23.1.2019

SpaceTime: Vänäk Persian restaurant, Puutori, Turku, 12:40 lunch
Atmosphere: Empty, big windows out to a street with mostly cars going by, comfy chairs, gas heater center of dining space, oriental sounding dance music from a stereo
Food: Mäksun Kebab (minced meat kebab, grilled chicken, rice, seared tomato)
Price: 9.90€

Thoughts: I'm not sure what the "Persian" kitchen is supposed to be like, but if this is a typical representation, it's definitely not my favorite one.

Upon entering the establishment, I was greeted with the two members of staff and an empty dining space. Looking through the lunch-offers, I chose the kebab with chicken option. I sat down, after which the staff kindly cranked up the stereo with oriental pop-music and informed me that salad and coffee is included in the lunch.

I helped myself to something from the thin salad offerings. Nothing special here. After a while, the food arrived. The plate, which you can see down below, did not especially caress my eyes. I dug in. The kebab tasted like mined meat, plenty of onion and light salt, very mild, very non-impressive. The chicken bits were very dry and tasted lemon-y. The rice and the colored rice stripes tasted like rice, with an aftertaste of burnt herbs. The seared tomato was a seared tomato. There was also a tiny pack of margarine on the plate, which I smeared on the kebab and the chicken in the hopes of gaining some kind of sauce.

The food was certainly in the edible category, but it was uninspired and bland to my taste, with a poor presentation, and thus not a pleasure on the senses. Unless I chose the wrong dish to eat somehow, I cannot recommend this place for anyone except an exotic music fan.