Looking for incredible Persian food in Sydney? Tida Persian Restaurant is a tiny 14-seat spot in Willoughby serving beautifully cooked kebabs, crispy tahdig rice, smoky mirza ghasemi eggplant dip and rich khoresh fesenjan stew. The space feels like you're dining in someone else's home. Find out more here.
It's a Saturday night when Mr NQN and I meet Queen Viv, Miss America, Carmen and Matt at Tida, a Persian restaurant in Willoughby. I had heard fantastic things about the food here so I really wanted to try it and my friends love trying new places and cuisines.
Tida means "daughter of the sun" in Old Persian and there are gorgeous wooden arches in the window and a large family style table in the centre of the restaurant. It is owned by Parya Zaghand and Milad Amiri. The restaurant was originally designed to be a takeaway restaurant and the tables were added later because people wanted to sit and eat the food. Booking is definitely recommended because the restaurant seats 14 people.
The menu is large but Parya steers us towards some dishes which we see are on the table for the group that are sitting at the other end of the communal table. As there are six of us they recommend sharing the kebab platter for 4-5 people and then adding on a chicken stew called Koresh Fesenjan and the Mirza Ghasemi smoked eggplant platter.
The restaurant is BYO so Queen Viv has gone to the nearby pub to buy a bottle of wine while the rest of us try the soft drinks. I love the doogh, a salty yogurt drink with dried mint that reminds me of Ayran while Mr NQN has the Tida's special drink which is brightly coloured from the saffron. This isn't sweetened at all and has a mild flavour to it from the saffron, rose and lemon.
The food arrives shortly after and the first dish is the Mirza Ghasemi Platter which is a dip platter with eggplant that has been smoked in-house and combined with garlic and tomato. On top is soft scrambled egg and it is served with slices of Barbari flat bread. The eggplant is so full of flavour with a pronounced amount of garlic. Not a scrap goes back to the kitchen as Carmen mixes the egg into the soft eggplant and then we spoon the dip over the bread.
The kebab platter has several parts to it. The first to arrive are the 4 Tahdig rice bowls that start with a layer of thin flatbread and then saffron rice enclosed like a parcel. The bread has a lovely crispiness to it and they add pomegranate arils and slivered almonds on top. With the kebab platter we get 4 of these and that is more than enough for the six of us.
The meat platter arrives next and there are 4 skewers of Koobideh (lamb and beef mince), 2 of Joojeh (chicken thigh kebab) and 2x Chenjeh (lamb pieces). These are served with grilled tomatoes, green chillies and sumac on the side as a seasoning.
There are also two side dishes: a shirazi salad made with diced tomato, cucumber and onion and dressed with dried mint, olive oil and lemon juice. The second side is a Mast-O-Musir which is a thick, rich and creamy yogurt with Persian shallots, crushed walnuts and rose petals on top.
Everyone's favourite kebab is the koobideh with its perfectly tender and juicy texture and spices. The chicken thigh marinated in saffron and lemon juice is a close second. And the lamb is good although the piece that I get is a tad chewy. And although sumac is one of my favourite spices, you really don't need it as everything is already so perfectly seasoned. The meat goes very well especially with the bread, rice and yogurt.
The Khoresh Fesnenjan arrives in a crystal bowl. It's a sweet and sour Persian stew made with chicken fillets cooked down so they are super tender. The sauce gets its flavour from pomegranate molasses and walnut sauce. It goes very well with the kebab platter and is an enormous serve that everyone enjoys.
For dessert there is a gorgeously wobbly saffron panna cotta topped with Persian rose petals, pistachios and barberries for tang and crunch. The saffron flavour is both aromatic and delicious in this and the texture of the panna cotta melts in the mouth.
We all enjoy the Persian delight made with a bottom layer of pistachio nuts and a top layer of filo pastry. It's rich and crunchy but not overly syrupy and judiciously sweet.
And there's so much food that we had enough for a few containers to take home for the best leftovers imaginable!
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever tried Persian food before and if so, do you have any favourite dishes?
This meal was independently paid for.
Tida
304 Penshurst St, North Willoughby NSW 2068
Phone: 1300 312 325
Wednesday to Sunday: 12-9pm Monday: 12-8:30pm Tuesday: closed
www.tidapersianfood.com.au
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