Restaurant review: Denj Persian Restaurant provides a rich and complex Middle-Eastern menu

Denj offers complex dishes in a warm environment

• Denj Persian Restaurant
• 3-5 Orwell Road, Rathgar, Dublin 6
• 5pm-10pm, Wednesday-Saturday; 3pm-8pm, Sunday
• Tel: [phone]
• www.denjpersiancuisine.com
• Instagram: @denjdublin

In mid-September last year 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died of head injuries received while in police custody in Iran, having been arrested because a member of the religious police decided her hijab wasn’t on correctly. Outraged Iranians began protesting in tens of thousands and were promptly arrested. This week a new range of protests began over multiple incidents of poisoning of teenage schoolgirls.

Like many of you, I feel completely helpless reading about Iran these days, especially given that country’s rich cultural heritage – eg the wine and the love poetry of Sufi mystic Hafez, which I often read aloud at wine tastings.

In recent weeks a global movement called #CookForIran has been gaining some traction where chefs and supper clubs celebrate the food of Iran to keep Iran to the front of the mind. (To get involved, see Instagram: @cookforiran)

Denj Persian Restaurant in Rathgar is hosting their own #CookForIran dinner on March 23 next to celebrate Iranian New Year (Nowruz) and to amplify the voices of Iranian protesters.

Proceeds will go to The Centre for Mind-Body Medicine’s trauma relief programme in Iran. I’ll be there and in anticipation, I thought it was about time they got a review.

Inevitably, we over-ordered, there were just too many new flavours to try – I love a menu where I recognise few of the words.

Kashke Bademjan, a famed Persian aubergine dip

First up, Kashke Bademjan, a famed Persian aubergine dip served with homemade nan bread. The aubergine had been roasted and mashed with spices, garlic and caramelised onions, and topped with yoghurt curds and mint. It tasted even better than it sounds, smoky, silky aubergine flavours lifted by the spices and given tang by the yoghurt and mint, and it disappeared quickly.

Nan panir Sabi is a flat but fluffy nan bread topped with feta cheese, chopped walnuts, thinly sliced radish, mint leaves, and then drizzled with honey

We paused our aubergine feasting to try the Nan Panir Sabzi, which was another triumph.

A flat but fluffy nan bread topped with feta cheese, chopped walnuts, thinly sliced radish, mint leaves, and then drizzled with honey. This was sumptuous, the tang of the cheese, the crunch of the nuts, the hint of sweetness from the honey and the punch of the mint and radish, and we fought over the last piece. 

Maygoo Fried Prawns in garlic and creamy leek sauce were the only disappointing dish of the evening.

Maygoo fried prawns (€14) in garlic and creamy leek sauce meanwhile were far too bland, and the only disappointing dish of the evening.

We also ordered side dishes including Mast Khiyar (€4.50) yoghurt dip which proved useful to add tang to dishes and Zaytoon Parvardeh (€7), olives and walnuts marinated in pomegranate molasses and herbs, their sweet-sour intensity unexpected but thrilling.

For main course, the Engineer opted for Zereshk Polo (€24), a chicken breast and leg cooked in saffron and tomatoes and served with rice topped with barberries and pistachio. Once again the contrasting fruity-tangy flavours (particularly from the barberries) made the dish.

For my own main I chose one of three stews, Khoresht Ghaymeh (€24), lamb cooked with lentils, spices, rose water, dried lime and saffron. This arrived topped with hand-cut crispy skinny fries which later melted into the tangy sauce of a tasty stew if perhaps a little dominated by the dried lime.

Denj’s wine list is short but fairly priced starting at €28 for a Pinot Grigio or a Joven Rioja.

I chose Marques de Caceres Excellens Crianza for €35, a richly flavoured oaky Rioja that had enough heft and flavour to cope with the stronger flavoured dishes. Cocktails are also available.

Dessert options include western comfort dishes such as Banoffee and Death by Chocolate, but two Middle Eastern classics caught our eye, homemade Baklava and Bastani Sonati.

The Baklava was made with kataifi pastry, honeyed and sweet as you would expect, but with a welcome touch of lightness in the pastry. Bastani Sonati meanwhile was rather wondrous, primrose yellow-coloured saffron and pistachio ice cream not unlike kulfi. An ancient dish dating to 500 BCE, it is said, with flavours of rose water and rich cream, but with background notes of smoke and earth from the saffron, and pleasing pistachio crunch.

Denj is offering something genuinely different with complex flavour-driven dishes served by charming staff in a warm atmosphere.

The Tab:

Dinner for two including starters, mains, desserts and extra sides and bread cost €155.15 

The Verdict:

• Food: 8/10 
• Wine: 7/10 
• Service: 9/10 
• Ambience: 8.5/10 
• Value: 8/10 
• In a Sentence: Denj is offering something genuinely different, with complex flavour-driven dishes served by charming staff.