A taste of Persian high life at Gilak

It is a new addition to the neighbourhood, multiplying our eating options by around a third. It sits opposite 500 (Cinquecento), the good, authentic Italian set up by Jamie Oliver protégé Mario Magli, and is a short walk from St John’s Tavern, the area’s dependable gastropub. There is also a good Persian store a few yards away, selling excellent flatbread and plump pistachios.

It’s not quite a foodie revolution yet but amid the fried chicken shops and greasy spoons of N19 these are culinary oases gratefully cherished by hungry locals.

Decorated simply in blue, white and plain wood, Gilak is warm and welcoming. The owner beamed at our baby and brought out a high chair himself. Although it was a wintry Sunday afternoon the tables were quite well populated — several couples, three groups, and lots of Persian-looking faces among them.

On reading the menu I began to panic mildly at the lack of familiar dishes. You expect to find standard fare in places labelled "Persian" — a homogenous Middle Eastern style of cooking that involves houmus, kebabs and tabbouleh. There were excellent kebabs but none of the usual suspects seem to make an appearance at Gilak.

Instead there is a range of cold dips and salad starters that are peculiar to owner Majid Hokami’s home region: the north Iranian mountain province of Gilan (locals are known as Gilaks). Aubergines, spinach and eggs feature prominently, as do walnuts, yoghurt and pomegranates.

We tried two delicious dips: smoked aubergine and walnut (kale kabab) had an unusual depth of flavour, mellowed by the nuts and cut with a sweet/sour hint of pomegranate juice; while an unctuous yoghurt, cucumber and fresh mint (mast-o-khiar) was a superior tzatziki, perfect to scoop up using the paper-light yard of flatbread that came lightly charred straight from the oven.

Main courses range from long, flattened Persian lamb mince kebabs (kabab koobideh) — meltingly soft, slightly sweet and served with good bread and sheaves of fresh herbs — to a flavourful deep green lima bean stew (khoresht baghla ghatogh), with pungent garnishes of pickled garlic, smoked fish and marinated olives. Rice is a star rather than a side order: fragrant heaps with a golden yellow saffron topping are delivered with due ceremony.

Many of the stews are spiked with pickles, dill, smoked fish or orange but you will also find more exotic ingredients such as dried limes, fresh garlic leaves and sour grapes to tempt you back to explore the menu further.

I finished with an elegant glass of Persian tea, infused with cardamom, and a plate of little honey-dipped pastries (zolbia bam-yeh).

Refreshing and sweet, just like Gilak.

Gilak
Holloway Road, London, N19 5SE