Pars Cuisine Awards

Pars Cuisine Restaurant Review:

Pars Cuisine was Albuquerque's first (and for a long time, only) choice for good Middle Eastern food. The ceiling is draped in cream-colored cloth, giving you the impression of sitting underneath a vast tent---and the mood is only enhanced by live music and belly dancing. Although traditional Greek items like souvlaki, gyros and shish kebab dot the menu, Pars specializes in Persian cuisine, including ghimeh bademjoon---a beef and eggplant stew with basmati rice---and fesenjoon, which pairs sautéed walnuts and chicken in a pomegranate sauce. No less exotic are sweets redolent of pistachios, honey and rosewater; faloodeh, a dessert made from frozen rice noodles, sounds odd but proves highly refreshing. In addition to wine and beer, Pars focuses on tea, especially in its samovar bar; the patio, meanwhile, serves as the hookah den.