Persian Empire Café 波斯帝國小餐館
Hours / 營業時間
Weekdays 平日5PM–12midnight
Weekends 週末5PM-2AM
(02)3762-2605
12F No.138 Section 4 Ba-De Road Taipei 台北市八德路四段138號12樓
Credit Cards Accepted / No Service Charge 提供刷卡 / 一成服務費
www.persianempire.com.tw
The very first Iranian restaurant in Taiwan, 「Persian Heaven Restaurant」opened a new location on the 12th floor of Core Pacific Living Mall. The new venue will be named as 「Persian Empire Restaurant & Lounge」and its construction will be completed before the summer is over. When it’s ready to open for business, it will be the very first Middle Eastern nightclub in Taiwan.
Owner Amini first opened「Persian Heaven Restaurant」on He-Jiang Street from scratch. Gradually the restaurant gained good reputations for its unique Iranian cuisine and nightly belly dancing performances. Amini and his son have been living in Taiwan for years now and it shows because they speak fluent Mandarin. The new venue on the 12th floor of Core Pacific Living Mall just had its soft opening as 「Persian Empire Café」，aiming to get the word out before the formal launch of 220-ping 「Persian Empire Restaurant & Lounge」and introducing Iranian cuisine to more people in Taiwan.
Currently 「Persian Empire Café」offers food service as well as shisha (also known as water pipe). I’ve tried shisha when I was in Hong Kong and thought it was quite interesting. For someone who never smoked cigarettes like me, shisha mesmerized me with its aroma. Owner Amini explained to me that shisha has been around for more than 300 years in Iran. And shisha is like an everyday leisure activity for Iranians. Few friends can get together to drink tea, chitchat and smoke shisha for relaxation. Shisha is something that you won’t get addict to like cigarettes but it certainly relaxes you and put your mind at ease.
The night when I met Amini for the interview, he brought out all kinds of water pipes. Seeing all sizes and colors of water pipes was like an eye opening experience. Some of them are nearly as tall as I am. There are more than 20 flavors to choose from and you can mix up different flavors to your liking.
I gave myself the chance to mix & match all sorts of flavors. For instance, I really liked coffee and strawberry together﹙just like a dessert﹚、apple and mint﹙so refreshing that I felt like I just brushed my teeth﹚and rose and grape ﹙almost like red wine﹚. Each shisha ﹙350NT﹚ can last for about one hour. You won’t need a plane ticket to fly to Iran if you would like to try shisha. 「Persian Empire Café」provides the best quality and the most genuine shisha in Taiwan.
The most requested dish at「Persian Empire Café」is Triple Happy Kabab ﹙350NT﹚. It is the everyday cuisine in Iran but rarely available in Taiwan. You can choose from chicken, lamb or beef. Owner Amini recommended lamb because unlike most restaurants in Taiwan, 「Persian Empire Café」serves imported lamb, not the most common goat. If you have a big appetite and hope to get your money worth, you may also order the set which comes with salad, Iranian saffron rice, soup, vegetables and Iranian tea (unsweetened and cinnamon flavored).
Iranians love drinking tea. When Iranian tea meets hard liquor, the outcome is rather surprisingly pleasant. When you come to 「Persian Empire Café」, be sure to order Iranian Apple Brandy Tea ﹙280NT﹚. This drink is made of fresh apple juice, brandy, and Iranian tea. The final touch is the cinnamon stick. That makes this drink the most relaxing cocktail!
全台灣第一家伊朗餐廳「波斯天堂餐廳」日前在京華城12樓設立一個新的據點，預計今年下半年會完工的「波斯帝國餐廳」，佔地220坪，即將成為台灣第一個充滿中東風情的高級夜店。
「波斯天堂餐廳」的老闆Amini來台灣經商很多年，他和他兒子的中文都相當流利。當初從零開始，在合江街經營「波斯天堂餐廳」，逐漸以特殊的伊朗菜和火辣的肚皮舞打響知名度。如今在京華城12樓以試賣的方式經營「波斯帝國小餐館」，無非是為了將來的夜店先累積人氣，讓更多人認識來自伊朗的美食佳餚。
目前「波斯帝國小餐館」提供餐點的服務之外，最重要的就是中東水煙！我曾經在香港的蘭桂坊抽過幾次水煙，覺得很新鮮。對於我這個從未抽過香煙的人，水煙最令我著迷的是它的香氣。老闆Amini說，抽水煙在伊朗已經有超過三百年的歷史了，而抽水煙對於伊朗人而言，就是一種放鬆休閒的活動；在伊朗，三兩好友聚在一起聊天、喝茶、抽水煙是非常稀鬆平常的事。
當我去採訪的那個晚上，老闆Amini非常慎重的搬出各式各樣大大小小的水煙管，有的高度和我差不到半個頭，而且顏色都非常鮮艷。目前在「波斯帝國小餐館」有將近二十來種不同的水煙口味提供選擇，只要你喜歡，可以任意將各種口味混搭在一起；而我就非常放肆的嘗試了五六種不同的口味，包括咖啡加草莓﹙簡直就像在抽甜點﹚、蘋果加薄荷﹙超清涼的口味好似剛刷完牙的感覺﹚和玫瑰加葡萄﹙有那麼點紅酒的香氣﹚等等。每一支水煙管可以抽大概一個小時，費用是350元。想要嘗試水煙不必出國，「波斯帝國小餐館」提供多重的選擇，在台灣也有道地的中東水煙。
在「波斯帝國小餐館」必點的主食是三喜喀吧﹙350元﹚，這道菜是伊朗最普遍的食物，但是在台灣卻鮮少人知，有雞肉、羊肉和牛肉以供選擇。老闆Amini特別推薦羊肉，因為這裡的羊肉是直接從國外進口的小羊肉，而不是一般在台灣比較常見的山羊肉，口感嫩、氣味也不會那麼腥。整份的三喜喀吧套餐﹙450元﹚有沙拉、蕃紅花飯、湯、蔬菜和伊朗特有的紅茶﹙茶湯不甜但是有肉桂的香氣﹚，讓你物超所值！
伊朗人非常喜歡喝茶，而帶有特殊香氣的伊朗茶當碰上烈酒，會有令人意想不到的火花！來一杯伊朗風白蘭地蘋果茶﹙280元﹚，除了有白蘭地、伊朗茶和新鮮蘋果汁調在一起，最後畫龍點睛的肉桂棒為這杯調酒加上最容易讓人放鬆的香氣！
