I had Persian food for the first time for dinner tonite (weds). It's my roommate's bday, and her boyfriend, also my roommate, who is Persian, suggested Shalizaar in San Mateo.

The look of the restaurant on the inside was fancier than I'd imagined it would be. I ordered Joojeh Koobideh, which was a dish of both chicken and ground beef kabobs. Every dish on the table, even the appetizers, seemed to involve the same ingredients: walnuts, parsley, onions, tomatoes... raw or cooked. All very plain. All served kinda as-is. Not many spices. Not much to them. I don't think I like it much.

But I mmm'd and ahhh'd, and told my roommates that I'd have it all again...

Well, the redeeming dish was the dessert, called Bastani Faloodeh. It may have been called Makhloot on the menu... a combination of Bastani, which is rose-water ice cream with pistachio pieces, and Faloodeh, which is something like an snow cone with small, thin coconut noodles meshed in. You squeeze lemon juice on top of the Faloodeh... the overall effect is a pretty tasty treat.