Deeyar

I have always been a supporter of family-run, independent outlets which are not controlled by an umbrella organisation desperate to make profits at any cost. I find it hard to understand why so many people are prepared to compromise when it comes to eating, and be sucked in by flashy advertising and excessive artificial flavouring to mask the horror of the actual food.

Therefore I found it a pleasure to eat at Deeyar, an Iranian restaurant located in the unlikely location of Palmers Green. Deeyar in Farsi means ‘home’, and as the owner explained, the name was chosen because all the cooking is done by his wife and son. The family hails from Southern Iran, a fact which colours their cuisine making it distinctly different to the Tehran influenced cookery of most other Iranian restaurants in London.

Take the salad olivieh, for example. Traditionally this is a potato salad where potatoes have been mashed and mixed with eggs, mayonnaise, chicken, gherkins, and decorated with olives. Deeyar’s take on it had cooked peas, carrots, and no gherkins, lending it a completely different flavour which lacked the tanginess of the gherkins, different but moreish nonetheless. The aubergine-based mirza ghassemi was superb, a rich creamy puree of aubergine not dissimilar to baba ganoush, that contained eggs, garlic, tomato, and onion.

The variety of kebabs on offer meant there was plenty to choose from; I opted for the bakhtiari or mixed kebab, a skewer of chicken and a skewer of minced lamb. Meat in Iran is always well marinated and seasoned, and traditionally a spice called somagh is sprinkled over both meat and rice and then they are mixed in and eaten together. The zereshk polo consisted of rice and chicken; the rice cooked with barberries, a slightly bitter type of berry, and saffron. The chicken thigh and drumstick had been cooked in a sweet sauce which combined perfectly with the bitterness of the rice. The joojeh kebab, possibly the most popular kebab which can be found at pretty much any Iranian restaurant consisted of small pieces of lemony chicken on skewers, again served with rice with saffron.

Disappointingly the ice cream they offered was not the delicious Iranian kind, and the only other dessert was baklava. Little cubes of pastry arrived on a platter with almond syrup drizzled over them.

The restaurant itself is very clean and neat looking, and surprisingly for a Thursday night in this quiet North London suburb we weren’t the only diners. The menu is comprehensive, wholesome, and has Iranian classics with a southern tinge; it is also very good value. Two starters, three mains, dessert and wine came to around £30 a head. And judging by the food, our money is going directly into sourcing quality ingredients.