Patoug Persian Cuisine — Restaurant in New York

Drove on the LIE past this place for years. I used to think it’s a Thai restaurant (that’s on me, lol). They changed their sign recently and on the way to Long Island today we saw it’s Persian food, we stopped in on the way back. Thank god we did!

It wasn’t very busy inside and the restaurant is very big. The server and staff had on masks and gloves. We felt very comfortable eating indoors. The service was friendly and professional.

We ordered the classic Persian restaurant fare. Some ash reshteh, sambuseh (it’s vegetarian), and then the mixed grill of jujeh, barg, and koobideh with green rice. The soup was very flavorful. The sambuseh was good even though we prefer the ones with meat. The kebabs and rice was served on separate platters. The rice was very good. The meats were exceptional! It came out very hot and succulent with lime wedges, grilled tomatoes, and sliced raw red onion. The juices collected on the platter and it was amazing! I didn’t ask, but the color of the juices ran an amber color almost, I’m assuming it was the saffron in the marinade. The meats sat on the platter for almost an hour and didn’t dry out, not even the koobideh. It was expertly prepared. It was some of the best grilled meats we have had anywhere!

My wife and I wondered how long the restaurant had been there. Lucky enough, one of the senior staff (Roma) stopped by the table to check on us as well, and we told him how much we were enjoying the food. He told us he’d been there for 30+ years and the restaurant has been there for almost 40 years. I didn’t ask if he was, but it was a managerial move to to check on our experience and we appreciated it. The total service experience was excellent! Roma even exchanged some pleasantries about his grandchildren and was very nice to our 1 year old son.

For Persian food we used to go to Persian Tea Room in that area decades ago. Then they shut down unfortunately. We moved on to Ravagh in the city as our place of choice. If we didn’t want to go to the city we’d sub for Kabul in Flushing. Patoug’s food is as good as Ravagh, if not slightly better. And the service was so much more personal, very warm, excellent! I’m looking to go back already. For the longevity of their business and the fact the employees have been there so long gives me hope that this wasn’t a one-off experience. Can’t wait!

In brief, eat here, it’s...

I have a love hate relationship with Patough & I've been coming here & ordering take out for YEARS.

This place is often busy with large parties which is great for them, but not for customers who stop by for a meal. They take your order & then they're gone. You have to wave them down for service which is really annoying.

Also, unlike other places, salad is not included. They are super cheap with the little things that count- like butter for your bread, the size of the grilled tomato (not even a whole tomato) & they provide only a tiny amount of raw onions. This has been going on for a few years now.

They don't read take-out instructions & are sooooo cheap with their green chutney. I've ordered combination platters more than a dozen times that consist of multiple Kebobs & when you ask for extra chutney they NEVER provide it. Not only will they not cough up extra chutney, they won't even give you enough for your order. I'm talking about tiny little containers that are the size of half of your pinky finger. You ask for extra raw onions, this is never included. It's so obnoxious.

I'm at a point that this is the last place i order for take-out. Aside from their Koobideh, you don't get your bang for the buck.

A side note: I'm a very generous tipper & always tip at least double the tax. Use your judgment when tipping here. I'm not leaving a generous tip when the service is poor. I work hard...

Ash Reshteh Soup: A+ Fresh, delicious. A delicious garlicky oily finish that's harmonious with the noodles. The noodles remind me of lagman noodles from Turkistan / Azerbaijan cuisine. Truly a delicious soup, appropriate for both summer and winter.

Patoug Special Salad: B A typical salad. I don't see what's special about it. Special (to me) would be things like .. meats, dolmas, etc. This is a garden variety salad, no pun intended.

Kabob Barg: A Perfectly tender and wonderfully spiced. Cooked perfectly. I think it's grilled, but there's no petroleum flavor from self-starting briquettes. This is a perfect tenderloin kebab.

Kabob Kobideh: A+ Perfectly spiced, perfectly cooked, and almost melt-in-your-mouth soft. Perfect for my 2 year old. She begged for "kebab" for a week afterwards.

Jujeh Kabob: B- Delicious but overcooked and slightly dry.

Lamb Shank: B Very nicely done with a garlicky oil that really enhances the dish. Unfortunately, the shank itself was slightly overcooked. Not quite dry, but not juicy either.

Tah Dig: A+ The rice is sheer heaven and cooked perfectly -- not so crunch that you'd break a tooth, but still crunch-beyond-chewy. The stew was a beef, effective use of oils and cilantro.

Baklava: A Not the overly-sweet big type of baklava. These are small and perfectly flavored. They go perfectly with coffee, and have loads of rose water making them...