I’d been wanting to try Kash Cool restaurant in North Van for ages and ages and so when we found ourselves at the North Shore auto mall for a test drive, I plugged it into the GPS and we made our way over there for dinner. We found the place all right but over the “Kash Cool” sign was a banner with “Hakhamanesh” on it (also “dance party!”) indicating that they had changed hands recently. Luckily for us, Hakhamanesh was still a Persian restaurant and still delicious. In fact, I’m not sure how much has changed. The photos I’ve seen and even the menu seem quite similar to the new restaurant.

Ever since talking to a friend about Iranian dishes, I’ve wanted to try the Fesenjan – Persian stew with chicken and walnuts and pomegranates – but our host warned me away from it as I don’t care for sweets and we ended up with Bademjan – an eggplant and meat stew. We also ordered the platter for two, which included roasted tomatoes, chicken, filet steak and ground beef kabobs, saffron rice, lavash bread, mast o khiar(a yogurt dip) and an eggplant dip. I’m really not sure what we were thinking.

Not having alcohol on the menu we also ordered some doogh – a watered down yogurt drink with mint, and salt. I had the homemade, plain version and Matt went for the commercial, bottled gaseous one. Both were interesting and added a depth to the flavour of the meal but it seems it would serve in similar cases to the lassi, as a refreshing drink in hot weather.
When the dips and bread came we dove on them like mad dogs (turns out we were hungry) but then the rice came, presumably enough to accompany with both the platter and the stew, but it was on a platter! Buttery, scented rice piled high on a an enormous dish. The kebabs came on another platter. If I had a button on my pants I would have undone it at this point! But we persevered with our choices.

Everything was so fragrant and beautifully spiced and the kabob meat – thoughtfully already pulled off the skewers – was tender and juicy. We couldn’t stop exclaiming over the deliciousness of it, and Unfortunately the meat in the bademjan was not tender at all so we ate around it, scooping up sauce and eggplant and yellow beans.

We had noticed that they had (non-narcotic, non-nicotine) water pipes on the menu but we were so stuffed that even an after dinner treat that took up no space was out of the question!

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Hakhamanesh
222 Pemberton Ave, North Vancouver

Photo Credit: ecstaticist.

So I’ve dedicded to start a new project for dining in 2010. The tagline of this site is “Sampling the World’s Cuisine Without Leaving Vancouver” and so instead of of traipsing around Vancouver’s culinary delights in the random way I have been for the last (almost) 2 years, I am going to present my finds country by country.

I still have a bit of a backlog of reviews, so I may post those interspersed with the project and if I feel really keen, I may even post some recipes.

First stop on the grand tour: North America. Got any favorites you’d like to recommend?

Considering my love of things Middle Eastern, it’s a bit surprising that I haven’t been to Sanafir before now. It was also the last of the Glowbal Restaurant Group venues that I had to dine at, so I had a chance to check that off my list as well.

I think I swooned as soon as I walked in the door and saw the slate gray walls studded with flickering candles. Souk-like chandeliers and gauzy curtains hang from high ceilings and override any memory of Granville Street as soon as you’re in the door.

We sat at the bar while we were waiting and I had a  Red Sea Champagne cocktail (Absolut Mandarin, Alize Passion & Fresh Blood Orange Juice) to start. Light and fruity, it was the perfect aperitif to sit and savour the venue.

Tricia asked the mustachioed barkeep about the delicious concoction he had just made and upon finding out that it was a Shirley Temple, we decided we’d better check out the martini list instead.

I ordered the Pink Lotus (Vodka, Red Alize Passion, White Grape juice & Champagne), which turned out to be my favorite cocktail of the evening. Huge favorite. I thought it might be too sweet, but the white grape juice cuts in and keeps it mellow. I could have drank it all night and been supremely happy.

Except that I also wanted to try the Mumbai martini (Ginger of the Indies liqueur, Vodka, Muddled Fresh Lime & Curry Leaves). I was delish. Spicy. Exotic. Complex. Good. Possibly a little strong to drink all evening, but that would be my only complaint. Actually, no my second complaint (not about the Mubmai, however), is that the serving staff kept taking away our water glasses. Each time they passed by and saw an empty glass, they would pick it up and carry it off with them. So not only did they not refill it often (essential when you’re drinking some of these pure martinis!), but each time we asked for more, they had to bring us a new glass. Interesting. I’m not sure what’s going on there.

The lack of water didn’t keep me from trying my dinner date’s Marrakech Mint martini (Mint, apple puree, Sourz Apple liqueur and Cointreau), which I really liked. It looked like it should be more of a savory drink with the mint and what looked like celery salt but was actually some kind of appley sugar mix around the rim. Here it is with our appetizer of bread and hummous with roasted garlic and smoking rosemary stuck in it. So good!

Dinner was an excellent Chef’s Selections spread )a trio of dishes), for which I chose the Asian spiced salt and pepper squid, Oxtail cappelletti with white truffle cream and black truffle and the Crispy Pork Pakora. And for the first time in a long time, I also ordered dessert. Like dinner, you get a choice of 3 types and I picked the Black Pepper Pecorino cheese, Cardamom Baked Yogurt and Crispy Fruit Gyoza. I also ordered a Figari cocktail (Guava, Fig puree, Dark Rum & Sparkling Wine), which turned out to be a bit of a mistake, because not only were we entirely out of water at that point, but it was also a very – incredibly – strong drink. And surprisingly not that figgy. I think I would have done better to choose the Pears of Persia cocktail (Absolut Vanilla, Sake, pear puree & Fresh Citrus) or another Champagne cocktail instead. Oh well, next time.

And here are my lovely dining companions, Tricia and Tammy:

Thanks girls!

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Sanafir
1026 Granville Street