Tired of the others? Check Kabob House
| Wednesday, Jul 15 2009 04:27 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Jul 15 2009 07:53 PM
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4701 White Lane
837-8330
Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Reservations not accepted.
Prices: Appetizers $1.55 to $6.99, lunch entrees $7.99 to $15.99, dinner entrees $11.45 to $13.95. No child's menu.
Payment: MasterCard and Visa accepted. Does not accept American Express, Discover and personal checks.
Dress: Casual.
Amenities: Wheelchair accessible; no alcohol served; some vegetarian options.
Food: HHH1/2
Atmosphere: H 1/2
Service: HHH
Next week: Jersey Mike's Subs
Images:
Felix Adamo / The Californian Kabob House chef Reza Razmjou has the kabobs flaming on the grill as he prepares an evening dinner.
Felix Adamo / The Californian The Razmjou brothers, chef Reza, left, and owner Ali, right, at the Kabob House on White Lane.
Felix Adamo / The Californian Kabob House chef Reza Razmjou has the kabobs flaming on the grill as he prepares an evening dinner.
Felix Adamo / The Californian On the Kabob House grill from left to right are vegetables, beef, cornish hen, ground beef, boneless chicken breast, and lamb chops, all being cooked to perfection by chef Reza Razmjou.
Felix Adamo / The Californian The Razmjou brothers, chef Reza, left, and owner Ali, right, at the Kabob House on White Lane.
Sometimes small new restaurants pop up and are closed before I even get anything in the paper. My editor has spiked (fancy journalism term for killing a story) columns on restaurants that weren't even in business long enough to get the review in the paper. It's a brutal business, I guess.
I hope Kabob House doesn't meet the same fate, though I confess it might have come and gone had not a kind reader alerted me to the place. Marilyn Erickson sent me an e-mail a few weeks ago about the small restaurant located in the shopping center at the corner of White Lane and Stine, near Monster Golf, Golden Ox and Crossroads Pizzeria. She noted that it was operated by a man named Reza, who worked as a cook at Javan in Los Angeles for 18 years. It's also the only Iranian (Persian) restaurant in town.
"I go there whenever I'm in the neighborhood," she wrote. "I am a former Peace Corps volunteer to Iran in 1967-69. I know the food in the home and in the restaurants and I cook it occasionally for my family. The rice is great and fluffy. The sauces are just right. It is not the hot food of India but mild spices with fruits and meats. ... It is a small place and I hope it can get bigger."
After we visited, I'll second that, though the environment left something to be desired. Why? That western exposure catches all the late afternoon/early evening sun, and it's brutal. My companion and I started out inside the restaurant, which had tinted windows but an air conditioner that was apparently on strike protesting high PG&E bills. So we went to the tables outside, where it really wasn't better, but if you positioned yourself just right you could get some shade from the cement columns. Next time we'll either get takeout or come by at lunch.
The food is startling, fun, well-made and everyone who moans that Bakersfield restaurants are all the same old/same old needs to support this place. Yes, some of the foods such as lamb shanks, stuffed grape leaves and kabobs will seem similar to what Café Med offers, but Persian cuisine is different, as Marilyn said. You get a milder but still fragrant spice mix, perhaps something you've never come across before.
We sampled the lamb chops ($9.45 -- they charged us the lunch price), chicken koobideh ($7.99), shrimp kebob ($9.99) and a combo of beef koobideh (seasoned ground beef) and boneless chicken ($12.99).
The staff brought all our food outside, starting us with a plate of warm pita bread and two dips: the familiar hummus and a yogurt-mint-cucumber concoction called must'o khair. A great start, and please note we did not order these off the appetizer list. My guess is the owner was trying to build the business.
Persian cuisine can be marked by seasonings that include plums and raisins.
What impressed me in all we tried was the pronounced presence of saffron. Its slightly bitter, grassy-tasting yellow presence giving me a great teaching opportunity to educate the children on the wonders of this delicate part of a flower. Saffron was evident on the exterior of the five grilled shrimp and the boneless bits of chicken. All the entrees were served with heaping piles of long-grain rice and a small salad.
The ground meat kebabs (both beef and chicken) had a cavalcade of textures and tastes that made the meat seem entirely new.
There are also marinated Cornish game hens on the menu.
If you're bored with everyplace else, check out the Kabob House.
