Caspian

This used to be THE place to go for Persian food some 20 years ago. As a young student in CA, I was not able to afford to go to this place as frequently as I would have liked to but nevertheless enjoyed the cuisine whenever I got a chance. During one of my recent visits I was saddened to see that the quality has declined significantly. The ambiance is pretty much the same but the food is not as amazing as I remembered it to be. Not your regular Halal place as they serve alcohol and they have belly dancers as well. Still a decent place to go for lunch with your office colleagues but don\'t expect any flavor fireworks.

I have been here once, to their lunch buffet. The one dish I really liked was the slouvaki meat. This place is pricey. The ambience was nice and the place was packed but I mainly liked the slouvaki, which I did not find on their regular menu listing.

I really don't know what's going on with this place. My family and I have been living in Irvine for many years and we only support this restaurant because they serve halal food (hard to find a halal place in Irvine). We always order food to go and only ate there once before. But if the owners of this restaurant are reading this I would strongly encourage them to remove the belly dancing women and alcohol. There is no room for half-naked dancing women and alcohol in a Muslim family restaurant. I am sure people can find other places for that sort of degrading stuff. There are other ways you can attract customers. And I know there is a high profit margin when serving alcohol, but that doesn't mean one should create such an unpleasant environment. I'm not sure they properly understand their target market. I am positive that Allah will double their business once these issues are addressed. I will definitely raise my rating for them and recommend them to many people once these issues are addressed. My Allah show us all the right path and keep us on it.

Excellent & expensive Food! Best dish is kobidey kabob.

I've been there for lunch buffets only so i don't know about the belly dancing stuff. As far as food is concerned, the beef is amazing. The quality of beef dishes is really good. Chicken is good as well. The tea is another big plus. Price is on the higher side.

The food is delicious one can't argue. However, it's a little pricey. If concerned with belly dancing, probably better to go on weekday.

While the food and service is great, this is NOT a restaurant with a Halal environment. Yes, it was confirmed to us that the meat was halal, but the setting was not. In addition to alcohol being served, there was live belly dancing, and the belly dancers come and stop by each table. Definitely NOT a place to go for those seeking a non-haram environment.

We turned back once we saw the environment - but our food at home that night was really great, you should join us!

Not your typical halal restaurant. This is a chic, impressive Persian restaurant/catering hall. They also apparently host weddings, live entertainment, singers, etc. along w/ being a sit-down restaurant. Didn't care much for the alcohol being served. Meat was told as halal (halal meat store next to this restaurant). Food: This is type of place u should KNOW what you are ordering before u order it. My platter was pretty delicious (chicken and this lentil/raisin/seed rice .. yummy), however my companions rices were awful (one was cranberry/rosemary, the other spinach). Portions were huge. Kind of irritating that there's a $20 cover charge for any person not ordering an entree. Probably would not return as too pricey, and I prefer a little more Islamic environment.

Very good. Nice entertainment.

Good food, but might not be the place to take the strict religious ones as they do serve alcohol and have live bellydancing, etc on weekend.

This place depends on your tastes. While Halal food is served, it is a very Westernized restuarant in presentation and atmosphere. The food is very good, but you can also find lower cost options elsewhere in this area without the entertainment. Know what you are expecting before you go to avoid being disappointed in the experience. Recommended: Koobideh or Barg Kebobs

I was completely unaware that there was "Live Entertainment" at this restaurant on Friday and Saturday nights. Of all the depravity, four women dancing in close to no clothes, dancing up on chairs and next to people, with people sticking money on their skimpy outfits. That and the dancefloor freaks were more than enough to drive me out of the restaurant. Unfortunately, this is considered a family restaurant. If you want to eat at this place, I suggest you go on weeknights other than Friday, or for lunch any day of the week. If I were you though, I'd think twice about supporting such a place. Also, the service wasn't too great. The place was much too crowded and way too loud to allow for any conversation. I had to yell into the face of the person next to me so they could hear me. The food is not worth the price charged. It's not all that good tasting. One thing is for sure - I'm never going back to that place, inshallah. Any insitution that demotes the value of a women to the status of a piece of dancing flesh for the hungry eyes of their customers has no respect from me, and I sure as anything will not allow a single penny of mine to go towards this place, because I refuse to fund such HARAM activity.

The food is excellent and the service is so-so. A bit pricey and unfortunately not all their dishes are halal. Only the Lamb and Chicken are halal so beware of the Beef.

I agree with the brother, the belly dancing and alcohol...this is not what halal islamic resataurant should be like. I agree the service is really bad. I would not recommend this to anyone, espacially for practicing muslim family. However, if you want to see how Iran was before the revolution, they by all means.

had a party and we ended up paying 1300 dollars for 35 people, 15 kids for terrible service. Very little food showed up at the table, most things on our package menu were not to be seen, a platter was placed at every table (for 5 to 6 people) instead of per person as was payed for. feel short changed and wont be going there ever again

i dont know sometimes they say their lamb is halal sometimes its not, sometimes chicken is halal and sometimes its not. its very confusing...maybe its better to be safe than sorry.

very yummy food

With belly dancing on weekends and alcohol served with full selection, please consider what the heck they care about the real meanings about halal and haram.

The food is very tasty, especially the chicken kabob. The decor is beautiful, and the service is wonderful as well.