Gradually Alounak has turned in to one of the finest restaurants on the London scene providing a wonderfully multicultural melting pot of a city with the most divine Persian delicacies.

An ode to the wonders of Alounak written by Sara Khan

It started off, a little shack; Set up two shops, did Alounak.
We went. An oven made of clay and earth,
Was by the door, a narrow berth,
And dangling, garish, painted lights
Hung up, bright baubles in the night,
These multi-coloured, glowing balls,
Distracted from the tacky walls.

A fountain dripped, it splashed, petite,
With pennies like a cobbled street,
Some gold-fish dazed within their tank,
Meandered in the gloom and dank.
We swapped quick glances and our eyes
We raised up to the far-off skies.

But. When the order came, the plate,
Fresh salad, mint we quickly ate,
And ate some more, combined with cheese,
(Our palates felt somewhat at ease.)
Chelo kebabs with rice or bread,
Tomato-roast, with burnt, split head,
A dash of pomegranate spice,
And butter in the saffron rice,
And hot flat bread- a baker's dream,
To dip in garlic yoghurt cream.

Forget the lights, the spray, the fish,
And concentrate upon the dish.
Forget the pseudo-Persian look
And open-armed, go greet the cook.
Enjoy the waft, the meat, the spice,
Enjoy the uninflated price.

As you arrive at this smallish restaurant, packed with tables, you may well be slightly put off by the rather gaudy décor dominated by gold…..its not subtle, but not to worry, the food you are about to tuck into is laden with the most subtle and delicate flavours - so unlike the cuisine from neighbouring Pakistan which tends to be so enormously over-spiced.

As you settle down and the eyes get accustomed to the glitz you can begin to concentrate on matters on hand; the menu. Fortunately and sensibly short English explanations are provided below the indigenous name of the dish. Of the starters, their home made chicken soup is wonderfully hearty and broth-like, almost a meal in itself. The humous, once doused with sufficient olive oil and lemon juice, is not discernably different from the arab variety.

Among other starter dishes are aubegines and pickles in a garlic sauce, a yogurt and wild shallot mixture called Masto Mousir, there is the delicately flavoured Salad Olivieh which consists of potatoes, some chopped chicken, eggs, pickled cucumber and garden peas. It's a speciality of the region and one that we recommend you try. The starters are generally light and yogurt based.

Another worth mentioning is the Bourani Esfenaj which is cooked spinach, fried onions and garlic mixed with the distinctive Iranian yogurt - a mouthwatering starter. Beware, don't gorge too much of that nan to begin with, because you will find yourself stuffed before you have even begun the main course.

The kebabs are the focal point of the main course with the Kobeideh being universally popular. This consists of two skewers of minced kebab served with a grilled tomato and some bread. You can get the same kebab with rice rather than bread if you wish. The Kebab Makhsous is a similar skewered kebab but made with lamb fillet. The Chelo Chanjeh Kobideh is one skewer of marinated diced lamb and another skewer of minced kebab, again you can have this with bread of rice.

There are chicken kebabs, gorgeously marinated in saffron and garlic and lemon…..agan these can be served with rice or with bread as you like. There is a mixed grill of all the kebabs to sample and there is also a vegetarian dish for those inclined. Alounak also do one special dish for each day of the week barring Sunday. Its best to check the current menu for the specials for each day, but at time of writing, there was Ghaimeh on Monday which is split yellow peas, and diced pieces of lamb, with dried lemon cooked in a tomato sauce served with diced potatoes and rice.

On Tuesday there is a particularly exotic dish called Zereshk Polo which consists of a sweet and sour forest berries mixture with saffron steamed rice which is then served with chicken. Sounds quite amazing. On Wednesday there is the rather less exotic Khoresht Bademjoon which is more diced lam with aubergine cooked in that famous tomoato sauce. Friday has more lamb, but this time cooked in a vegetable broth with the dried lemons and is served with Rice. Finally on Saturday you can expect the Baghali Polo which is steamed rice mixed and cooked with broad beans and dill weed served with…….you guessed it……..pieces of lamb! among the desserts if you can manage it after gorging all that lamb, is the typically Iranian ice cream with the Faloudeh. Enjoy the ice cream, avoid the faloudeh!

Alounak does what it does very well indeed, and it is on this strength that it has built up a dedicated clientele and continues to do very brisk business indeed. Quality is the bottom line at Alounak, and their bad days are few and far between. It would be a good idea to reserve in advance or then be prepared to wait a few minutes for a table at dinner time. It's a good sign that most people do bother to wait!