Little Persia

Iranian Restaurant in Bayswater
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6 / 10 from 2 reviews
Address
38 Queensway
Bayswater
London
W2 3RS
Map
Telephone
020 7243 8288
Cuisine
Iranian
Region
Bayswater
Nearest Station
Bayswater
0.05 miles
Opening Times
Monday Open 11:00 - Closes 00:00
Tuesday Open 11:00 - Closes 00:00
Wednesday Open 11:00 - Closes 00:00
Thursday Open 11:00 - Closes 00:00
Friday Open 11:00 - Closes 00:00
Saturday Open 11:00 - Closes 00:00
Sunday Open 11:00 - Closes 00:00

London's coziest restaurant and shisha lounge.

All In London Review

Inadequate food and poor service

Little Persia stands out from the souvenir shops and branches of Bella Italia and KFC on Queensway, thanks to its prominent sign and white sheltered shisha terrace. It certainly appears to be the most interesting eatery by a long way on this mega-touristy street.

Once we sit down, we notice the cutlery and the glasses aren’t clean and the table has spots of grease on it, as if the steady stream of customers the location affords them means they don’t need to make an effort. Service is shoddy, with a waiter asking us to try the wine in one ear and a second attempting to take our food order in the other.

We start with the soup of the day. We’re hoping for ash, the thick, hearty broth made with barley or legumes, but instead we get a bowl of very oily tomato consommé.

The stews are presented oddly - the main ingredients and rice are on a separate place to the sauce, which is served in a bowl. Khoresh (Farsi for stews) should be left to simmer for a long time over a low heat, for the combined flavours of herbs, vegetables, pulses, meat/fish, and in some cases fruit or dried fruit to fuse together. Here the khoresh bamieh, or okra stew, comes with a runny, tomatoey oleaginous liquid, but at least the friend has had the foresight to ask for it without meat, because the lamb shank in my mahiche polo is a greasy, flavourless chunk.

Dessert is no better unfortunately. Zolbiah are spiral-shaped fritters coated in sticky syrup that are intended to be sweet almost to the point of sickliness, but these have a strange bitter aftertaste that spoils them.

Little Persia’s fortunate address means they’ll have no problems attracting business, but it’s unlikely anyone will be heading back for such inadequate food.

Reviewed by Leila
Published on Feb 27, 2012


User Reviews

Dorothy
from London

Feb 6, 2013

Well, in contrast to Leila, I enjoyed going to Little Persia and as I don't live in the area I am not able to visit as frequently as I'd like. Yes, the service may not be perfect and to be completely honest, I was too focused on the menu and deciding what to eat to notice grease stains, if any.
However, I found the food delicious. Admittedly, we didn't eat much and kept to the simple chicken kebab, lamb kebab and fish (if I remember correctly) with boiled rice and salad - all absolutely scrumptious.
My highlight was the hummus and the chips; they were literally my heaven!

Name: Dorothy
Location: London
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