Restaurant Review: Noon O Kabab

Previously, I had bemoaned the fact that there was a relative lack of Persian restaurants here in Chicago. Said lack of restaurants allows for places like Reza's to prosper even though--as I have said before--their standards have fallen off. In my post, I mentioned that unless Reza's improved, a clear market for better Persian restaurants would emerge, and Reza's would eventually be pushed aside by a better restaurant.

In search of a better Persian restaurant, last night, I went to Noon O Kabab. If one is searching for tastier food, NOK is a very good find. Meals were delivered quickly and very well-prepared. In fact, they were quite tasty. The menu offers a rather significant selection, and the Persian salad and barg kabab plate come highly recommended. The wait staff was very conscientious and dedicated. The prices are reasonable (about $20 per head). On a number of levels, NOK impresses its patrons.

However, on a number of other levels, it does not. For one thing, the restaurant is just too small. I had to wait in a tiny doorway along with what was at one point ten other people in order to get a table. After a while, we felt like sardines. The dining area is not that much bigger, and as my dinner ended, another party--which had been waiting for a table even before I had been--finally got to sit down. Of a certain eatery, Yogi Berra once famously said "That place is so crowded that no one goes there anymore." It may come true for NOK, as the dimensions of the restaurant may deter patrons from going there. I realize that getting a commercial space is quite the investment, but at the same time, the key word here is "investment." If NOK spends the necessary money for a better space for its patrons, its expenditure will pay for itself within short order.

My other complaint has to do with the dessert and wine lists. The dessert list linked to is actually underrepresentative of what the restaurant has to offer, but only by one item; bamieh. It could definitely use more items and the omission of Persian ice cream from the menu is something of a mystery. Additionally, patrons can only get three wines by the glass (a zinfandel, a pinot grigio, and a merlot). I hate it when a restaurant structures things this way--it is almost as if they are taunting you with the prospect of either buying wine by the bottle, or not enjoying it at all.

NOK definitely has the potential to become a gustatory powerhouse. But in order to do so, the restaurant must expand in a number of ways. Right now, the biggest thing holding NOK back is that it thinks small, and that degree of small-minded thinking only serves to underwhelm customers. Restaurants don't have to be behemoths. But they do have to be capable of rising to the occasion and to the needs of their customers. NOK does a great job with its food and its individual service. But it leaves needs unmet, and in doing so, holds itself back from the success that it might enjoy.