Naan & Kabob - 3/5 Stars

Petit mom and pop restaurant serving traditional Persian and Middle Eastern food. Plenty of options for all including a variety of tasty meat and vegetarian dishes.

Salmon Kabob and Panir (Feta cheese) - Delicious, marinated, charbroiled salmon with basmati rice, onions, and tomato. Served alongside lavash bread, feta cheese, and salad.

“You don't need a silver fork to eat good food.” - Paul Prudhomme

Location

Naan & Kabob is located just shy of North Tustin. The restaurant is situated between Godfather's Sports Bar and a cigar shop. From the outside, the surrounding area was not exactly welcoming. Parking was extremely limited so we had to park and walk a few minutes which was a bit inconvenient. With these factors in mind, the restaurant itself did not reflect the location. However, it is still important to mention these things as a part of the overall restaurant review to better rate and analyze it.

Company

For this restaurant experience, I went with just my mom. Since my dad and brother were out, we thought we would spend some time outside of the house and try a new restaurant close to our house. I think that this circumstance made me a lot more attentitive of what was going on throughout our time at the restaurant. I paid more regard to the innerworkings and interactions among other parties. Unfortuantely, there was a table quite close to us that had some loud ladies laughing every two minutes. No matter, I was still able to enjoy the food and dining at the restaurant with my mom.

Service

Our server was pretty nice and made sure that we were taken care of properly. A few minutes after being seated, he brought us salad and lavash bread with butter. This was a pleasant surprise because many restaurants I've been to as of late, especially since COVID, have been less giving with these sorts of things. Also, the higher end Persian restaurants I've been to sometimes did not even give anything complimentary for us to munch on while we ate the food. So that's a big plus here. Throughout the meal, our server was courteous and made sure to check on how we were doing and refill our water glasses accordingly. Along with the fact that the restaurant was packed at the time, service is a strongsuit of Naan & Kabob.

Ambience

The restaurant itself was rathe bland inside. My mom and I were seated in a booth with plenty of leg room and table space for the food-nothing out of the ordinary. There were a few miscellaneous paintings that made the restaurant feel a little more lavish, but this did not seem to be the intent. Since Naan & Kabob is labeled as a "casual storefront cafe", it would be unfair to except diamond chandeliers and the like. As I mentioned earlier, the restaurant is small, which made it so that the tables were somewhat close to each other. As a result, the desired intimate, private experience was not entirely possible. It was easy to hear other people's conversations which is distracting when you are trying to talk to someone.

Food

I order the Salmon Kabob and my mom ordered the Chicken Koobideh. Both items were reasonably priced, and we were even able to make a second meal out of it. With regard to the salmon, it was cooked alright and had some decent flavoring. I felt that it was a bit undercooked and felt a bit oily to the tongue. The rice, however, was excellent. It had the perfect amount of butter and was very palatable. I didn't bother with the vegetables because I gave them to my mom who gave them their justice. Since my couldn't finish both her chicken skewers, I decided to try some for myself. I have to say, the chicken was incredible. The chicken was tender, juicy, and overall extremely satisfying to eat. Her item was cooked a lot better, and I really enjoyed being able to taste it.

Considering all the aspects of my experience at Naan & Kabob, I enjoyed certain parts like the service and food. However, there were certain things I think that the restaurant could work on. With these things in mind, I still suggest all people to try it and see what they think. Make sure to post any restaurant and food experiences in the forums!