Sholeh

Of a wild, wet, wintry evening, my friends and I ventured off the beaten track to come to Sholeh for a birthday meal. The birthday girl had heard good things, and we were but slaves to her will. :P This cosy Iranian restaurant is situated in Tradeston, a short walk from the squiggly footbridge that snakes across the river, so it’s not too far away from town really.
Iranian food is the way to go if you want to explore food from the middle east but aren’t keen on spice. Food from this region typically carries more sweet and sour flavours with very little spice. It is rich and flavourful without being overpowering. Watch out for the portion sizes, because most food from the middle east (especially starters) is served with the intention of sharing among your fellow diners. My friends didn’t believe me and ended up with HUGE starters which I ended up having to share. Oh, the hardship! :P
The two starters we ordered were Mast-​o Musir, a homemade yoghurt dip mixed with finely diced shallots and served with naan, and Kashk-​e Bademjan, which is baked, crushed aubergine that has been slow cooked with garlic and herbs, topped with a sprinkling of crushed walnuts, sautéed chopped mint and a splash of kashk (a traditional Persian preserved yoghurt whey). Both where delicious! Although the Musir sounds simple, the understated flavour was spot on when paired with the sesame covered naan. And of course the Bademjan was just bursting with flavour. We ordered another naan to go with it.
Interestingly, naan and other types of bread are very precious in Iran, which we didn’t realise. So when we ordered two naan to share between us, not realising there was already a naan going to be served with a starter, the waiter informed us it would be too much. And he wasn’t wrong. :)
For the main, one of my friends ordered the spicy chicken kebab (not Iranian and not for sharing, but one of the few spicy foods on the menu… and it is SPICY). The birthday girl and I ordered Baghali Polo ba Mahiche, which is only available on the weekend. It is a dish of saffron rice cooked with fresh dill and hand peeled broad beans, served with a lamb shank that is slow cooked for 12 hours! You won’t believe just how tender and tasty it is. It literally falls off the bone. And it’s such a big dish that I couldn’t finish it as well as have dessert! I know, I’m naughty. But the waitress packed it up for me to take away. I love it when a restaurant is prepared for such eventualities!
There is an interesting array of desserts available some exotic and some UK staples, so I decided to try some saffron ice cream. It was so fragrant and punctuated with toasted pistachio nuts. Just to die for. The birthday girl opted for the café glacé which was basically a creamy coffee float, and my other friend picked her go-​to dish — chocolate fudge cake.
We ate our desserts REALLY slowly because we didn’t want to go outside again. In fact, we were in the restaurant until closing time and the staff were sweet and courteous and never gave the impression they wanted us out. After we were done, we ordered a pot of mint tea, which was to be poured into glasses with saucers. The saucers are pretty deep, and I’m informed that because the glass keeps the tea so hot that traditionally people pour the tea into the saucer to drink it.
All in, a cultural culinary adventure. Try it and be delighted!

Certainly the best meal I had in Scotland, Sholeh is Iranian food done absolutely right. There are very few examples of Persian food in Western cities, owing to the difficulty in travel between Iran and the west. The menu is deep with Persian classics such as ash reshteh, but I took the server’s rec of a braised lamb shank so good that I puzzled as to whether it was indeed the same meat I’ve had countless times. The starter of mashed eggplant and garlic was legendary, and your advised to get some bread to scoop it up. I would eat here every night if I had more time in Glasgow.

Really enjoyed my meal here a few months ago. Food us cooked to perfection and the rice is amazing! The menu is a bit daunting if youre like me and never had persian food before but the staff are very helpful. I can still taste it and can’t wait to go back. Reasonable prices a byob with no corkage — makes it a very good deal. I finished my meal off with some delightful persian tea.