurant by our award-winning chef. Pretty impressive if you ask us.
What to eat?
In Persian cuisine a kebab or khoresht (stew) is extremely popular and Tandis does provide a selection. This is especially as most Persians will only eat Kebabs at restaurants. A fun fact I only recently learnt.
We ordered a large selection of dishes including Koobideh (minced lamb), Barg (lamb fillet) and Joojeh (chicken). Stews are also very popular in Persian culture and Ghormeh Sabzi is a great choice. This is often referred to as the country’s ‘national dish’. It contains greens, herbs, lamb and kidney beans. I preferred the Fesenjan (chicken in walnut and pomegranate molasses) as I’m don’t eat Lamb but the other’s in my group throughly enjoyed all the lamb dishes. The Gheymeh (lamb with split peas) is also popular and was a hit with the group.
One thing not to miss is ordering at Tandis is the Tahdig. This is dish is a popular stable and is made using basmati rice and saffron to create a golden crispy rice bottom. Tandis doesn’t make the full rice Tahdig but all the starters feature Tahdig topped with either Ghormeh Sabzi or Gheymeh. We all agreed this was a really nice touch and elevated the dishes.
We had a lovely time at Tandis learning about Persian food and culture.
Address: 289 Finchley Rd, London NW3 6ND
Website:https://www.tandisrestaurant.com
https://www.instagram.com/tandispersianrestaurant?igsh=cHd5dTI5ajh2Y3dk
Photos: @amira58
