Daffodil Mediterranean Cuisine and Catering — Restaurant in Lincoln

We had a very unfortunate experience at Daffodil today. We were recommended to this place by people who said it was the best food in Lincoln. So many of the reviews were five star, but now that I’m digging into the ones that were one, two and three stars I’m realizing that we also got scammed and these reviews are completely accurate. We went in and mentioned that we are vegetarian and we were served samples of the 3 vegetarian dishes offered by a very sweet lady who owns the restaurant. Since we were just coming in for a quick lunch and we enjoyed all three samples as she had served it on one plate, we asked if we could share a full plate just like that and get a coconut macaroon as well for dessert. This was our first time coming so we didn’t know she looked down upon that, but after reading reviews, I’m seeing it’s this type of customer she does not prefer. She said yes, we could do that, but it would be a “little extra”. For reference, the eggplant Parmesan meal is priced at $16.99. We did feel like this was a little high, but we wanted to support this small business run by a family, and we also had heard that the owner had recently had a stroke so we were even more empathetic and willing to pay a little more for a plate than usual. We asked when we received the plate if we should go ahead and pay for it and the owner’s husband said that we should pay after we finish eating. Usually, this is no big deal, but I should have seen that as a red flag. After eating, I went to pay the bill and for one plate of food, pictured here, we were charged $31.66. 😳 The plate was mostly rice with one small scoop of chickpeas, white beans and eggplant. I did find it kind of interesting that of those three meals, she charged us full price for the most expensive one ($16.99) plus $8 dollars for a scoop of another offering and $4 for another scoop. I find it so interesting that this plate was the exact type of plate that she offered as samples only in a bigger size. When she said it would be a little extra, my husband and I figured it would be around $18-$20 for the plate and we were reluctantly willing to pay it. When asking her to help me understand the pricing and explaining to her that I thought it would be a little more professional if she explained to her guests that putting three different offerings on one plate would cost about as much as two plates, she gave me a lot of pushback. She is incredibly frail and clearly trying to recover from her stroke, so I felt it was disrespectful to get in any type of argument or further discussion with her. I explained that I simply cannot justify returning and paying that type of price for one plate of food in the future. If people are providing 5 star reviews based on previous experience there or just because they are feeling empathetic for her, those are really not accurate reviews that give a current representation of the restaurant and the experience that people will have when they visit there. I wish this nice couple all the best and hope that they’ll be able to find a way to serve their community in a more reasonable way...

Daffodil is a hole-in-the wall Persian restaurant with eye-wateringly-expensive prices and an unusual buffet-style service where you interact with Narges Montazer (the proprietor) and sample different dishes served out of steam trays before selecting an entree to sit down with.

To be honest, the whole "free samples" concept feels a bit tedious and stilted. There's nothing particularly unusual about any of the dishes. You can read the description on the chalkboard menu and basically know what you're getting into. The food mostly consists of mild curries with standard ingredients you'd cook with at home.

Montazer is warm and comfortable, and you'll immediately get the notion to ask to get a little bit of this, and a little bit of that — unfortunately, she'll push back on that. She'll insist that you select an entree and if you'd like more, she will accommodate — at $8 for each additional scoop you ask to pile on. You can usually negotiate and get a bit of the sauce (sans meat) added for free, but that's the extent.

The curries have a nice complexity, often blending roasted nuts, chiles, different alliums, and bright fruits. Because of the service style, there are no adornments or finishing. You get rice + curry. There is no wine menu, so you'll be eating these dishes with bottled water or soda. There are several styles of baklava, many quite ornate.

The huge, glaring issue with this restaurant is the prices. A plate of the lamb shank curry and a piece of baklava will cost you more than $40 when it's all said and done. Toss in a few extra scoops of this or that, some other appetizers, and get another plate for your friend, and you just spent more than $100 for dinner for two.

No, you're not at Dish or Casa Bovina or MoMo or Piedmont Bistro. Instead, you're sitting in a florescent-lit room in a strip mall, drinking bottled water, listening to the hum of refrigerators, trying to remember which day of the month your paycheck posts to your...

You know how sometimes you really want some genuinely authentic ethnic food? I don't mean like "authentic" as in the Mexican we have here in town. I mean authentic, like you're not going to get this type of cooking unless you've married into a family and your mother in law grew up making the stuff.

This is the place. There is no other. This is the end-all, be-all for Mediterranean in Lincoln. The price... well, the price hurts. I won't sugar coat it. But there's no denying that it's still an inexplicably phenomenal value.

I started going here back when they were down by Fortune Palace off 56th and Old Cheney. I've never had better customer service from anywhere, restaurant or retailer. I remember the first time I walked in and stood in the doorway like an idiot, gawking at all the food lined up waiting to be served. It was a little mom-and-pop shop, food cooked in the back and then brought up front and set on heating trays. You might wonder why exactly this is the case, and I'll tell you why.

The owner caught my dumbfounded look immediately, and she'd asked if I'd been there before. Her accent was distinct, but her tone genuine. I said no, and she told me to come over to her. She grabbed me a plate, and started dishing a little bit of everything, telling me to sample this and that and the other thing. She wanted to make sure I knew what I was ordering before I asked for something I ended up not liking. She just cares that much about the customer experience.

Since then, I've never had anything less than a great time. The baklava is to die for. I mean that. If I had a nut or chocolate allergy, I'd probably still order it. You can't keep me away. The service is perpetually an 11/10, and the quality of the food cannot be quantified, nor compared to. If you go one place this weekend, it ought to...