Get To Know… Persia Restaurant
Meet Birkan Sallar, the manager of Newcastle's excellent Persia Restaurant
Persia has been serving superb Persian/Iranian food to the people of Newcastle for almost two decades, bringing an under-represented cuisine to the North East.
We chatted with owner Birkan Sallar about how he came to manage the restaurant and what people should expect when they visit.
Situated right in the heart of the city, Persia has a well-deserved reputation for excellent food in a really welcoming environment, developed over more than 15 years of operation. The restaurant got new management last year when Birkan Sallar came on board, but the quality and variety of the food – from one of the less well known regional cuisines, in this country at least - remains as good as ever.
Birkan came to Persia – and Newcastle – after a long career in hospitality, starting in his native Turkey.
“I have been a professional bartender for over 20 years and have worked across Europe.”, he explains. “I have been in Newcastle for over ten years now and I couldn't imagine running a business in a better place. I love this city and the people. Having worked in different hospitality settings, the idea of running a restaurant - and putting my own spin on it - excited me and is exactly what led to me taking over Persia.”
It might seem a little unusual for a Turk to be running a Persian restaurant, but as Birkan explains, he just wanted to do something different.
“Many professionals within this industry who come from Turkey enter a business focused on Turkish cuisine, but quite simply I wanted to do something different.”
As Birkan explains, there is a lot of overlap between Turkish and Persian food – an emphasis on breads and grills especially.
“I want my customers to experience tastes from a different part of the world. My business partner and head chef Davood is from Iran so between us our history allows us to offer the best taste, best flavours and best service to our customers.”
Persia customers always seem to refer to the great atmosphere in the restaurant, its warm and welcoming vibe. Birkan clearly agrees.
“The restaurant vibe is calm and chilled. All our dishes are home-cooked and the restaurant really does have a homely feel. We want everyone from all backgrounds to join us. Whilst we provide many of our international customers a taste of home, we also see new faces day in, day out, and we are close enough to St James’ Park for when you are on your way to a home game or would like a bite to eat during our daily happy hour from 12- 4pm.”
Persia also caters for large parties, and has a private dining room for special occasions.
Of course, the food is most important thing and we asked Birkan to sum up the appeal of Persian food and its main dishes.
“Persian food is full of flavour! Kebab Vaziri is perhaps what we’re most famous for - skewers of Joojeh (chicken) and Koobideh (lamb) with grilled tomato served with rice or bread. Stews are also a traditional Iranian dish such as Khoresh Fesenjan, a chicken dish cooked with pomegranate and walnut sauce, which is our most popular.”
And if someone was visiting Persia for the first time, what does Birkan recommend they simply have to try?
“Always begin with our iconic Naan! A personal favourite of mine is Sini Mazeh, which is Naan, Hummus, Mirza Ghasemi (grilled aubergine) and Dolmeh (vine leaves with rice). Followed by our mixed grill or lamb stew - Ghormeh Sabzi. We offer dishes for those who love trying new flavours, but we also cater to those who like something a little more familiar.”
The menu is positively packed with appetising dishes, often variations on things you might find in a good Lebanese or Turkish restaurant - falafel wraps, succulent kebabs, fried halloumi and the like. There's plenty to tempt the more adventurous too: the Kashk E Bademjan salad, or Adas Polow - a delicious spiced rice dish - and a variety of stews and grills.
On taking over the management of Persia, Birkan clearly appreciated that Persia had a strong following and he didn’t set out to shake things up on the food front.
“Persia has been open for a number of years. My priority was not to make drastic changes but really enhance what we already have to offer. And to the future? We might already have something up our sleeves! You will have to wait to see for yourself, but keep your eyes peeled across the city!”
Persian food may not be too familiar to people in Newcastle – or in the UK more generally – but it shares a lot of its dishes and flavours with more familiar cuisines from the Eastern Mediterranean, such as Greece, Turkey and the Lebanon, so anyone visiting should find the menu a fine blend of the familiar and the unusual, which is exactly what most people are looking for when they visit somewhere new. And with its laid-back, friendly vibe and tasty dishes, we think you should definitely give Persia a try.
Persia Restaurant is on Marlborough Crescent and is open from midday to 10pm every day.
