Pasto: A fun place to eat in Tehran

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