Category Archives: Iranian

Yummy Bakery

Cuisine: Persian
6325 Sawmill Road (near Trader Joe’s)
http://yummy-bakery.com
614-389-2236
Hours: Tues-Fri 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Sat 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., Sun 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. (Closed Mon)

Click here to map it!

Yummy Bakery may be known for their special occasion cakes (graduation, showers, and birthdays), but they also offer quite the variety of Persian sweets including cookies and donuts. When we visited, it was just days before the Iranian New Year (Nowrūz), March 20th, and the kitchen was abuzz with preparations. There were several specialties available such as Sohan, a crunchy nut and/or seed based candy that can contain pistachios, almonds, sesame and/or flax seeds; and senjed, a ceremonial dried fruit placed on the traditional new year table setting.

We were able to try every Persian cookie offered and were bowled over by how delicious they were. It is no coincidence that the Persian tradition of afternoon tea includes these melt-in-mouth morsels. A dozen cookies came up to just under $6 and we considered buying more to share with our friends.

Our favorite by were the Naan e Nokhodchi (above, lower right), chickpea flour shaped into rounded crosses, followed closely by the Naan e Berenji (above, upper right), rice flour cookies with rose water and topped with poppy seeds or black sesame seed.

We also tried the walnut, raisin, sugar cookies and the crescent shaped, powder sugar dusted, wedding cookies. All of these cookies were buttery and very rich. We’re looking forward to trying other Persian goodies from Yummy Bakery!

Jeddo Kabab

Cuisine: Persian
New Location
2171 E Dublin Granville Road,Columbus.
http://jeddokabab.com/
614.794.1202
Hours: Tue – Thurs; 11:30am – 9:00pm, Fri & Sat; 11:30am – 10:00pm, Sun; 12:30pm – 8:00pm

Click here to map it!

To the best of our knowledge, Jeddo Kabab is the only Persian restaurant in central Ohio.  Shame that, but if one’s all we get, this’ll do just fine.

Jeddo’s dining room is small, fastidiously well kept, and maintains a small market selection of prepackaged Persian foodstuffs for sale.  Seat yourself if you’re eating in, head to the back counter to place carry out orders.

The menu manages to be, at least for those with some awareness of Middle Eastern cuisine, both familiar and unique.  Falafel and baba ganoush sit next to items like kubideh and kashk o bademgon.

Kashk o bademgon it was, for starters.  This appetizer is described on the menu as ‘a delightful mixture of eggplant, onion, and garlic with traditional whey’.  The photo might not sell it, but your first taste will.  This deliciously rich concoction, served with plenty of pita for dipping, instantly reminded me of an artichoke dip… but better.  A dish that is sure to convert even the most fervent of eggplant haters.

Next, we tried the bahktiari – a platter with chicken kebab (which included grilled vegetables), a ground lamb skewer, salad, and rice.

A quick digression – chicken, for me, is usually an automatic skip… something I tend to think of as a restaurant’s sop to calorie obsessives and the unadventurous.

Suffice it to say, the chicken on the bahktiari was anything but a sop.  It was as tender as properly cooked chicken flesh could possibly be, marinated in a delicious but unidentifiable mix of flavors (that the proprietors were altogether unwilling to divulge), and grilled to perfection. Truly chicken that could compete with lamb.

Which is not to suggest that the lamb was sub-par in any way.  Skewer grilled, and spiced similarly a traditional kefta, this hefty spike of ground meat satisfied completely.

As did it’s beef counterpart, a kubideh, listed as a sandwich and wrapped in a pita.  A large one, too… I’d guess the whole thing measured out at 10″ in length.  Onions, lettuce, and a tahini-esque ‘Jeddo sauce’ complete this tasty package.

We hope it’d be obvious by this point that we highly recommend Jeddo Kabab. Having operated for 8 years and counting (a lifetime in strip mall restaurant years), we’re probably not the only ones.

All of Jeddo Kabab’s offerings are halal.