Berenjak

There’s much better Persian food in LA for much better prices. $30 for one skewer of kabob that doesn’t even come with rice is ridiculous. The portion of the dips was VERY small and bread also was separate. The restaurant is beautiful and the cocktails were delicious, but I see no reason to return!

My friend and I enjoyed our time at Berenjak. We ordered the full experience and modified two of the appetizers. We also added salad Shirazi. If you are from Iran and are expecting to have food comparable to other Persian restaurants, this is not what you are going to get. So please don’t go to Berenjak with that expectation. It really isn’t fair to the restaurant. This place has a twist to everything. Now for the review. The first thing we were told was that they had an issue with our seating. We also heard on a separate note one couple was turned away for lack of room, but when we were seated we noticed there were plenty of seating and they were available all evening. We were confused about that, but the service all-together was very good. The food: Appetizers: The sangag and taftoon were delicious. The salad olivia was good. It had truffle in it, which was the twist. The mast o musir was the best appetizer. The twist: it had goat curds. Kaskhke bademjan was OK. It definitely needed something and was very small. Even for places with small portions, it felt too small. This was the appetizer that could have been modified. The hummus has black chickpeas, which was the twist. It was OK, definitely the least favorite of the four appetizers. The doogh drink was delicious. We got joojeh and lamb skewer for our main. Both were delicious. The salad shirazi had really delicious sweet tomatoes but it needed more lemon. Good thing is we asked for extra lemons on the side and used them on it. The rice was phenomenal. The cookie dessert was so yummy. I wanted more lol They had good coffee but was shocked that they didn’t make lattes or the sort, especially with the nice machine they had indoors. Price tag was high, so expect to pay about 3x more than you would at a Persian restaurant. The presentation of the food was very chic. The place is a beautiful ambience but the neighborhood isn’t the best. Make sure you don’t turn into the wrong alley. Just valet your car or park directly across the street. See you next time!

Such a disappointing experience — honestly, not worth the money or the time. I would strongly recommend avoiding this restaurant. We arrived a little early for our reservation, but even though there were empty tables available, we were asked to wait until the exact reservation time before being seated. The portions were extremely small, especially considering the prices. I ordered the shrimp, and it was so spicy that it was almost impossible to eat. The kebabs were small and very ordinary, and the rice portion was tiny as well. We ordered three kebab dishes, but instead of serving each order with its own garnish and presentation, they brought everything together on one tray with only one shared garnish. It felt like they were trying to cut corners despitei charging premium prices. For the chicken dish, I specifically asked the waiter whether it came with a whole chicken, and he said yes. However, when the food arrived, it was only six pieces of chicken — as you can clearly see in the photo. This was misleading and added to our disappointment. You can also see in the appetizer photo how small the portion was. They even placed a teaspoon inside the serving dish — compare the tiny portion to the size of that small teaspoon. For the price, the portion was shockingly small. Overall, the food, portion sizes, and service did not match the price at all. We left feeling disappointed and like we had wasted both our time and money.

The design and decor truly elevate the standard of Iranian restaurants. Even though the reservation wait can be long, it’s absolutely worth it. The yogurt-marinated kebab was incredibly delicious, and the service was fast, attentive, and professional. A great dining experience overall.