Well, that meant we would be cruising to this cute neighborhood...
I just noticed the curious image of the ostrich on the banner above. I wonder if there is a meaning to that? I was excited to go to this place again...
[Update - Please see Kirk's comment to this post. He explains the meaning of the ostrich on the neighborhood banner!]
Did you have a feeling it would be Soltan Banoo? The other places for dessert that didn't make the cut were: Plumeria (a few doors down), San Diego Desserts (I didn't think El Cajon Blvd and 63rd St were picturesque enough), Alforon (same reason), and Heaven Sent (didn't want to deal with parking).
It was like deja vu coming here again so soon after KD's birthday. This time, the silky brown drapes were drawn open and the mini fireplace wasn't on.
I thought my Ninang would appreciate this cute cozy cottage turned restaurant and their eclectic decor. Bert noticed colorful mini ceramic tiles embedded on the floor (not pictured).
I'm glad that Bert and I shared our entree at Hanna's. That way, we would have room for the different desserts here. First up, the drinks. Below was TC's "dough" (pronounced as "doohg") which is a salted sour yogurt drink topped with dried mint. When we ordered it, the server said, "Ohhhhh, it's nice to see that you are adventurous!" in a somewhat ominous tone. I wish I could post a photo of my Ninang's reaction after she took a sip of this. It was classic, her look of disgust.
To me, this smells and tastes like rotten milk. I'm not a fan of yogurt in general so I'm not the best person to judge this drink, which is quite popular in Iran and its neighboring countries. Doogh is served with crushed ice, but this just had ice cubes. TC could only handle a few sips. If you like sour fermented milk, you might like this interesting drink. I looked up the recipe online and LA foodblogger My Persian Kitchen's version shows how easy it is to make.
I ordered all of the Persian desserts on the menu except for the rice pudding. Below, the ever popular Akbar Mashti, Persian saffron ice cream waffle sandwiches topped with whipped cream, rose water syrup and slivered pistachios.
As seen in previous visits are two other repeat desserts, the Turkish Delight and the Gaz (a pistachio nougat).
This was a dessert we hadn't tried before, the Persian version of baklava (spelled as 'baghlava'). It's smaller and drier than the Greek style (which they also offer). The tiny diamond shape was attractive and the texture was firm and wasn't syrupy and wet.
Both Bert and TC ordered the Turkish coffee which took a while to get to us. Here, the server is pouring the thick and rich coffee from a traditional serving pot called a cezve which are traditionally made of brass or copper. In Turkey, the cezve is called an ibrik.
The pot and it's long handle had interesting designs. The extremely finely ground coffee grounds remaining at the bottom of the tiny metal cup were thick and sludgy. This coffee is traditionally drunk as as, meaning no cream, milk, or sugar. Bert and my Ninang were very impressed by the smooth flavor of the coffee.
Cross sections of the Turkish Delight, the Gaz, and the Persian baklava:
I liked the look of these baklava.
Now this was a dessert none of us had ever tried before. I think when I first saw it on the menu last year, I had an aversion to the menu description in that this dessert included "noodles". Faloodeh is a traditional Persian cold dessert which has vermicelli noodles (made of cornstarch) in an icy concoction made from rose water syrup and sugar. It kind of looks like coconut in chunks of almost slushy ice. The dessert was also sour (made traditional with lime juice, but perhaps they used lemon juice). It was also served with a few pieces of the same waffled Persian ice cream from the Askbar Mashti dessert.
So, actually this seemed to be the best of both desserts - noodles in a syrupy ice mixture (sounds wierd but it was quite refreshing) AND the Persian ice cream. TC enjoyed the Faloodeh much more than the Akbar Mashti because of the icy element. The rosewater syrup collected on the bottom and had a strong flavor, mixed in with the lemon/lime juice. Again, this dessert was garnished with pistachio slivers.
It was fun sharing all five of these desserts. It helped that three of those desserts were tiny in size so i wasn't like we had a huge amount of sweets. It was satisfying to have bite sized pieces of the desserts.
I adore my Ninang. When she was younger, she looked like a Filipina version of Barbara Eden, the actress who played "Jeannie" in the old tv show, "I Dream of Jeannie". Her long beautiful hair would be tied in a high ponytail. She was and still is very stylish for her age, well traveled, intelligent, and very opinionated. She is my mother's best friend and my godmother from my baptism AND my wedding. She's hardly ever down in San Diego so it was really nice to spend some quality time with her.
Just a couple of years ago, Ninang was still taller than TC. No longer! TC's hit the 5 foot mark since late last year.
Previous visits to Soltan Banoo:
Last fall with TC - October 2012
A few weeks ago with the Educator GF's - January 2013
*The title refers to the former hip hop group, Three Times Dope which hit it's peak in the late 80's. Like many groups of their ilk back then, they sampled older songs in their own songs. "Funky Dividends" samples The Delegation's "Oh Honey" (which kind of reminds me of "Float On")
Here's a blast from the past...
Gotta love that lead singer's sideways high top fade!
Yay! Three day weekend!
4 comments:
Wow you love this place hehe. I have a Turkish labmate and have been wanting to bring her here :)
Can you tell? :)
I seriously need to try their actual food though! They have so many interesting dishes here.
You and your labmate should go here, or try Alforon (Lebanese) or Sultan Kabob (Turkish).
Hey CC - I recalled watching the PBS series, "About San Diego" and they mentioned that Harvey Bentley had an ostrich farm in University Heights.
"Before leaving the gardens we should visit the Ostrich Farm. The Ostrich Farm was first in Coronado, opened in 1887 on the half block on A Avenue between Ninth and Tenth Streets,18 and around 1904 it was moved to the Mission Cliff Gardens. The owner then was Harvey Bentley who leased the ground as a concession and so a small entrance fee was charged for those who wanted to watch or ride the ostriches. At that time ostrich farms were at the height of their popularity as tourist attractions. By the late nineteenth century ostriches were being imported into the United States from South Africa when it was found they could be domesticated, and ostrich farms sprang up, particularly in the southwest. Bentley advertised his farm as the "Oldest in America." It offered "the finest feathers made into plumes, stoles, boas, muffs, etc., to order. Very best repairing, remaking and redyeing of feathers."19 Ostrich plumes had been used to decorate hats since the fourteenth century. The feathers are taken from the male bird and are naturally black or white, but the white feathers are easily dyed any color. The plumes of the female are grey so are not so desirable. Cropping the plumes is not harmful to the bird — they grow back again.
For entertainment visitors could watch the dozen or more ostriches being raced around the yard. Their running speed is faster than a horse and Bentley's attendants were experienced in handling the birds. Ostriches are the largest of living birds but cannot fly so nature has given them speed in running. Venturesome visitors were allowed to ride the birds but not without some minor accidents. At the entrance was a little store where feathers and the large ostrich eggs were sold. Eggs were both fresh and blown. One ostrich egg is equal to twenty-four chicken eggs and the white of one egg is enough to make two angel food cakes.20 The blown eggs were decorated beautifully and made attractive souvenirs. The feathers were much in demand to decorate hats and to make boas and fans. Among good customers were Madame Katherine Tingley, of the Theosophical Society on Point Loma, and Sally Rand, the famous fan dancer who titilated audiences in the twenties and thirties and who bought some of her fans from the Ostrich Farm."
http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/83fall/gem.htm
Wow! Thanks Kirk! Thanks for the explanation - so fascinating! I love knowing stuff like this! :)
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