Cingari Restaurant in Tehran
5/23/07
By Syma Sayyah and Paul Sanford, Tehran
Good Restaurants Guide in
Tehran
Cingari is Tehran's new Indian restaurant which is the corner of
Mofateh (formerly Roosevelt Avenue) and Zohreh Street, in central Tehran, close to
7th Tir square. A few
friends had recommended it and we had been meaning to go there for some time but
finally got a chance a few weeks ago to go for a goodbye dinner for one of our
friends and also because we had a vegetarian guest from England. Tehran is not noted for its choice of
vegetarian restaurants, but the Cingari does a very good range of vegetarian and
non-vegetarian Indian food in Mughlai style. We went there again a week later with
some other friends.
The restaurant was
opened and managed by Christopher Dawe, who is German and had been to
Iran in the early 90's when his
parents were living and working here.
After graduating in hotel management he started his career in
Oman at the Emir's palace. After a year he started to work for an
international hotel chain and opened many branches for them throughout the
Middle East, Africa and Asia. A few years back he came to the
conclusion that it was high time that he opened his own place. He had been to the Middle East and
Asia through his job and was familiar with many
good cooks and supply sources. He
was choosing between Cyprus,
Morocco and Tehran. In his feasibility study he had come to
realise that there was an excellent demand for a good Indian restaurant in
Tehran and so it was that Tehran was his
choice. After a few months he found
the right partner and moved here with his family and started the Cingari
restaurant. The chef is Indian and
a lot of ingredients used in preparing and cooking are
imported.
The young staff were
dressed smartly and simply and were most cordial and helpful. The portions were sufficient and the
spices were used with consideration to the local taste. The presentation of the food was good
and the fresh fruit juice was most appreciated by all of us. The dessert menu was limited but we
found them very tasty and the fruit was excellent.
Many of their clients
are business people, travellers and young couples coming for a taste of
India. Part of the restaurant's business is
outside catering for parties, embassies and official occasions looking for
diversity.
What we liked about the
Cingari more than anything else was the sense of space and calmness, especially
if you were sitting in and leaning on their lovely comfortable and colourful
cushions. We liked the decor and
found the food pretty good but we were mostly impressed with the ambience in
general and how cordial the staff were.
The toilets were very clean. The prices were not cheap but then again
what is money for if not to spend it and enjoy it! Overall verdict 8 out of
ten.
Cingari can be found at
4, Zohreh
Street, Mofateh Avenue. Their phone number is 021 88 32 70
75
... Payvand News - 5/23/07 ...
