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“Persian Palace,” an Iranian curry restaurant, offers Dish of Slice Chicken with Special Sauce & Rice Cake and Turkey Mix With Red Curry Rice in Daehangno, central Seoul. / Korea Times photo by Chung Ah-young |
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
Many gourmands looking for a special treat with curry might opt for an Indian restaurant.
But an Iranian curry restaurant offers another curry taste with a unique flavor never tasted before.
``Persian Palace,'' an Iranian curry restaurant located in Daehangno, central Seoul, serves extraordinarily ``spicy'' curry.
Since its opening in 2002, the restaurant has developed a tasty and healthy curry for Korean customers.
The restaurant is famous for the spiciness of curry dishes, graded from two to ten.
Before making an order, you should first decide the level you can endure.
If you don't like hot curries, the level 2.0 (mild) is recommended ― level 2.2 is a medium spiced curry and level 2.5 is spicy as chilly.
But from level 2.7, you should be careful because Koreans who like spicy foods can barely handle this hot and spicy curry. The restaurant recommends customers who want to take adventure for the higher levels of spiciness from 5 to 10 to get counseling from a chef.
We ordered sliced chicken with special sauce ― level 2 ― and rice cake (23,000 won), and turkey mixed with red curried rice ― level 2.5 ― (10,000 won).
The chicken is for two people. It includes several kinds of spices mixed with pomegranate sauce over six chicken slices, along with a Persian rice cake.
Even though it was a mild curry, it was a little hot. When first tasted, it was good but later tasted a bit greasy. This dish is known to help the digestion, especially for people who sit for long time in an office or stay in hospital for a long time.
The rice cake is made of Persian black tail rice with special seasoning. Traditionally, in Iran, when guests visit the house, this is served. The cake tasted similar to ``nurungji,'' or Korean scorched rice at the bottom of a pot but has a unique flavor.
The turkey is good for women preferring low calorie meat. The dish includes smoked chopped turkey meat, which is fresh and tasty.
You can additionally order a rice cake (9,500 won). Also, Nan, or Iranian-styled bread, has unique tastes made with mixed flour and kept for three-seven days.
Papadam (1,500 won) offers several kinds of bean flour mixed with spices.
Shami kebab rice (11,000 won) is a traditional Iranian curried dish using ground lamb and specially selected spices.
But the dishes we ordered didn't meet our anticipation of its reputation because the prices are expensive compared to the taste.
If you are tired of Indian curry, it is quite a good choice.
The restaurant is located in front of Sungkyungkwan University. To get there, get off at Hyehwa Station on subway line 4. For more information, call (02) 763-6050 or visit www.persianpalace.com.
chungay@koreatimes.co.kr
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