Berenjak in Soho, London is one of the cooler restaurants I’ve ever been to, and more importantly, one of the best.

If you’re walking down Romilly St., it’s easy to miss. An old, wooden storefront with a few bar seats at a window. Fairly unassuming other than the bright red 2020 and 2021 Michelin Star signs. Every unassuming quality of this little Persian restaurant is left on the side of the street when you walk in the door.

I sat outside at a table for one on a crisp (miraculously dry) July evening, but the inside of the place is awesome. There’s a massive bed of ripping hot coals, with a Berenjak branded vent (really cool). Most of the food is cooked on metal skewers, nearly kissing the coals. Open fire cooking is my favorite thing to watch, so being able to see 10-12 chefs move around the narrow back-of-house that was anything but back-of-house, was fascinating.

Items I recommend:

• Taftoon

• Jujeh Kabab (best chicken I’ve ever eaten)
• Balal
• Sibzamini
• House Rice (if I see saffron I’m ordering it.
• Torshi Phel Phel (this is an absolute must to drizzle over the chicken)

I think it’s worth a stop if you’re in the neighborhood… Hell, I think it’s worth taking the tube to Soho for.