Vanak Restaurant & Bakery — Restaurant in Los Angeles

On our way to my favorite kabob place I noticed that Google showed they had shut down. Dejected and hungry we decided to stop at Pollo Loco. Just about to enter the drive thru lane when I noticed this Persian restaurant and thought, I'm sure they have chicken kabobs. So we parked instead and went inside. Decently sized, the owner greeted us right away and offered us menus. I asked if they served kabobs and upon hearing yes, we ordered. Salads were brought to us first. Served cold and crispy, it wet our appetites for what was to come. There comes a point in cooking where it can become art, and let me tell you this was the Mona Lisa of meals. The rice was cooked to steamy perfection. The grilled tomato, lemon, and jalapeño were slightly charred to accentuate the fair as they should be. But it was the chicken that took the meal over the top. It was perfection. All courses were well proportioned, so I didn't think I'd be able to finish, but a combination of heat from the jalapeño, and not wanting to ruin the consistency of the chicken via microwave allowed me to finish. Highly...

I ordered one chicken Kabob and one Ashe Reshteh, neither items were on the menu nor price. The chicken Cornish was supposed to a a full small chicken, it was three legs different sizes, half of one breast and one small thigh. (Bits and pieces from different orders I suppose)$30 . The Ash was cold, with 95% beans and noodle , could not see much greens, and tasted as if it was at least a week old. A very small bowl appetizer size charged us $20. The service was terrible, and when I asked about the validity of the prices charged, the owner answered as if he was doing me a favor. There was a $2 charge that he didn’t even know what the charge was for and he replied, well I didn’t charge you tax so...

I paid $88 for just two portions of Ghormeh Sabzi and three Doogh, which is already quite expensive — but that’s not my main issue. The food was shockingly cold, almost as if it had just been taken out of the fridge and only reheated on the surface. The stew tasted old, the meat was falling apart and mushy, clearly overcooked or reheated multiple times. The rice portion was very small, and for such a high price, there wasn’t even a simple side like yogurt or a piece of onion.

When you charge premium prices, customers expect fresh, well-prepared food and a complete dining experience — not leftovers passed off as a full meal. Extremely disappointing and definitely not...