Mithra – restaurant review

After a short stint as the ill-fated Empire of Burger and Steak, the Iranian owners of the large restaurant near the corner of Gloucester Road and Ashley Road have bounced back, brought in new help in the kitchen and reopened with a fresh paint job and a menu of Persian dishes and grilled meats.

Located opposite Bottles & Books, which is a good place for a BYOB pitstop, and a stone’s throw from fellow Persian restaurant Per and Kor, from the front Mithra is bright and modern with a black and yellow theme that is stylishly echoed inside. Designed by Stylemongers of Bristol, care has been taken to create a classy dining room with clean lines, Eames-inspired chairs and two impressive brightly-coloured murals that pick out the bright saffron yellow of the logo. Bright Persian throws adorn the benches at the back of the room, there are fresh sweet williams in glass vases on every wooden table top, candles and polished cutlery.

The friendly waitress takes plenty of time to explain the menu to each table of customers that enter: a page of traditional Persian dishes that one might cook at home for visiting guests including gheimeh (£10.50) and lubia polo (£9), and a page of grilled meat and kebabs (lamb or chicken, from £8.90). The menu changes daily and everything is made with care by a 55-year-old woman who has cooked Persian food her entire life, so the spiel goes.

From the drinks menu of fresh juices, milkshakes, Persian teas and coffees, I opt for a traditional doough – a yoghurt-based drink flavoured delicately with mint (£1.90). It comes served in a big mug with plenty of ice and is cool and refreshing but surprisingly tart – far less sweet and thick than a lassi.

A little taster of a hot aubergine and garlic dip arrives accompanied by two slices of an enormous naan, brown on the bottom and crisp and bubbly on the top from being cooked very quickly on a very high heat, just as they should be. The aubergine is rich and almost meaty and deliciously oiled somehow without being greasy. The sharp, savoury flavours of the drink suddenly make sense when paired together.

However, it’s whisked away half-eaten as the main course of Zereshk polo (£11.99), arrives on a huge silver platter. Visually, it’s a beautiful dish of jewelled saffron rice, studded with sharp little barberries and crunchy slivers of almond and pistacho and accompanied by two hunks of chicken, pickled salads, a yoghurt and spinach dip and a thick, flavoursome sauce served separately alongside.

The chicken has a warm tomatoey sauce on top, and the meat falls off the bone perfectly cooked, begging to be eaten. The breast meat is drier, and is better with an extra spoonful of the rich sauce to add more moisture. The rice is lovely when drizzled with the sauce, which has a delicious salty sourness but is not as fragrant or complex as hoped. The side salads feel a bit incongruous with the rest of the flavours, but are a pleasant enough addition.

A final treat arrives after the tray is taken away – pot of Persian tea and a desert bite, a heavenly soft and sugary truffle-sized morsel made from dates and rolled in rose tea leaves. It’s a pleasant end to a meal that has felt authentic, if a little inexpertly executed at times.

A couple enter the restaurant and the waitress sizes up the man before he can even sit down: “You look Iranian!” she exclaims. He bluffs for a few seconds before collapsing in deep laughter and chatting with her in Farsi. He pores over the menu, excited by the choice of dishes, pointing out to his partner the things she should try. The waitress comes back and he takes a deep breath before ordering. “Let me get my pen and paper,” the waitress says: “I’ve got a feeling this is going to be long!”

Mithra, 379b Gloucester Road, Bristol, BS7 8TN