ANAR - Authentic Persian Cuisine — Restaurant in Dubai

As I arrived at Anar Persian Cuisine, Dubai, a highly-rated Persian restaurant in Dubai's famous Souk Madinat Jumeirah, I was filled with excitement. With a 4.3-star rating on Google Maps, over 956 reviews, and lots of word of mouth recommendations, my expectations were high for this latest Iranian culinary adventure in UAE. The restaurant's name, meaning "pomegranate" in Farsi, hinted at arich cultural heritage. I had heard that Anar offers a unique blend of traditional and modern Persian food, combining recipes that date back 2,500 years with contemporary cooking techniques. Their menu features classic dishes like Kabab Koobideh alongside other authentic Iranian food As a lover of Middle Eastern food, especially Koobideh, I was eager to taste their rendition of this staple of Iranian cuisine . I looked forward to experiencing their passion for Persian culture through their food. With all this in mind, I stepped into Anar Iranian Restaurant, ready to immerse myself in the flavors, aromas, and hospitality of Iran.

Location: Anar is in a pretty shopping area in Dubai called Souk Madinat Jumeirah. It looks like an old-style market with a small river running through it. You can see the famous Burj Al Arab building nearby. I loved the spot - it's popular with tourists, even though it's not easy to get to by train, you will be coming here if you are ever visiting or living in Dubai. Anar Iranian Restaurant is the nicest part of the complex, right next to the water canal, which is really beautiful.

Full Star

Service: The way Anar Iranian Restaurant treated me was great. A friendly Iranian lady welcomed me by the door and showed me around. The restaurant is decorated very beautifully, and in a modern style. All the workers were very kind and kept checking if I was happy. They gave me free bread, herbs, and cheese. They even offered free tea at the end, which some do and some don’t. I felt really special, even though the place was busy. I was very happy with how Anar Iranian Restaurant treated me and give full marks for service.

Full Star

Price: The prices however shocked me. It's maybe the most expensive Iranian food I've ever had. The koobideh cost about 168 Dirham (around 35 GBP) for the standard two skewers of meat and rice. A small drink cost about 50 Dirham (10 GBP!). My whole meal cost about 238 Dirham (just under 50 GBP)- just me on my own. I couldn't give any stars for the price - the location is great but it's just way too high.

No Star

Quantity: The food portions were sadly quite small. The koobideh was thankfully two skewers, but petite in size, and Anar Iranian Restaurant only gave me half a tomato and a tiny bit of onion. Rice was standard size. For such high prices, I expected much more food to be honest, or at least an average size koobideh skewer. I give zero stars for the amount of food.

No Star

Quality: Even though there wasn't much food, what I got tasted really good. The meat had lots of flavor, unlike most bland kebabs I've had at other places. The rice was clearly high quality and nice and oily. The bread stays fresh for a long time too, an hour after they first brought it. I have to say, the taste was excellent. What it lacks in size, the koobideh more than makes up for in superb taste. Good job Anar Iranian Restaurant!

Full Star

Summary: In the end, I gave Anarch 3 stars out of 5. Some things were really great, like where it is, how they treat you, and how good the food tastes. But the high prices and small portions were big problems. I hope Anar Iranian Restaurant can make these things better in the future.

3 Star out of 5

Watch my full review here: youtu...

Firstly I want to say I posted my review on their Instagram page but they deleted it because they don’t want others to see.

We booked a table for my birthday Thursday night. While booking we asked for riverside table at 10:30pm We arrived there at 9pm. Hour and a half before our reservation only to confirm we want riverside table. At that’s time the lady showed us a table which is not riverside and said this one is reserved for you guys. We said no we want to have riverside tables And she promised us they’ll give by the time we arrive. When we went back, all the tables were full. We had to wait for 45 minutes to get a table were we wanted it. Their excuse was they had made the booking days before us that’s why all the tables were full which we don’t believe. If that was the case while we were doing the booking they would have told us the riverside tables are full. Just an excuse not to admit they want to serve customers coming first and not to send them away.

We ordered soup jow, shahname kebab and soltani. The soup was ok, not very good. But the kebabs were delicious. Only problem they got cold early. The coals under kebab weren’t hot. And the rice portion very little. While we were eating one of the staff comes and apologized for the issue and asked to give us 25% discount. We did not accept the discount and said we have entertainer.

We got very upset and disappointed because while we were still eating and had our drinks left, they brought our bill without us asking. We were still waiting for our desert to come and they brought the bill. Meanwhile people at table next to us had just received their order. Even if this was because it was closing time, they should have told us why they’re bringing the bill.

Group of our friends who were planing to go there next day, we called and asked them not to go because of the bad experience we had.

Will definitely not go back under any...

I must express my profound disappointment with the service I received from Anar. Last night, I placed an order at 6:30 pm, with the expectation of enjoying my meal by 7:15 pm. What followed was an ordeal that left me utterly dissatisfied.

At 7:20 pm, I began attempting to contact the restaurant, making five calls in vain as no one picked up. Finally, at 7:30 pm, someone at the restaurant answered my call, only to provide me with the delivery driver's number. I proceeded to call the driver five times without a response, until he messaged me on WhatsApp, stating that my order was canceled.

My frustration grew as I reached out to the restaurant again, only to receive conflicting information. After 20 minutes of back-and-forth, the restaurant called me at 7:50 pm, claiming that the driver couldn't read my number, leading him to return to the restaurant to cancel the order. This explanation lacked any logical sense.

I raise two crucial questions: Is it my responsibility to coordinate with the restaurant's delivery driver? Shouldn't the driver, when lost, contact the restaurant that possesses my details, enabling them to reach out to me for guidance? Instead, I found myself chasing the restaurant for 45 minutes past my expected delivery time, only to discover this situation.

To make matters worse, the restaurant promised to send a new order but then went missing for another 20 minutes. When I finally called them at 8:25 pm, they casually informed me that they had canceled my order. After two long hours of chasing my meal, I was left empty-handed, and the restaurant refused to make amends. They conveniently shifted the blame onto the driver, absolving themselves of any responsibility.

I never expected such a disappointing experience from a restaurant located in Madinath Jumeirah. Anar's lack of professionalism and disregard for customer satisfaction is truly...