Nasrin's Kitchen — Restaurant in New York

I debated sharing this review for days because I am a huge supporter of small businesses, and as a small business owner myself I know how important good reviews can be, but I genuinely feel that we were scammed by this restaurant. We had an early reservation on Valentine’s Day between work and an early show, it was in the area and we love all genres of middle eastern food so it seemed like a good fit for a quick sit-down bite. When we arrived they informed us of a special Valentine’s Day menu (which was not advertised at the time I made the reservation, and was VERY limited). Im the type to look at menus ahead of time and so I was disappointed when most of the items on their regular menu were not offered that night, it was not announced to me when making the reservation so I really was caught off guard by that.

We ordered two appetizers to share, eggplant yogurt dip which unfortunately was flavorless, very bland like basically roasted eggplant and plain yogurt no seasoning not even enough salt, and samboseh which is like a phyllo samosa. The samboseh were three bite size pieces with very little filling inside served with sauce that tasted like it was from a jar. Not to mention the flatbread they serve is mostly air, also flavorless, very dry, and they charge you for it.

At this point we were so disappointed in the quality of the food that we discussed leaving before entrees but we were in a rush to get to our show and in midtown so we were kind of stuck. We shared Persian salad and kofte for our entrees. The Persian salad had fresh crispy vegetables so I can’t fault them there but the olives were not high quality and it was served like almost crudite style, with dressing on the side, not chopped and mixed. It felt like they prepare the salad bowls ahead undressed and keep them refrigerated to serve with side dressing at the table. And then the kofte. I love kofte and order it out often from many different restaurants of different ethnicities that all serve different styles of kofte. I’ve never seen such horrible kofte: four meatballs that were extremely overcooked lamb, full of fat that had not been rendered properly, smaller than golf balls, like the size of a bouncing ball, honestly they were not worth taking in more than one bite they were so small. But you couldn’t even bite it because they had clearly been microwaved to serve, you know when the dish is hot like that and the food is ridiculously hot but the sauce is room temp. By the way the sauce was mostly grease/oil it was inedible. And I love fatty foods, most home cooking has the natural fats rendered into the sauce and can often be very rich and delicious but this was offensive oily sauce with no salt no seasonings and dry, tiny lamb meatballs. It was $45! $10 FOR EACH TINY MEATBALL and it didn’t even come with rice, potatoes, nothing else was in the dish.

All four dishes would have been the appropriate amount of food for one adult male for around $120, and not one of the dishes was good. If you’re a drinker you’re only adding more to the bill but maybe with a glass of wine I wouldn’t have noticed the disappointing food.

The servers there are so nice, so I cannot be upset with them, although it was slow service (could be due to a huge party of like 25 people seated at the same time as us). The fact that they pack people into the dining room like less than a foot between tables I was stuck in a difficult situation, making a scene about our horrible experience and disturbing other customers who were on romantic dates, but also had to catch our show time, so we paid and left. And before anyone comes for me on our $120 bill we tipped 20%.

We had to order a pizza when we got home after the show.

I’m sure the owners are good people and would be disappointed to read this, and normally I would be willing to give somewhere another shot but this was really offensively bad food, and I think people deserve to know. If this was an off night because of the large party or the Valentine’s Day menu, then you should not do parties or...

I’ve had Nasrin’s Kitchen on my list of persian restaurants I’ve been dying to try for so long now, and finally had the opportunity to visit this absolute exquisite restaurant on a very nice chilly Friday night after I ran into some friends randomly at a cafe and what better way to enjoy our evening other than some of the finest persian food in the city.

We were fortunate enough to walk in and find table despite us not making a reservation before hand.

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.

As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by a warm and inviting atmosphere with soothing , warm and welcoming interior of persia that instantly connected with my heart and brought me back to the heart of Persia night; persian rugs throughout the restaurant, antique persian items, and beautiful paintings that showcased the great Persians; very friendly and accommodating, making us feel right at home.

We wanted to go a bit more of the traditional homemade style stews of the persia, and also mixing it a bit with some fine kebabs. After glazing around the menu for a couple of minutes, we finally we able to decide on ordering

Ghormeh Sabzi Fessanjoon Zereshk Polo Ba Morgh Kabab Joojeh Kabab Koobedieh

I will have to say though that both their koobideh and joojeh were as fine as it got in terms of persian kabab, very soft, sweet, and tender as kabab should always be when made finely, so it really settled well on our tongues. The lamb and chicken had the best texture, very sweet and tender that just hadmelted it’s juices into your mouth, honestly one of the best finely crafted kebabs I’ve had in New york: the taste is still there I remember it to this day.

As for the Ghormeh sabzi especially had the most tender and mouthing watering texture that absolutely made your heart melt. And lastly the zershek and feesanjoon were served with rice: I’ve always been picking when it comes to fesanjoon as not all restaurants are able to create the nice balance of sweet yet sour at once; but I can assure you when it came to Nasrin’s it was one of my favorite dishes that day that we ordered. Absolutely mouth watering and kicking to the taste buds in a way I cannot express enough. As for the sweet warm chicken stew that is Zershek ba morgh was crafted flawlessly : it really balanced each other in a way no other restaurant has; as always bringing a different and interesting twist to zershek ( barberry) and chicken, espousing eating it with barbari bread.

I’ve heard this comment multiple times by before who have been to Nasrin, and I can say they really live up to it: their dishes really give you the homemade authentic flavor of the great persian empire. Nasrin’s Kitchen has definitely raised my expectations towards the persian cuisine, I definitely look forward to coming back and having their dishes again again.

Lastly I’d like to highlight our friendly waiter, Armen, truly he was the kindest: very positive and polite, helped with recommendations, meals he enjoyed, and everything! Very talkative and welcoming to Nasrin’s, I really enjoyed having him as our waitress; would definitely ask for him when I come back again!

I really do have to say that till now I’m astonished and appaled on their very low rating of 4 stars on google maps, this restaurant has to be one of the finer persian diners I’ve been to in new york city, If there were ten stars, I wouldn't hesitate to give them!

I’ve been to Nasrin’s only once so far, and I really can’t emphasize this enough when I say i really dish not get enough of their mouthwatering persian dishes. Overall, I cannot recommend Nasrin’s enough - the atmosphere, the food, and the service were all top-notch. If you're looking for a taste of perisa in 5th ave, look no further than Nasrin’s! It’s a must try. I’m coming back again and...

Forced to add a coda to my original review: I left behind a coin pouch of sentimental value, on my only visit. Called the following day to check if it had been found. Amrita answered the phone a said no the had not, then called me a week later saying they did find it. Since I was no longer in NY I asked for an email address so I could email them a shipping label at my expense, but they never gave it to me. I texted again offering to pay shipping by Venmo. No response. Finally, after deafening silence to my pleas, called Amrita and after stating the reason for my call, she rudely hanged up on me. So if you dine here, please be careful not to leave any personal belongings because you will never get them back. Think Ali Baba’s cave…

Walk up one flight into a distant but friendly world, where the food will not disappoint. Mystified by the location but a good choice if you are adventurous and attending a performance at Carnegie. The pomegranate flower tea was a winner and wish they could sell them by the pound. The warm eggplant topped with fried onions and garlic chips, drizzled with an herbal infused yogurt was a wonderful discovery. A respite from the ubiquitous baba ganoush in middle eastern restaurants. The main entre, grilled chicken breast accompanied by polo rice with bayberries (a substitute for the standard basmati) was plentiful, tasty but slightly dried. The little pastries stuffed with pistachios was perhaps too much after such filling dishes, and they were cold from being in the fridge. Perhaps at room temperature they would have tasted better. My only complaint is not noticing that I was overcharged for my entry, listed at $30 with the understanding that I could substitute the basmati rice it is served with, with the polo one, but was charged $40 for it). The atmosphere reminded me of those restaurants that were Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn years ago. A little dated, but authentic which is what matters. Their website needs an overhaul. Closing time has been extended to 9:30 pm which is better than the previous way too...