Masouleh: Northern Persian Cuisine in Rogers Park

I had the pleasure of sharing a meal with friends last night at Masouleh, the new tenant in the location formerly occupied by Cafe Salamera.

In typical form, I was doing a lousy job as a citizen food journalist, but I wanted to report in anyway. The ordering process was a little confused, as I put myself in the hands of my friends, who were visiting for the third time in a week.

Meals start with the standard pita, radishes, and the like. Entrees also include a really excellent lentil soup, with just a light dab of yogurt garnish. It was very thick and delicious. We had a kebab combo which was well prepared, although not particularly unusual. I believe the fessenjan we ordered was the dish with a thick sauce quite reminiscent of mole, but with a sharp fruity tang which would have been the pomegranate. I didn't recall other fessenjan being so mole-like, but it's not a dish I've had all that often. I pretty much lost track of what any of the other things we ordered were called, but it was universally tasty. We ordered a torshi which wasn't pink at all but which was definitely pickly, so there goes my naive idea that all torshi is the same. We also ordered the "northern special" of the evening, but I have no idea what it actually was. I do know I liked it. Finally, they comped us a little sampler of desserts (perhaps because I was with people who'd been twice already this week!) there was a small glazed bit of dough which was ok, and a cake with cardamom flavor (maybe the "baghlava cake" from the menu?) which I quite liked.

Sorry for the lousy recap; to make up, here are scans of the menu: click for larger images.






They were doing pretty good business last night; our impromptu group of six plus a reserved table of six and a few smaller tables of diners already there filled the place up at 7 pm on a Friday. The staff were universally friendly and gracious. We brought a couple of bottles of wine, and I don't believe we were charged corkage. We ate a very hearty meal for about $13 a person.

In short, I'm happy to welcome Masouleh to Rogers Park.

Masouleh Restaurant
6653 N. Clark
Chicago, IL 60626
773-262-2227

Joe-

Thanks for the report. We've not had the chance to dine there, but did stop in last week to look at the menu. There was a decent crowd in there that night (a Sunday I think). I look forward to trying it out. I hope it doesn't put a dent into the business at Big Buns and Pita -- a place I think deserves more attention.

-Mary

I agree that Big Buns merits continued love: I had some friends over last week and we had carryout from BB&P and it was good, even though my friends were late making the pickup and it was kind of cold. I still love the cornish hen, especially. The broiled kubbeh mosul didn't survive the long wait and travel very well, but the lahmim beajin was also good.

But not to distract from the primary topic: (as you know, Mary) the style of the two restaurants is totally different. If BB&P wants to attract a "dining" crowd, they'd really have to change their atmosphere and style. On the other hand, while not "fancy," Masouleh is a refined place where it feels natural to have a bottle of wine with your dinner.

That said, it may be tough for the two to survive right next door to each other; I don't know how much of BB&P's business is burgers and dogs for a less adventurous crowd. Or it may not be that big of a deal: other similar places co-exist as neighbors around town. (and Masouleh doesn't have cornish hen on the menu!) It could be a subject for that occasional Tribune column facing off neighboring restaurants!

edited to clarify that the late/cold problem with carryout from BB&P was the fault of my friends, not of the restaurant...

I'm looking forward to trying this one. I worked for an off site Kosher Persian catering company in L A. That was one crazy gig. I was always holding about a lb. of safron in my briefcase.

Odd to see Kookoo sabzi, a favorite of mine on the menu. I was under the impression that it was served mainly at funerals. At least that's what they told me. I was like the grim reaper and would look forward to any deaths we catered. The Persian food I've had here in Chicago has left quite a bit to be desired.

Actually, before Masouleh had opened, the owner of BB&P was actually quite enthusiastic about it. He felt that this would help make the area a destination for people wanting to eat Middle Eastern food. Let's hope he is right. We haven't yet tried Masouleh, but it is definitely high on our list, and BB&P is a real favorite of ours.

LTHForum,

Quite enjoyed the window to Persia Masouleh provided, though the overall makeup and spicing remains somewhat impenetrable. For example Aashe, with it's soupy mix of spices, lentils and topknot of yogurt, was earthy satisfying and delicious, but I'd be hard pressed to break down the component makeup. Kookoo Sabzi, which Jazzfood mentions upthread, was familiar in a Twilight Zone fashion, as if my sister in-laws breakfast casserole mated with a box of Zatar.

Kookoo Sabzi


Salad Shirazi, a refreshing mix of raw veg enlivened by mint and lemon juice, and Olovieh, a surprisingly neutral flavored Persian mayo based chicken salad, along with gratis warm pita and radish, green onion, feta and fresh herbs completed our starters.

Chenjeh Kabab was the weakest entree, chewy chunks of flavorless beef, though one bite of the weekend special Lamb Shank and all was (mostly) forgiven. Drop dead tender lamb shank served with fragrant dilled rice. Michael M's Ghormeh Sabzi was interesting, very herbal, and similar composition to my weekend Northern Special of Morgh Toursh (sour chicken).

Lamb Shank


All main courses came with a square of deliciously crisp, though slightly oily, rice and service was fine, stepping up a notch when the woman, who I am assuming is co-owner, came back from running an errand. Overall atmosphere is pleasant with the soft glow of candles, bottle of wine (BYOB) on most tables, and reasonable pricing, with the majority of entrees under $10.

In addition to the company of the always delightful Morowitz's we ran into the elusive Bob S and friends.

Nice call Germuska.

Almost forgot to mention Doogh, which I swore never again. Thin, sour, palate grating with an earthy back note, not quite the tongue pulling effect of previous. Tastier than last time, or more accurately, less displeasing, as I finished the entire glass.

Doogh


Enjoy,
Gary

Masouleh Restaurant
6653 N Clark
Chicago, IL 60626
773-262-2227

The clear standout of my meal at Masouleh was the Aashe (which I think just means "soup" in Farsi). Like Gary, I have a hard time breaking down the makeup of this soup, but there was some sweetness and tang that came along with the heartiness. The whole bowl was really irresistible to me.

Most everything else left me a little flat, which it's possible to attribute to the fact that I've been exposed to Persian home cooking nearly every week for the past 5 months, courtesy of a co-worker. Homemade gormeh sabzi, kookoo sabzi, and olovieh are frequently available to me at work and may have re-calibrated my palette for Persian food. I found most of the dishes at Masouleh to be lacking in flavor depth or overall seasoning. Not bad by any means, but simply not exciting to me.

Nevertheless, it's a lovely place with warm hosts. There isn't a huge array of Persian cooking available around Chicago, so to find a place with different specials is very interesting and warrants some LTH attention.

Best,
Michael

I made a detour on my way home tonight, and hopped-off the Broadway #36 bus at the end of it's run at the corner of Devon & Clark, and walked several blocks N. to Masouleh Restaurant. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision for which I was camera-less.

The room has a comforting feel, the moment you walk in the door. The oak floors (Pergo, perhaps?), the exposed brick walls and the background music. I was flying solo so the waitress directed me to one of the two deuce tables on the window.

Before I go further, one note: the restaurant is now open until 9 p.m. on Sunday, an extension of an hour from what I see in an earlier post here was the 8 p.m. closing. I walked into the restaurant at about 7 p.m.

I don't have much of a background in Persian/Iranian food but I picked-out an entree I thought I'd like: Khoureshte Fesenjan - chunks of white-meat chicken cooked in a walnut and pomegranate sauce served in a small dish and accompanied by a large plate upon which rests basmati rice. As a side-dish I ordered: Zayton Parvardeh - large green olives (with pit in-tact) served in a thick, cold walnut and pomegranate sauce (not a sauce, actually, but I'm at a loss to affix the correct description). The entree was preceded by a basket of quartered pita bread which had a slightly sweet taste. Some condiments were served on a separate plate - radish, cheese and cilantro . . . and cup of the soup of the day was also included.

Overall, I really liked the restaurant and the meal. If there was a drawback it was the mostly inept waitress who I think hasn't been adequately schooled or prepared well enough to do the job expected of her.

The waitress brought my side as an appetizer, and then said, "You're really going to eat these?" When she brought the soup I asked what type/kind of soup it was and she said, "Beans. Oh, maybe lentils and some beans. Something like that." I could make-out the lentils but still don't know what else was in the cup. The soup was in need some salt, and some other spices; it was just "okay."

This was the first time I'd eaten Khoureshte Fesenjan and I liked it. The walnut/pomegranate sauce was lighter and more liquid, thinner than the sauce which coated the olive side-dish. In a later conversation with the female half of the ownership team she told me that they add some sugar to the mixture to offset the natural pomegranate flavors. I thought the rice was too dry, too crispy. Maybe that's the norm for this type of food, but more moisture would have been a plus. Though, there was enough sauce to fully-wet the rice as I ate the chicken.

I chose Doogh as my beverage, and didn't like it. I kept telling myself that it was good for me, so drink it - but I could get through only 3/4 of the large glass.

Dessert wasn't in the cards for me tonight, I took a pass.

I had to practically tackle the waitress to get her attention and to have her bring my check and after I paid her I waited 10-minutes for her to bring back my change . . . I had to walk up to the owner and ask for it; the waitress was cleaning other tables.

When I arrived at the restaurant there were 8 people already there and when I left at 7:45 p.m. there were four.

The owner asked me how I'd heard about the restaurant, because, she explained, they are not doing any advertising. I told her I'd first read a note about the place in Mike Sula's column at the Chicago Reader. She smiled and said they'd had a good reaction as a result of the mention; last Saturday, she said, customers were lined-up waiting for tables. I told her about LTH and said there was an ongoing discussion and that I'd be posting my own remarks. She thanked me and wandered off attending to business.

Masouleh is a nice addition to an already interesting collection of places at which to eat on N. Clark St. Thanks for shining the light.

I dined at Masouleh Friday night with a friend. We arrived at about 7 p.m. and 3 or 4 tables were occupied, but by 7:30 p.m. the place was almost full. The wife was away for a little while and the husband was waiting tables and explaining food items, and was doing a good job of it. I opted for the Northern Iran weekend special which consisted of large chunks of boneless chicken cooked in a pomegranate/herb sauce served over a large helping of basmati rice. My friend ordered the Baghali Polo with lamb shank weekend special which appeared to be the same presentation as pictured in GWiv's comments above, and it was served with dill basmati rice. The soup of the day was lentil with other beans - and it seemed to have very little seasoning; bland. As an appetizer we enjoyed Olovieh: diced chicken, potato, Persian pickles with peas mixed-in (and some mayo). I cleaned my plate, while my friend packed-up much of her lamb shank for a Saturday lunch at home (she‘s not much of a lamb eater and I think she‘ll toss the food away when I‘m not looking). The restaurant is still BYOB, but we chose water. I was as comfortable in the restaurant this time as I was my first visit, back in April.

Three of us ate a late dinner at Masouleh on Tuesday evening and it was well worth the hike to get up to that neighborhood. We arrived around 8:30 and boy did it smell terrific in there. Service was very friendly and attentive, and the wine we brought was whisked away and opened almost immediately.

We started with Mirza Ghasemi, chopped eggplant with tomatoes and eggs, and Olovieh, a cold chicken salad that reminded me of the Spanish ensalada russa. Both were delicious but the Mirza Ghasemi was the favorite, with a really nice smokey taste to the eggplant. Also, at $3.50 these were really generous portions.

For the main course we had Gheimeh Bademjan, a beef stew, Shishandaz an eggplant dish, and Torshe Tareh, a spinach dish. Wow. Not only was each dish delicious on its own, they really went together well. The beef stew was a perfect winter dish, with tender beef, yellow split peas and eggplant, and a warm, cinnamon taste. Shishandaz was the most unusual tasting thing we ordered; the sauce was ground walnut and pomegranate, and had a bright, fruity flavor. As someone upthread mentioned, it was definitely mole-like in texture. The spinach dish was also good, with a great garlicky bite. We had some chopped pickled vegetables on the side which really made the flavors of the stew and the eggplant dish pop, rather like giardinara.

Our bill came to $17 each with a healthy tip, and we left quite full and discussing what we were going to get the next time we came--a huge success.

geli wrote: Olovieh, a cold chicken salad that reminded me of the Spanish ensalada russa.

With good reason, as both are renditions of the Russian salat Olivie/Olivier.

I've been meaning to check out Masouleh for a long time. I think I just need to get over the memories that location stirs up.

I stopped at Masouleh Restaurant for a late-lunch / early-dinner today. It was early and I was the only person in the restaurant, about 2 p.m. Azim was on duty, with one helper.



The weekend's Northern Food Special was Aloo Mosamuh - a sweetened stew of chicken, prunes, fried onion, saffron and lemon. The dinner included a cup of the house bean / lentil / barley soup, some garnish and a basket of pita bread. For an appetizer I ordered the Mirza Ghasemi.



Mirza Ghasemi



As referenced in earlier comments in this discussion, the Mirza Ghasemi (chopped eggplant, tomatoes, eggs and garlic) has a strong roasted flavor to it. It was delightful.

Soup



This is the third time I've had this soup and it was the best tasting thus far. Maybe it's my taste buds, or the cooks in the kitchen have tinkered with the preparation - but for the three times I've tasted this soup this one was the best.

Aloo Mosamuh







The stew is sweet - thanks to the prunes and some added sugar, but the sweetness worked well with the hints of lemon and fried onion and the textures of the chicken, prunes and basmati rice worked well together.

"What's left after you cook the rice"



I don't know of this has a particular name, or is always referred to as Azim did with me - "What's left after you cook the rice." He brought a small plate to the table and asked if I'd like to try it. He didn't know I'd had it on an earlier visit, and I didn't know what/where it came from. It's caramelized, crunchy and would make a good snack/candy substitute. I enjoyed it and it went well with the meal.

Persian Tea



Persian Ice Cream



Vanilla ice cream has been on the menu since the restaurant opened earlier this year. The house-made Persian Ice Cream, however, is a relatively recent addition - from what I'm recalling about my earlier visits. This was the surprise of the day - a very pleasant surprise. Added to the typical ice cream base is rose water, saffron and pistachio nuts - and the dish of ice cream is topped with crushed / finely-chopped pistachios. The rose water influence is what I tasted first, and is what lingered long after I'd finished the two scoop serving. There, too, was the saffron - in taste and the color it added. Mixed into the ice cream were whole pistachios. This was one of the most unique ice creams I've ever tasted and I'll be looking for a recipe allowing me to make it at home.

Masouleh Menu







Masouleh Restaurant: good people, good food - like eating in someone's home (who knows how to cook Northern Iranian foods).

"What's left after you cook the rice" is called "tadig" aka the rice crust from the bottom of the cooking vessel. Besides being delicious and from the culture that gave us pilaf, pilau or chelou, it's a real treat and considered an honor.

Thanks for the explanation.

I love Persian food having worked with it extensively in L A in the early 90's. So far, what I've had in Chicago has fallen very short of the mark. Very.

Koubadeh, Gorma Sabzi and Kookoo in particular (the last one we only made for funerals) I was like the grim reaper, smiling whenever someone died. I keep meaning to try this place and will make it a point asap. Thanks for reminding me.

My husband and I found ourselves alone on New Year’s Eve after my children left for a last-minute party. We decided to try Masouleh and arrived just before 6 p.m. to an empty restaurant. By the time we left after 7, there were two other tables occupied.

The space is very pleasant—a bit more upscale than almost next-door Sahara Kabob with exposed brick walls, fresh flowers, and candles. I enjoyed watching the people walk by on Clark Street through the floor to ceiling windows. Standard warmed pita with a few small chunks of feta plus parsley and cilantro leaves formed a nice gratis starter. We also ordered the Mirza Ghasemi (chopped eggplant) and Olovieh (chicken salad) appetizers. My husband liked these both better than I did, even though I am a big eggplant fan. I found the flavor of the Mirza rather underseasoned somehow, and the Olovieh was just plain bland. I think they both needed a bit more acid.

The soup, as others have noted, is quite good. Ours was not just lentil but included three or four other beans. I saw chickpeas and red kidney beans and perhaps one or two other types of beans. The olive oil and yogurt floated on top boosted the flavor, and the yogurt added the acid I missed in the appetizers.

For entrees, we had the special Bill posted about, the Aloo Masamuh, and the Fesenjan. The first, my dish, was good at first bite but was too one-note sweet for me by the time I finished. My husband liked his Fesenjan; the one bite I had was pleasantly tart, I presume from the pomegranate in the sauce. The basmati rice was excellent and generous.

Based on Bill’s review above, I recommended the Persian ice cream to my husband for dessert, and he liked it a lot. But the rose water flavoring made the ice cream taste like cold perfume to me.

We will probably go back because my husband really enjoyed the meal, it’s 10 minutes from home, and it’s certainly inexpensive. Enough was good and interesting to give Masouleh another shot, but I will try the meats/kabobs next time and avoid the stews.

We were here last night with friends, and also had the aloo masamuh, which we definitely did not find too "one note". Catherine, who generally has a French distaste for dishes which mix sweet and salty, was totally won over, as was another French friend who also had the aloo. If ound the comibination of prunes, chicken, and saffron over rice to be a particularly satisfying blend. We also had one of the several incarnations of the Baghali Polo -- a nicely grilled salmon steak with dill rice and kooki; they were also offering whitefish as well as lamb shank as alternatives. I really enjoy the fact that the Persian dishes you can find here are not the ubiquitous choices of generic Middle Eastern restaurants. (This is also true of Sahara Kabob down the street; this portion of Clark Street is really remarkable for the Middle Eastern food it offers in an otherwise mostly Mexican strip.)

I dined here a couple of weeks ago with a fairly large group of friends, including one who just moved here from Iran a couple of years ago. The Iranian friend was already on a first-name basis with the restaurant owner, so I feel fairly comfortable assuming the meal was authentic. Because there were so many of us, we were able to get four appetizers and six entrees, which we passed family style, plus soup, salad, and a couple of desserts. Pretty much all the dishes have been described above, and all I can add is that I didn't like everything but I liked enough. The real standouts were the lentil soup, Persian tea with cardamom, and truly astonishing rosewater-flavored ice cream. The baghlava was also exceptional.

I think I'd like to go back with slightly fewer people. I'm not sure two tablespoons each of so many dishes was the best way to experience the food -- it didn't leave a strong impression of anything -- well, except for the things that were stunning (which also happened to be the only things where we got individual servings). But the combination of ambiance, good service, and the few things I really did have enough of to form an opinion would certainly get me to go back.

I stopped at Masouleh last Sunday afternoon for a late-lunch/early-dinner, and the meal was as enjoyable as those previous.

This visit I chose the Mirza Ghasemi for an appetizer: a mixture of chopped eggplant, tomato and garlic (roasted, I think, a nice smoked-like flavor). Soup continues to be served with an entrée: the multi-bean variety, and on a cold day it hit the spot. For an entrée my choice was Khoureshte Gheimeh Bademjan: a beef stew with eggplant and yellow split peas, accompanied by a large serving of basmati rice. The owner brought me a portion of tadig (rice crust), which I like very much. Since I enjoyed the Persian ice cream so much my last visit, I had a two-scoop helping of the saffron-rose water creation (ignoring the cold weather outside). In addition to a couple of glasses of water, I took advantage of several cups of hot Persian tea to keep me warm. There wasn't a thing I didn't like this visit.

In talking with the owner (the husband half of the wife/husband ownership) I learned that weekends have been particularly busy at the restaurant and he was gratified that the restaurant seems to have developed a steady clientele of "regulars." Mid-week business continues to be slow, he said, but then continued to say he was satisfied with the way the business is progressing.

Had a wonderful meal here tonight, and thought I'd talk it up here, as Masouleh hasn't gotten a lot of love around here lately.

We started with the olovieh (bland, yes, but soothing) and the mast-o-khiar, or eggplant in garlic and yogurt, which had a much stronger sour and peppery taste than expected. I loved it, my husband didn't, so all for me.

For entrees he had the mirza ghasemi, which I found myself enjoying more than I have in the past. Usually I found the strong smoky flavor overwhelming, and preferred the dish the next day after it had rested a bit in the fridge. This time, though, the flavor was very appealing, more due to a change in my tastes than a change in recipe, I'm sure. I had the aloo masumeh, every bit as good as reported upthread. I'd had this before, but last time it was overly sour and one-note. This time it seemed much more balanced.

This is a place I've been meaning to go and finally made it here last nite w/my love and a Persian friend of ours. Having worked for Persian Jew's (who knew?) in LA yrs ago, it was w/our friend in tow and that as reference that dinner was served.

The good- the olives, walnut and pomagrante. Salty, sweet, sour, will steal this for further use. The chopped eggplant w/tomato and garlic, reminiscent of baba ganoujh only served warm. Very nice. Kookoo Sabzi - A mixture of chopped parsley, cilantro, green onions and dill bound w/egg and baked like a frittata, I love this dish and had been under the impression that it was funeral food, as the only time we prepared it in LA was for funerals, sometimes for up to 1,500 pp. Our friend assured me it's not and is in fact served for New Years. Really nice, but really small. Joke size. A small wedge maybe 3 fingers wide @ most. @ $7.50 I felt the price was out of line, although the rest of the prices are quite reasonable. Barely a forkful ea, and even though I was coveting it, I shared. Kebabs were good, we had filet, ground beef and chix. Filet was best, the ground beef was nice but underseasoned, more like hamburger than koubadeh and the chix was cubed breast, so a bit dry. We used to do it w/boneless thigh and I prefer that. The tadzik was very good and in the new to me Northern style, made w/bread, not rice as I'm accustomed to and was hoping for, or potatoes, that our friend said is common as well.

The bad- stale pita in place of the oversized soft lavosh flat bread I remember that soak up all juices. Unacceptable. And the rice. Considering the Persian's gave us "Pilau" and are truely one of the best rice makers in the world, it was again underseasoned to the point of bland. Not enough saffron or salt. I used to carry lbs of saffron in my briefcase as if a drug dealer and remember washing bags of basmati, 100 lbs @ a time with great care, soaking it in salt water, then carrying the heavy hotel pans into walk in's and changing that water 4-5 times over 24 hrs before parboiling it and then steaming it w/towels wrapped around the lids of huge rondeau's. Considered the mainstay of the cuisine, this was a disappointment flavor wise, or in this case, lack thereof.

In all, a nice night that scratched the itch but didn't quite ease the rash. Respectable other than these two glaring problems, best thing to come of it was our friend offering up cooking for us or, better yet, dinner @ mom's, which really is the way to go.

Jazzfood wrote:This is a place I've been meaning to go and finally made it here last nite w/my love and a Persian friend of ours. Having worked for Persian Jew's (who knew?) in LA yrs ago, it was w/our friend in tow and that as reference that dinner was served.

The good- the olives, walnut and pomagrante. Salty, sweet, sour, will steal this for further use. The chopped eggplant w/tomato and garlic, reminiscent of baba ganoujh only served warm. Very nice. Kookoo Sabzi - A mixture of chopped parsley, cilantro, green onions and dill bound w/egg and baked like a frittata, I love this dish and had been under the impression that it was funeral food, as the only time we prepared it in LA was for funerals, sometimes for up to 1,500 pp. Our friend assured me it's not and is in fact served for New Years. Really nice, but really small. Joke size. A small wedge maybe 3 fingers wide @ most. @ $7.50 I felt the price was out of line, although the rest of the prices are quite reasonable. Barely a forkful ea, and even though I was coveting it, I shared. Kebabs were good, we had filet, ground beef and chix. Filet was best, the ground beef was nice but underseasoned, more like hamburger than koubadeh and the chix was cubed breast, so a bit dry. We used to do it w/boneless thigh and I prefer that. The tadzik was very good and in the new to me Northern style, made w/bread, not rice as I'm accustomed to and was hoping for, or potatoes, that our friend said is common as well.

The bad- stale pita in place of the oversized soft lavosh flat bread I remember that soak up all juices. Unacceptable. And the rice. Considering the Persian's gave us "Pilau" and are truely one of the best rice makers in the world, it was again underseasoned to the point of bland. Not enough saffron or salt. I used to carry lbs of saffron in my briefcase as if a drug dealer and remember washing bags of basmati, 100 lbs @ a time with great care, soaking it in salt water, then carrying the heavy hotel pans into walk in's and changing that water 4-5 times over 24 hrs before parboiling it and then steaming it w/towels wrapped around the lids of huge rondeau's. Considered the mainstay of the cuisine, this was a disappointment flavor wise, or in this case, lack thereof.

In all, a nice night that scratched the itch but didn't quite ease the rash. Respectable other than these two glaring problems, best thing to come of it was our friend offering up cooking for us or, better yet, dinner @ mom's, which really is the way to go.

Thanks for an updated report. For some reason I had no idea there was more than just a few Persian restaurants in town. I'm going to have to try this out and see for myself.


For the record, yes there's over 300,000 Persian Jews worldwide and still somewhere between 9000 and 35,000 in Iran. People in the US think of Jews as just white European, but not true. 33% of Baghdad used to be Jewish (450K worldwide today), Istanbul still has around 20,000 there (200K worldwide today), Cairo used to have thousands, Casablanca had at least 50,000 ((600K worldwide today), Syria (200K worldwide today) etc. I digress though...but there's a good documentary about this on YouTube.

I will say that while you can find some pretty darn good Persian food in Chicago, NOBODY has good pita, lavash, or barbari served at the restaurant, and rice is always disappointing. If you keep that in mind, kabobs are generally quite good (although I, too, found Masouleh's koubideh to be bland).

If anybody knows where I can find this bread, please let me know!
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/goglania ... LnXOtqiTVA

*Edit: It looks like Goglanian was purchased, and they have opened a location (not sure what the space is) in Lockport. Hopefully they start selling their bread in the Chicago area.

I'm not sure if I've had that brand of bread but, um, you can get really good Arabic bread in Chicago from a variety of sources. In my experience, the bakeries in Chicago put out some of the best Arabic bread in North America. Is there something unique about that brand?

It's not as thick as what I've found here in Chicago. Admittedly, I've not tried a whole lot, but I've perished al-Khyam a bit and didn't find much that compared. Certainly some good stuff, but I'm looking for this thinner, pocket style pita that I grew up with.

If you have a fav at you get around here let me know and I'll try it out