Lavash Restaurant Review, San Francisco

Lavash is a family owned upscale Persian restaurant in San Francisco’s Inner Sunset Irving Street district, that opened in late 2007. Mayor known for their Iranian food including fire grilled kabobs. This restaurant has gotten high reviews on Yelp. They use high quality ingredients including Niman Ranch meats. Our last visit was in February 2012.

Decor, Vibe – Lavash is a small, homey restaurant with a whimsical fancy decor, and modern art, tables, chairs. The place was moderately full for lunch with locals of all ages and races.

Lavash Menu (Click to zoom into any picture)

Lavash’s Menu has several kinds of kebabs as well as combinations of them. They also have a couple appetizers, soup, salads, Khoresh, and jeweled rice. They have no lunch menu, so dishes are large and can be expensive during lunch.

Website Lavash Menu

Full image set

Lavash Picks:
Complementary pita with cheese, vegetables, and mint leaves.

Soup-e Adas ($4 cup) lentil soup spiced with ground cumin, carrots & celery was a solid soup full of flavor and tender lentils.

Bakhtiari Kabob ($24.95) One skewer of sliced filet of Barg, beef brushed with saffron seasoning and one skewer of Jooje, chicken breast and thigh meat marinated in lime, olive oil, and saffron seasoning was an excellent combination dish.

The beef was the better of the two, tender, high-quality, with strong flavors. The chicken was also tender, well cooked, and full of lime flavor. Quantities were on the high side, a little much for lunch. Lavash also serves a lamb kebab that is ground up with egg.

Soltani ($21.95) One skewer of sliced filet of beef or Barg and 1 skewer of Koobideh or ground beef and lamb with onion & saffron seasoning. The beef was the better of the two, juicy, tender, and flavorful.  The Koobideh, while decent was a little more dry and less robust.

Adas Polo ($14.95) Basmati rice mixed with lentil and sautéed pitted dates, raisins, onions, with orange peel zest, and cinnamon served with chicken and saffron was a fantastic jeweled rice dish. A huge mound of goodness full of contrasting flavors. The sweet flavors accented the savory ones. Lots of shredded chicken meat, making this a pretty filling dish, enough for more than one person.

OK:
None

Pans:
None

Lavash started out with okay service, but with just one server it faded really fast as the server got overloaded. We had to flag the server for water, the check, etc. Prices are not cheap, but quantities are very hearty. Food quality was high, allowing us to still recommend this place if you are looking for Persian food in San Francisco. This place reminds us of Shalizaar, a high-quality Persian restaurant on the Peninsula.
Limited wine list with bottles from $18, glasses from $7.50.

$25 Dining Certificate for $5

Lavash Overall Rating: (Very Good 2.5)

Come Back?

Food Rating:	(Very Good)
Service Rating:	(Average)
Atmosphere Rating:	(Very Good)
Value Rating:	(Good)

Guide: 0 = poor, 1 = Below/Average, 2 = Good, 2.5 = Very Good, 3 = Excellent , 4 = Extraordinary

Alcohol:	Beer, Wine
Attire:	Casual
Hours:	Tu - Fri 11:30am - 3pm, 5-10pm, Sat 11:30am - 10pm, Sun Noon - 9pm, Closed Monday
Parking:	Street
Reservations:	Yes
Prices:	$11.95 - $34.95