Behesht

I’m definitely giving this place 5 stars as it’s a very genuine restaurant. The food is amazing and cheap. It gets very busy and messy at times but the wait is always worth it.

Well I don’t think I have been to a restaurant with as big portions anywhere. Even comparable to American dishes. The food was pretty tasty as well. A nice bowl of tabouleh and olives with a rather large plate of rice and kebab. I will be back

This place has seriously deteriorated. It used to be excellent. Now everything is bad. The food and the service. They even poured the curry one clothes and yet they had the guts to ask for a higher tip. Out of my list definitely.

The food was amazing. I ordered the Kabob Koobideh along with some eggplant appetizers and I loved it. They give you huge portions for what you pay and their customer service was very good. My family and I sat in the back near the leather designed ceiling and it was really cold. I can’t complain about anything else but that the air conditioning was a bit too high. The interior design is beautiful as well. I am visiting from the United States and it had been a while since I really enjoyed a good Persian dish but this place was the perfect place to go to. Thanks for the service.

Nice place, weird décor, food is ok priced, bit bland and sweet for my liking, a bit of spice wouldn’t go amiss. But I would return, massive portions so be prepared to go on an empty stomach.

Very interesting décor, but for my taste buds all the cuisine is quite sweet or subtly spiced. I prefer a little heat in my cuisine. For the mission of getting to kensal rise I won’t be going back. Service was seriously lacking even though they had more than enough staff.

So anyone who drives down Harrow Road to find Behesht will know this is one dodgy area. Its in the middle of nowhere and painful to get to– but boy is it worth it. You go in and there are birds humming, bells chiming, water trickling, 5 out of 5 for atmosphere.
The food, is epic, the portions massive. The koobideh is always a safe option, but you can try the mixed starters too and I can’t remember the farsi for it, but the walnut with mashed aubergine and herbs is delish!
In any case for a knockout meal — worth every penny, and its cheap. Minus one star for no tap water. You need to serve tap water!!!

Verdict: One Thousand Yes!
Pros:
— One Thousand and One Nights Ambiance/​décor!
— The special mixed kebab plate– it will feed a family of 4 or 5 just so you know!
— Fall of the bone tender kebabs.
— The Faloodeh, thin vermicelli noodles rose water ice cream. Probably the best outside Iran!
— Price.
Cons:
— Perhaps not the easiest area to access by foot or public transportation. A bit out of the way so to say and perhaps not the most pleasant.
— Service can be grumpy or opinionated at times. However they do not discriminate so one is out of luck even if one speaks the language!
— This is where you come to eat kebabs, the rest and the more daily Persian cuisine such as the stews are not bad but nowhere near the kebabs.

Nice restaurant with lots of menu options but the service can take some criticism. The waiting staff seems a little bored and grumpy and works without any enthusiasm. I hope that changes in the future because the place has a nice potential.

lovely restaurant, nice ambience — traditional décor, feels like u could be in persia :)
the best thing is the AUTHENTIC IRANIAN FOOD! I would commute all the way from surrey to kensal rise to have the mixed grill and delicious rice :)
Warning: The Finchley branch is not as good as the kensal rise branch (food not exactly the same tast — its all about the chef!) So if you were disappointed at the Finchley branch, go to the Kensal Rise branch and its a different story!
Dishes to recommend:
ive been there a few times and have shared the Special Mixed Kebab with my fellow diners as it includes lamb fillet, chicken fillet, minced lanb kebab, chicken on the bone and yummy fried tomatoes. ALL DELICIOUS. the rice at Behesht is amazing too! On other occasions when people prefered to order individual dishes Ive had «Special Chicken» cos that way i get a skewer of chicken AND a skewer of minced lamb, fried tomato & rice. That was a perfect dish for me :) We had an Okra dish as a side and that was great too

This place is great!
It’s miles away from anything and a bit of a trek to get there from Central London but well worth it. As described by Mashael Z it feels like Ali Baba’s cave, and has this weird water fountain near the window!
Anyway, onto the food. Good quality, MASSIVE portions you’ll struggle to finish, at a price that belongs in poundland.
Brilliant :)

Behesht is another world! More specifically, Ali Baba’s cave:)
When you walk in from the sketchy looking area dotted with variations on Chicken Cottage, you certainly aren’t expecting a place that looks like the Cave of Wonders.
The décor is very bright, with every surface covered in Persian décor– definitely no minimalism here! Each room seems to lead to two more rooms and the restaurant which at first seems small, keeps opening and opening into more rooms, which is where the cavern resemblance hits. There are actual parrots and birds (quite vocal ones that sing while you eat at times) around, waterfalls, Persian rugs, fish swimming in the entrance and lots of Farsi calligraphy and art around. The oddest thing I noticed was that the ceiling is covered in cow hide, there is definitely a lot to look at!
I love Persian food and I am a bit of a snob about it. I am happy to say that Behesht lives up to my standards and I have finally found a good place in London for when I crave it!
The portions are huge and the prices are cheap. My favorite is the minced lamb (kubideh) kabob, and the one served here is succulent, juicy, and incredibly yummy. I wasn’t the only one in our group who thought it was the best thing amidst other yummy things on the table. The saffron rice was also good, and I love how the kabobs are so moist that they flavor the rice to make it even more delicious. The lamb aubergine stew was also delicious, with the lamb practically falling off the bone and melting in your mouth.
We also had the mixed kabob platter, which is no joke. It was so huge it took up half the table and 3 people could comfortably share it for dinner (which we didn’t. but I do love Persian leftovers!). The waiter warned us it would be big but we didn’t listen! The mixed platter has lamb barg, chicken, chicken with bone, kubideh (minced lamb), and of course some tasty roast tomatoes. Everything on it was decent quality, but I think the kubideh stands out by a mile, followed by the chicken which was also good.
In terms of starters, I wasn’t a big fan. The mirza ghasemi (aubergine and tomato) dip was not great or the baba ghanoush. The dolmeh (grape leaves with rice inside) was pretty good though and the bread! The bread was amazing and soft and thin, and was so big you just want to wrap your head in it (it’s so big you probably could). Even if there isn’t any alcohol on the menu, the fresh apple juice is really good and they have other types as well.
A pot of black tea in a kitschy teapot with good conversation was the perfect way to end this meal, and I would recommend this place to anyone. It’s a family-​oriented restaurant, so it’s a good place to go if you have kids, there were lots of families there when I went. The waiter was really helpful and friendly and gave us good advice on how much to order. We stayed quite late and they didn’t make us feel rushed; they let us just sip our second pot of tea and continue talking until there were hardly any customers left.
I think my only real con would be that one of the new extensions in the back is not as nice a place to sit as the rest of it because it smells a bit fishy, but you can always ask to sit somewhere else. It’s not in a great area but it’s worth going to. It’s a great place for friends or family and I will definitely be going again!

A classy place with style and great decoration. Found by accident, since I was literally starving and was looking for place to grab a bite, so I stopped here. Frankly it was a great experience, food was really well cooked, with fresh vegies, high quality meat, great variety of dishes offered in the menu as well as drinks. Staff are really polite and welcoming, service could be a bit faster thought. To sum up: reasonable prices, good food and a nice staff and great atmosphere. I recommend this place.

In order to enjoy any busy authentic middle eastern establishment you have to accept that their customer service abilities mostly (now how do I best describe it.) well… stink! They’ll ignore the fact that you have a table booked, you’ll be made to wait outside or at the door, you’ll be made to wait for your food, and don’t get upset if they rush you to get the next customer in. Behesht isn’t any different, and unfortunatley one of the worst (booking for nine people then trying to sit on a table for six is challanging to say the least).
Now on to the food: Portions are massive here and cheap, their dishes are seriously tasty and the décor’s as Persian as you can get. If it’s your first time, as with all Persian restaurants try to stick to the popular dishes — Makhsoos, Momtaz, etc. before venturing out to pick other stuff from the menu!
Useful bits:
— This is one of the very few Persian restaurants in London that won’t allow you to take your own alcohol, and they don’t serve it either.
— To park, you’l lusually find spaces if you drive past Behesht on your left then turn first right.
— There is a Persian bakery a few doors down (again with Behesh on your right). It’s definately worth a visit.
Enjoy!

We had to come to this restaurant! It was a bit out of the way, but it was well worth it. We took the underground to Notting Hill and cabbed it to this location as it’s a bit out of the city. We got in right away and were entertained by the décor of this restaurant. The reviews were right — rugs everywhere and leather on the ceiling, pots hung on the walls, etc. The food was traditional persian. The bread was a huge circle like a big pizza dough and you just rip it off. It was tasty. My husband ordered the ghormeh sabzi and I ordered the chicken barg (chicken breast kabob) and it was delicious — huge portions and a lot of rice, which we love! Good service.

This is one of the worst restaurants I have ever visited! I took my husband for a birthday meal. We had booked but were kept waiting ages for the table and then two different waiters were rude to us! The food was not nice (very greasy) and while the décor is good, nothing else about this place is. Avoid it at all costs!

Behesht is possibly the best place to dine out cheaply in London.
I was first introduced to this peculiar Persian restaurant a few years ago, by an Iranian friend who swore he was taking me to the best restaurant he knew. We pulled up outside, I looked in horror– first at the area, second the outside of the building is covered in pink and green neon. It looks like a cheap club in blackpool.
My fear soon subsided– the queue out of the door at 8pm on a freezing Sunday evening told me it was worth waiting, the smell coming from the bread oven in the corner made the 30 minute wait worthwhile.
The portions are insane, however they are always happy to provide take-​away boxes for what is usually half the meal left over…
Particularly good is the Paneer Sabzi (a herby salad of Tarragon, Mint, Radish, Walnut and the saltiest creamy cheese); also Tahdig (crispy rice) comes with any selection of the stews. my one complaint here is all but one stew are lamb based, and i’m allergic to it, so always have to have chicken fesenjan, which is a little too sweet. Friends swear by the Gormeh Sabzeh– a swampy green stew, made with lamb, leeks, methi and herbs– i just wish i could try it!
Once you learn not to over-​order here, dinner usually works out circa £10-£12 a head including drinks.

If you eat at Behesht, be forewarned. You should probably starve yourself for a good week and a half first to be able to accommodate the level of food they serve in your stomach.
Another initial word of advice — book ahead and by phone — their pretense at online booking is a freely admitted sham and the place swarms with hungry people, especially on the weekends.
Why?
Because the place is hilariously decorated (think fountains, statues, trickling waterfalls, and enough Persian rugs on the floors, seats, and ceilings to open a carpet bazaar.
Because, as previously mentioned, the portions are GINORMOUS and delicious and mains are totally affordable at about £7−8. My boyfriend and I ordered a starter platter for about £11 along with our mains. When it arrived, I started laughing. Instead of the usual one plate with 5 different things on it, it was FIVE plates of different dips and sauces. After trying to tackle that, I had about 2 bite of my really good lamb khoresh (meaty stew) accompanied by about a football’s worth of saffron rice before throwing in the towel.
Because they have awesome flatbreads made in a crazy oven that are the size of manhole covers.
A few last words of advice — they don’t serve alcohol, you have to order a minimum of about £6−7 each, and the yoghurt herb drink is really really weird. But it’s worth it anyway — it would be great for groups if you’re not planning to drink (I just laughed at myself for typing that, but hey, it happens sometimes) and really massive portions of food for a really reasonable price.

I was really impressed with Behesht. It’s the new high score in Persian restaurants for me worldwide!***
On the outside, the restaurant sign was in what I presume was Farsi (couldn’t imagine all them squiggles to be Hebrew in this day and age), no English sign to say what the place was… A good sign?
As I entered, I had one of those gut feelings that the place was gonna be very good.
I sat and ordered the Makhsous (Sultani), a salad Shirazi, some fresh bread and a Mast-​O-​Mouseer
Because I was sat on the table next to oven area, when the bread was ready, instead of calling the server to deliver the bread to my table, Mr. ‘Bread-​Maker’ improvised with great initiative and plonked it on my table without notifying me of the incoming projectile through a hole in the wall almost knocking me in the head… Cool, he didn’t even walk round the 4 – 5 extra steps it would have took him to deliver to the front of my table, very efficient.
*Thought of the day: I know our government and other agencies encourage us to try be more efficient and to save energy… but this is taking the piss.*
Moments later, without warning again, he grabbed a couple of cubes of sugar from my table via the hole in the wall, stuffed them in his mouth and proceeded to drink his tea ‘à la Persian’ style.
There was a lightly amusing and warm feel to his behaviour (s), at least I knew the guy was fresh off the boat and therefore I was likely to have an authentic experience.
Kinda interesting to think… because it was a Persian restaurant, I didn’t really care too much about Mr. Bread-​Makers service skills, the same would apply if it were a Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese restaurant or anything Eastern. Had this been a European, American or Western restaurant, I would likely have kicked up a fuss and/​or made a complaint.
Does this constitute to me being a racist… Or a cuisine racist… Or am I a geographical-​cist? Can someone explain!
When the main course arrived… Heaven! The Barg was exceptional. Juicy, cooked perfectly, the right thickness and was from a very good cut, barely had to chew it. I could go as far as saying it was perfect but I’ll give it a 9.7÷10 coz I like to play hard to get.
The Kobideh was fat, juicy and tasty, usually my fave part of a Makhsous but the Barg won was on form this session and won hands down.
Yoghurt was too strained for my liking, it was decent quality but I prefer one not so strained and more sour. It also lacked shallots so tasted a little plain.
Hope y’all enjoyed reading my review, until next time
…its been emotional
*** ‘worldwide’ is exaggerated from the following countries: USA, Canada, UK, Dubai and a pathetic attempt at the above dish in Hong Kong.

£5 for a koobideh amazing! Despite my initial reservations about being sat at the back near the kitchen with only 2 other tables near by (both empty), it actually worked out great as there was one waiter serving those 3 tables or us, technically.
portions are big, taste is second to none in most dishes, décor is authentic and the staff offer typically persian (or afghan) service that being the logic that you cant sit at your table until your whole party arrives at the restaurant, so the table lies empty and guests fill up the main entrance. It’s also a bit of a way out in Kensal Green, but I guess it all depends where you’re travelling from. Other than that, it’s good value for money, though I’ve yet to try the stews. Well worth another visit and has the potential to place on my top 5 Persian restaurants in London.