By Syma Sayyah, Tehran

Many friends who visit Iran and are vegetarian have complained that they have a hard time finding good food that suits them.  Many Iranian dishes are vegetarian but it is not usual to find them in restaurants.  As the saying goes, the best Iranian traditional food is always served at home.

However, I am writing this short piece to introduce one of the best vegetarian restaurants in Tehran.  I started doing yoga many years ago and our teacher who is a true yogi introduced to us a small private restaurant that was run by a few yogis who wished to serve others.  This was in a cellar of a small house in the north center of Tehran, which now I understand is the home of Iran’s Vegetarian Society.  I was delighted to have learned some time ago that the group, headed by Ali Agha, has started their operation at Artist’s Forum (Khaneh Honarmandan) cultural center in Iranshahr Avenue, in the center of Tehran.

I love the ambience and especially the balcony there, where you can enjoy the nature that surrounds it, fresh air, polite and efficient service and above all good vegetarian food.  They offer a lotus tray with a lot of small goodies. It is a simply great experience.  Last week we stopped there one hot sunny day for lunch and to cool off as well as relax and enjoy ourselves, before our next appointment.

I usually go for their egg-plant and olive pizza, but decided to make a change and we ordered a lotus tray and a lovely mushroom and pepper pizza which was very fresh and tasty. With the lotus tray there came a glass of watermelon juice, and several small dishes including a yogurt starter, a salad, a soup dish, vegetarian ghormehsabzie (a kind of green stew) and a plate of rice with a piece of pizza decorated with a colorful paper umbrella and for a sweet there was a small dish of yellow masghatie and nuts.  We had ginger tea and afterwards reluctantly we left as there were people waiting to be seated and we had another meeting to go to.

I saw Ali Agha the manager, who follows the Krishna consciousness path and teaches Gita book and philosophy as well as meditation somewhere else.  I asked him where we can find tofu. He gave me the address of the Govinda shop that I give below for your reference. There you can buy many kinds of food that you would need if you are a vegetarian.  I was told that the Vegetarian Society which is nearby has a restaurant there but they are also very good at home delivery. Their restaurant is called Anada, 17 South Ekhtiyareh, Kolahdouz (former Doulatt) Avenue, and Tel 2255 6767, almost next door to the supermarket.

Govinda Supermarket is at 24, South Ekhtiyareh, Kolahdouz (former Doulatt) Ave., Tehran Tel. 2258 4621 and they are open from 9am to 9pm except Fridays. They can send your order by paykk (home-delivery) too. I do hope that this information helps our vegetarian friends in some way.

... Payvand News - 9/25/06 ... --