By Syma Sayyah, Tehran
Once in a while we come across a place to eat that is simply fun. It may not be
great but has good vibes about it and such a place is Pasto, an Italian
restaurant with one of the best auras I have found in Tehran. Ali is a good
friend who introduced us not that long ago to this lovely, nice, small
restaurant and we have been there a few times recently and every time had a lot
of fun.
The ingredients for making any type of foreign food are hard to come by and this
includes Italian food. But Pasto makes up for it with the smiles the young
waiters carry and the cheerfulness of the place. It reminded me of my student
days when we would just decide to go out in a small or large group to one of our
usual haunts and have something to eat, a great deal of discussion and an
enormous amount of fun. The walls and the ceiling are wood and I guess that
helps to brings out the warmth in people and also attracts a more happy easy
going type of people. It is a very busy place and often people have to wait in
a queue to be seated.
The restaurant is north of Vanak Square, in Aftab Street on the ground floor of
the Aftab Tower, one of Tehran's
first chic high-rises. There are several other restaurants close
by which we have also tried but were not impressed with them, and a few café
bars that we must try out soon.
At Pasto (which is also an Iranian name meaning a small back room), the portions
of food are large so please be careful when ordering, as we had a lot left over
and we decided to take a doggy bag home.
Their hors d'oeuvre and pizza are good and their prices are quite reasonable for
an uptown place in Tehran. We recommend you to try them out when you fancy some
Iranianized Italian dishes, good service and a lot of fun at affordable
prices. We have a few photos for you to share.
Pasto - Aftab Tower, Aftab Street, Vanak Avenue, Tehran 88032720 or 88049679