Persepolis — Restaurant in London

Overall Assessment: 1 out of 5 Criticisms: Confrontational owner Unwelcoming attitude towards Iranian customers Disrespectful attitude towards Persian cuisine Hard sale approach with lack of information Poor quality food Lack of respect for cultural heritage

Advice for Other Customers: Avoid Persopolis

Our experience of the promised 'Taste of Persian' was marred by an overbearing and confrontational owner. Instead of welcoming my Iranian friends, the owner rudely warned them that traditional Iranian cuisine wasn't served. Despite this, we kept an open mind and wanted to try the vegetarian with vegan options (which turned out to be vegetarian only, contrary to what we were told over the phone when reserving). The owner's relentless push for the Meze Platter(without committing to what the platter consisted of—apparently a surprise!) made things even more awkward. Then came the pressure to order the hummus platter. Although I am a great admirer of hummus in general, I do not appreciate the mislabeling of an entire region's diverse culinary heritage as simply "hummus." Hummus is not a Persian dish, and it is disrespectful to imply that the entire "Middle East" shares a singular culture while disregarding the rich cultural and culinary variations within this vast region of Asia. The owner's justification? Her partner is Iranian and has Iranian friends granting her the authority to impose outdated perceptions of Persia on customers. I guess all of this would not have been an issue if the restaurant did not advertise ' Taste of Persian' and then go for the hard sale pitch for humus and a weird pasta with rice dish. There is place suggestions from staff and there is their hard sale approach with a disrespectful 'I know better than you about Persia because my partner is Iranian' pitch from the owner that made the experience extra awkward. The rice and pasta dish that was served to one of my unfortunate friends was an insult to both Iranian and Italian cuisine. This dish managed to wreck two great culinary traditions at once. The rice was overcooked and mushy, lacking any hint of the fragrant saffron-infused perfection that defines Persian rice dishes. And the pasta? It was an affront to Italian pasta, a limp and soggy mess drowning in a watery sauce that tasted like a failed attempt at fusion gone horribly wrong. The owner's excuse for this abomination was vegetarianism, which is beyond my understanding. Literally, any Iranian recipe can be cooked meat-free. I have never bothered with reviews in general, but the experience was so wrong and embarrassing, mostly for my Iranian friends that I had invited, that I feel compelled to warn other potential visitors in search of a...

AVOID!! Unless you want flies to flood your house. I found this website online and got very excited that I ordered £72 worth of items as it reminded me of Iran. The items arrived and the minute I opened the box I was shocked to find flies in every single item. It was coming out of the broom sweeper, the sweets, everything. I will attach pictures of these flies. It is all over my house. I contacted them and Sally only responded once explaining that she is confused and it’s not from their shop which I think is a lie because I have seen flies like this back home in Iran when purchasing sweet products even in boxes. Maybe it came from Iran as they imported the products I’m not sure but that’s not my concern. I showed her pictures and sent more emails explaining that the flies are not going. She did not respond and eventually I thought if I threw away the items the flies will disappear. I threw them away however, it’s been 3 weeks now and the flies are still in the house. I have a baby in the house and I can see the flies jumping around on his playpen net. It is disgusting. After waiting patiently for a response and being ignored, I decided to call them to then be told I will only be refunded £12. Absolutely disgusting and unfair. My house is flooded with flies and I don’t even get my money back. She has the audacity to say send the items back and il get full refund. When she did not respond to my previous emails. If she responded I would have happily sent it back with some flies and not thrown them away but she didn’t even respond and then continues to tell me to send it back when I’ve explained I threw it away and I didn’t get a respond to know to return it. When a customer is unsatisfied with an item they return. This goes beyond the company’s policy, the issue Is not the items, I was surprised with flies attached to the items. How do you deal with that? Please avoid! If anyone knows any other Persian shops let me know. I am traumatised and will never order from this dirty place again. No matter how many flies me and my husband kills they don’t seem...

We were extremely disappointed with both the food quality, portions and the service. The taste of most of the dishes were bland and the food was lukewarm. We were told by the waitress that the mezze platter was very big but in fact came with two 'dips' in shot glasses, two slices of halloumi, a small portion of black eyed bean and celery stew, a few fried mushrooms and some plantain amongst some salad leaves and pickled garlic. When we shared our feedback with the waitress we were immediately met with defensiveness that the restaurant doesn't claim to be Persian (rather 'influenced by') and that it is instead Middle Eastern. As someone with Iranian heritage who grew up in the Middle East, it is safe to say that the flavours just weren't there and the food quality - regardless of intended regional influence - was poor. Who I presume was a co-owner or chef then came with the card machine and took our payment before asking us for our feedback. Let's just say that our feedback was not received well and immediately she brought up my identity as an Iranian. I understand the restaurant claims not to be traditional however, this does not take away from our experience of the food tasting bad. Although one can say that taste is personal and subjective, if you are running a service you should be open and receptive to people's experiences of your food. We understand that businesses are also impacted by the cost of living crisis, but as two young people who are also deeply affected by rising costs and who decided to go out for a rare treat it was a shame that the price point was not reflected in the food portions nor quality. On top of which, we were not met with any form of understanding nor hospitality when sharing our feedback which is a shame given that hospitality is what us folk are known for in the Middle East! Utter...