Ashkanian Restaurang — Restaurant in Göteborgs Stad

Cosy new restaurant in an area of the city that is still a bit dead, but improving thanks to places like this.

We went there for brunch, and that in itself is a positive thing. Gothenburg really needs more places that offer different breakfast and brunch options other than the typical Swedish/European options. Here you get a Persian brunch: lovely warm bread, salty cheese, scrambled eggs with lamb sausage, scrambled eggs with tomato... all perfect for sharing between several people. Even if none of the dishes was a 10/10, they were all very tasty and innovative.

The service was a little bit nervous and insecure but very welcoming and quick. The restaurant is tastefully decorated and (I suspect) takes one back to the nicest restaurants in Iran. Black filter coffee and tea are included in the price.

In reality my rating is closer to a 4.5 out of 5, but I think the owners of Ashkanian deserve respect for opening a new restaurant, and daring to try new things, in these tough times. Once the waiters get a little bit more confident and the food improves a tiny bit, it will be perfect. For extra points, I would also love it if the menu could give a better description of the food. Ashkanian have opted for the modern trend of just listing the ingredients, but when it comes to a foreign cuisine I really think that the menu should describe how the ingredients are prepared, and not just list the...

The food and drinks here are good — though definitely more expensive than they should be — but several major downsides affected our overall experience.

The indoor tables are packed way too close together, and the outdoor chairs are uncomfortable. Also, every time I’ve visited, the restroom has been consistently dirty — clearly not a priority for the staff.

We didn’t know there would be live music, and right after we ordered, a singer started performing. The volume was insanely loud — so much so that we couldn’t even hear ourselves talk. It felt more like a nightclub than a restaurant, and in that small space, the sound was overwhelming. Within minutes, most non-Iranian guests left.

Then it got worse. As we were eating, a singer came around with a microphone and stared directly at us while a cameraman filmed — expecting us to sing along… while chewing our food. The whole thing felt more like a chaotic wedding from the ’70s than a restaurant experience.

And just when we thought it couldn’t get worse — it did. The next performer started singing songs that really shouldn’t be performed in a dining setting. That’s when we decided to leave and save the rest of our night.

If you’re planning to visit, I’d strongly recommend checking in advance whether there’s a live performance — it might...

I visited this restaurant yesterday with two friends. When we arrived, the staff asked if we had a reservation, we didn’t, but they seated us anyway. We asked if we could sit by the window, and after some eye-rolling, they finally agreed.

When we ordered food and drinks, we didn’t get any glasses for our beverages, just the bottles. No one asked if we wanted ice either. One of my friends asked for her meat to be cooked a bit more, but when it arrived, it wasn’t grilled the way she had requested. My other friend didn’t get her yogurt to her koobideh, and when she went to ask about it, the yogurt was instead placed on my dish by mistake.

When the waitress came back, she told me rather rudely, “ Ghorme sabzi doesn’t usually come with yogurt, but here you go,” even though I hadn’t asked for it, my friend had.

The food itself was absolutely delicious, but the service was really poor. The staff didn’t feel professional or friendly at all. They even left the balcony door open while guests were clearly cold, and we had to ask them...