Rumi — Restaurant in Waitematā

Not only is this restaurant unique due to it being one of the only Persian restaurants, it serves up amazing delicious dishes inspired by Persia but uses delicious local New Zealand Ingredients.

Ordered the Baghali Polo which the menu describes as “Basmati rice mixed with dill & lima beans served with fresh seasoned slow cooked lamb shank and Shirazi salad”. A lovely balance of flavors that I wasn’t expecting. Has Asian influence but the traditional richness from a NZ Lamb Shank and a light but flavorful gravy from the slow roast. Salad provided a solid contrast that gave it a nice counterpoint. Ate every last drop of rice because it was so delicious. The tender lamb fell off the bone but still held it’s overall structure and wasn’t overcooked.

For dessert, ordered the Sholeh Zard. This dish is a “Persian Saffron rice pudding flavoured with rosewater”. Definitely quite unique and a deep dive in to the Persia flavor profile. I would recommend another dish if you’re not used to traditional Middle East flavors. Strong flavors of rosewater and cardamom. Still quite delicious if you have an adventurous palate not to mention hard to find anywhere else on the island.

Service is extremely friendly and quick. Was able to be seated at an outdoor table without wait during dinner time...

One worst experience with this restaurant last night!!! 🤮🤮🤮 Horrible food! Horrible customer service! Horrible atmosphere!

It was my 3rd visit and couldn't get any worse.

It was my nephew's bday dinner which got ruined at this place, never ever going back again..

Got there at sharp 8pm, we waited for atleast 15 mins for someone to come give us the menu and take the order, 2 of us had to go remind them that we are waiting for someone to come to us. And after ordering the food, we had to wait until 9.15pm for the food to come to the table.

Seriously???? One hour??? If they were short of staff or busy, who's gonna tell us that there will be a delay??? Our baby got irritated having to wait in cold outside and started crying..

When you can't handle a busy crowd, then please simply stop taking table bookings, or better learn to handle how busy restaurants function.

And then the food served after 1 hour was pale and cold..

Zereshk polo was overly sweet, baghali polo was toooooo bland..and then there was nobody again to come check if we wanted something else in dessert..we simply got disappointed and left.

Horrible horrible horrible!!!

Date- 24th...

My Dad & I went to this restaurant based on the good reviews. We were not very impressed with it though. On the tables were bottles of sparkling water as if it was free, very misleading. The waitress started to open it, Dad stopped her to ask if it was free, no you had to pay for it, we did not want sparkling water. The waitress did not have a lot knowledge about the dishes either. We got the platter for 2, it was barely enough for 1person. My Dad got a lamb & eggplant dish, he only got 4 pieces of lamb in it, thats shocking, there was only small pieces of eggplant in it too, the broth wasn't very tasty either. My chicken & rice dish was tasty but it could've been bigger for the price of it. The $6 Baglava was very small, not very tasty either, a very small scoop of ice cream was $6 too. I ordered what was supposed to be a gin cocktail, all it was, was a Japanese Gin & tonic, certainly not a cocktail, it was a very small glass too. $16 it cost, most places are $11 to $12. Dad was not very happy with the whole experience, we had come here for my birthday too based on the good reviews. I wasn't happy either thinking I had let down my Dad down by choosing...