Hail to Halal: Khatoon Iranian Restaurant
Posted: May 9th, 2012 | Author: LumDimSum | Filed under: Foodies & Dining Scene | Tags: Biteapitta, Delivery, Halal Menu, Iranian food, Jinshisong.com, Khatoon, Persian, Persian food, Rumi, Sanlitun | No Comments »
After my sweet, sweet discovery of delicious little Dareen’s Coffee (click for LDS review), my fellow Egyptian foodie friend and I have been inspired to discover Middle Eastern restaurants beyond the Biteapitta bubble of ignorant bliss we’d been living in and see what else Beijing has to offer!
Although the experience wasn’t entirely perfect at Dareen’s Coffee (mainly because of the stale and cold pita bread), we were delighted to stumble upon this new find and learn that the hummus, babaganoush and falafel is better here than anywhere else we’ve tried! Since this recent discovery, I’ve been putting out the word to ask fellow foodies for restaurant tips on their favorite Middle Eastern finds and that’s when a little birdie told me about Khatoon Iranian Restaurant.
Pulling up to Khatoon on our bikes was a nice first impression. A rather large establishment, Khatoon is two stories with a wide entrance made of glass. I love the thick, green vines that wrap up the walls of the building.
Exterior Shot of Khatoon Iranian Restaurant
Stepping inside, a diner’s worst suspicions were realized. We were the only two diners in the entire restaurant. It is always unnerving to be the only two people in an empty restaurant, and unfortunately for Khatoon, this awkward feeling of an empty void was magnified even more in this big space.
LumDimSum Snapshots of Khatoon Iranian Restaurant:
First Floor Long Bar is Odd for a Restaurant that doesn’t serve or allow Alcohol
Second Floor Dining Room
Rooftop Deck Overlooking Sanlitun
I generally take this as a bad sign when there is not one other diner in the entire restaurant, but I heard Khatoon’s lamb shank is crazy good, so I was going to give them the benefit of the doubt and stay hopeful.
We were hungry after our sweaty session of Heyrobics, so we ordered more than enough to fill two stomachs. Three appetizers, a side of fresh pita and two mains was just about right.
We started off with their Shirazi Salad (RMB 22), a diced cucumber, tomato and onions which was both refreshing and tasty, but served in a much smaller porcelain bowl than we were led to believe in their very zoomed-in picture on their menu. That being said, I am probably guilty of the same crime as the photo below makes the dish appear bigger than it really was (so best to refer to the second photo down).
Salad Shirazi (RMB 22)
The Halim Bademjan or Eggplant Dip (RMB 32) was our favorite dish of the night and although it does look just as it appears in the menu, you don’t realize how shallow the plate is so it’s actually quite a thin layer. Needless to say, this dish was demolished in a matter of minutes and as much as we enjoyed every bite of it, I gotta say that the dish really tastes more like it’s made from beans rather than eggplant. What made matters worse is the confusion that erupted when we asked the waitress to confirm that it was indeed eggplant after she has hesitantly answered our inquiries the first time as she wasn’t sure herself. Luckily, we had our trusted friend Google by our side, who confirmed that Halim Bademjan is indeed an eggplant dish.
Halim Bademjan or Eggplant Dip (RMB 32)
On to Khatoon’s mains: we went for the recommended lamb shank (RMB 68) and Beef Lamb Koobideh (RMB 42), an Iranian minced meat kabab. Unlike our appetizers, the portions of our mains were much bigger. The lamb meat came on a giant bone practically engulfed in a mountain of Broad Bean and Dill Rice. I can’t say that the lamb shank lived up to my expectations, but it was good and I definitely was left satisfied after finishing off both mains. The Fresh Yoghurt and Spinach Dip (RMB 25) was perfect to complement both meat dishes.
Beef Lamb Koobideh (RMB 42)
Lamb Shank with Broad Bean & Dill Rice (RMB 68)
Fresh Yoghurt & Spinach Dip (RMB 25)
Since we were the only two diners in the restaurant, I can understand why the waitresses in the restaurant might feel bored, but they should have been less obvious about it. I figure the owner of Khatoon was downstairs so both waitresses preferred to play on their cell phones next to our table instead.
Caught in the Act: Waitresses Looking Bored & Playing on Phones
Review of Khatoon: Waijiao Apartment, 1 Xindong Lu, Chaoyang District 朝阳区新东路1号外交公寓亮马河南岸; Tel: 8532 1071; Open Daily 11AM-11PM
Best Part:
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Khatoon is a Muslim-inspired restaurant with a Halal menu.
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The restaurant is spacious and the vines crawling up the restaurant walls outside is lovely.
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The rooftop dining space would be a nice option on a clear, cool summer night.
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You can order delivery from them on Jinshisong. You can also check out their full menu on their website here.
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Try their Halim Bademjan Eggplant Dish (RMB 32) to dip your fresh pita bread, it’s delicious!
Comments:
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It’s unnerving to be the only diners sitting in a big, empty restaurant. Maybe it was just a quiet night, but considering it’s location (north of Sanlitun across from Yuyang Hotel on the south bank of Liangma River), I can see that Khatoon can only rely on customers who go out of their way to dine at Khatoon (rather than walk-by traffic)
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It’s inexcusable for waitresses to be sitting down and texting on their cell phones for long periods of time in front of customers. It’s one thing to be bored and another to be flaunting their lack of work ethic in front of the people they should be trying their best to impress.
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One side of the room was surrounded in floor to ceiling mirrors. Done correctly, mirrors can give the optical illusion of added space and depth in a small space, but here in Khatoon just made the space feel more empty and it’s weird to be looking at your reflection while eating. The classical piano music playing in the background throughout our meal was also a bit out of place dining in a Persian restaurant.
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The dishes were satisfactory. Everything was fine, but nothing was exceptional or really stood out as better than Rumi. I think everything tasted rather bland and they should turn the flavors up a notch. Perhaps more parsley would help? While Dareen Coffee made me question my loyalty to Biteapitta, I can’t say there is anything about Khatoon that pulls me away from Rumi.
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It’s odd to have the first floor taken up entirely by a bar in a restaurant that does not serve any alcohol and does not even allow you to bring in your own drinks. Another bonus for Rumi to allow guests to BYOB.
Rating: (on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being best)
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Food: 6
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Atmosphere: 3
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Service: 4
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Overall Experience: 5
Obentos’ Motto
