Eyval — Restaurant in New York

I had the absolutely pleasure of finding Eyval while I was roaming Bushwick one Saturday afternoon after I had gone plant shopping. And might I say this from the start of this review ; it was an absolutely delightful experience from start to finish.

Reserving a table here was very simple and Thorough to book, nothing complicated; completely straightforward through resy. But I will have to say that you should keep in mind to try to book a day or two before, usually the eatery is quite packed, as I can imagine no one can get enough of their amazing dishes

I headed here again on a very heavy raining Thursday, it was a day before the flood in September happened but I was hoping to meet a friend of mine that I hadn’t seen in a while and we wanted to head somewhere nice.

As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by a warm and inviting atmosphere with soothing , warm dark interior that instantly connected with my heart and brought me back to the heart of Persia. riendly and accommodating, making us feel right at home.

I always tend to judge a place and how close to the home version of food is based on who is eating at the restaurant and when you walk through the door the entire place is filled with people eating of middle eastern/Persian decent, this tells me this place is gonna be pretty good.

If there were ten stars, I wouldn't hesitate to give them. Amazing Iranain cuisine, full with authentic traditional dishes. I go to this restaurant and their other locations many times and I can't get enough of it. I am middle eastern and I appreciate a really authentic food.

The first time I was here, I didn’t really have anything but their persian tea, since I already ate After finally scavenging around with the waitress to finalize our order, we settled on getting :

We started off with the lime rose and cucumber mint cocktails, very enriching and sweet. Nothing too light nor heavy, just in between that way it have the perfect opportunity to devour our meals in peace without feeling completely full. I’ll have to say one of the of the tastiest and lightest cocktails i've had in recent memory.

First plate we shared was the Komaj Bread with the Carrot Borani. The minute I saw on the menu that, my eyes dropped right to the dish infused with zaffron youghrt, my heart melted ever so softly and knew zaffron yoghurt was definitely something I wanted my taste buds to revisit. The sweet warm honey with olive oil and zaffron yoghurt really balanced each other in a world _, brought an interesting twist to the carrots, espousing eating it with the Komaj Bread.

The kebab koobdieh had the best texture, very sweet and tender that just melted it’s juices into your mouth, honestly one of the best kebabs i’ve had in New york. We also ordered the Half Chicken Zereshk Polo, very tasty and nourishing, really did meet my every expectations to the fine making of persian rice dishes, the taste is still can remember it to this day. I really would recommending going with these two meals.

Overall, I cannot recommend Eyval enough - the atmosphere, the food, and the service were all top-notch. If you're looking for a taste of great Persia in Brooklyn, look no further than Eyval! It’s a must try.

Lastly I’d like to highlight our friendly waitress, truly she was the sweetest: very positive and polite lady, helped with recommendations, personal drinks and meals she enjoyed, and everything! Was very talkative and welcoming to Eyval, I really enjoyed having her as our waitress. I completely forgot to get her name, but she was an Afghani girl, very accommodating would definitely ask for her when I come back again!

I’ve been to Eyval thrice now, and I can’t emphasize this enough when I say they never fail to astonish me. Each time they have stunned me with their terrific service and mouthwatering menu. I’m coming back again and...

For us, Eyval is the most interesting and innovative Iranian restaurant in NYC. With the exception of Sofreh in Prospect Heights, almost all Iranian restaurants have essentially identical menus - the same kebabs, stews, appetizers, rice dishes, etc. Not to say that these restaurants are not good, but I am in the camp that appreciates the fact that Eyval showcases not only regional flavors and recipes, but also tries to cook with the seasons and pushes the envelope of what it means to be an Iranian restaurant.

We started with the scallop kebab ghalieh mahi which was the chef’s interpretation of a tamarind-based dish from the Arab regions of Iran in the south. The scallops were caramelized, but still moist, and the piquant, slightly spicy squid ink sauce was unlike anything we’ve had in any other Iranian restaurant - beautifully presented, delicious and memorable. We also had the lamb ribs which were basted in what I would describe as a sweet/sour tamarind-date bbq sauce. Garnished with walnuts, barberries, and chiles, this dish was probably our favorite as it had so many different flavors and textures in every bite. As a bonus, the ribs were cooked really well - the meat was soft and pulled off the bone easily, but weren’t falling off-the-bone mushy. For the rest of our meal, we decided to try some typical Persian fare because we were curious to see how Chef Saboor would interpret these dishes. Tahdig is the crispy rice that forms at the bottom of the pot when cooking rice and is beloved by pretty much every Iranian I’ve ever met, no matter their ethnicity - Azeri Turk, Kurd, Persian, Arab. At most Iranian restaurants, the tahdig is served topped with a little bit of one of the stews on the menu. At Eyval, it’s served with a velvety smooth tomato/pomegranate sauce and garnished by a wonderful melange of nuts (almonds and pistachios) and fruits (barberries and candied orange peels). Lastly, we had the ghormeh sabzi which to me, was the least innovative dish as it tasted like what you would expect - sautéed herbs, red beans, the pungent aromas and flavors of fenugreek and dried limes, etc. Eyval’s version stood out though in its use of very high quality meat. At pretty much every other Iranian restaurant that I have ever been to, the ghormeh sabzi contains nondescript, unmemorable stew meat. Here, they used a hefty portion of delicious angus short rib - it almost felt like the dish should have been called short rib with ghormeh sabzi. If you are wondering why it’s expensive ($38), that’s why.

For wine drinkers, they offer a small, but thoughtful wine list that carries some unusual labels. It’s one of the few places in the city where you can try wines from Drood Winery that are made from indigenous Iranian grapes (lorkosh and samarghandi) grown in the Zagros Mountains and vinified in Sweden of all places. If you want to bring your own bottle of wine, the corkage fee is $40.

Eyval occupies a rather unassuming corner in Bushwick, but inside the decor is sleek, minimalist, modern, and very Brooklyn. If you’re coming from Manhattan, the easiest way is to take the L to Morgan Av…or get an Uber.

Reservations open on Resy three weeks in advance, and I would highly recommend that you do not go there without one, especially on the weekends. If you are one of the first people there, you may get one of the 6 or so seats at the bar that is available to walk-ins. Otherwise, you may go all the way out to Bushwick and get turned away.

If you are interested in an innovative perspective of Iranian cuisine, Eyval is a delicious and worthwhile...

Very disappointing experience. Once again, I am convinced that Persian services offer the least in terms of quality and quantity while being the most expensive (two to three times than similar none Persian services in Manhattan)

In summary, they prioritized customers arriving later over us being already there. Additionally, the bathroom was unclean, my seat was broken, and the portion size was small despite being sold at an inflated price.

Perhaps because the restaurant only operates for four hours in the evening yet tries to maximize profit by overcharging customers, as if it were open all day.

In detail, we arrived at the restaurant without reservations and were placed on a waiting list. When called, we were seated at the bar. I politely requested a switch to a regular table if available, but the host initially declined. Upon a second inquiry, after being seated in a broken chair, I was assured of a regular table eventually if available. However, later, customers without reservations showed up. They were seated at regular tables after refusing the bar seats they were initially offered. When I raised my concern, the hostess simply declined, and when I mentioned overhearing the conversation, she ignored me and excused herself by offering to provide service to other guests and suggesting I send an email to the manager.

The dishes had small portions like snacks and were priced much higher than similar ones in Manhattan. This may be a tactic to ensure customers order multiple dishes to maximize the profit.

The bathroom was not adequately clean, and the trash bin was overflowing with tissue paper. The building is old and poorly lit, yet the prices are equivalent to those of high-star restaurants.

It is very noisy It was very noisy, and the music was almost drowned out by the bartenders making drinks. The music consisted of a mix of completely random genres with no discernible theme, as if it were selected with no taste.

The location alone should have deterred us from expecting a better experience at the first place. It's unfortunate to see the great old Persian culture, their generosity and their hospitality tarnished by such stingy narrow minded business practices. We could have had a far better experience at literally any other restaurant in NYC for half the price. It's a shame for Persia and Persians who support this level of service simply because they miss some Persian meals or are too polite to demand the service they deserve.

We feel so sorry for ourselves to have gone there for the second time in a row, only to finally get a chance there. We would have been much happier to envision a decent restaurant with good reviews there, without experiencing...