I was curious about this place after reading some pretty rave reviews online about the quality and authenticity of the Iranian/Persian food here. When you first enter the place, the décor is fairly inoffensive although they could definitely benefit from heating the place. My husband and I ordered a grilled meat and rice dish each – a kebab koobideh (similar to kofte – grilled lamb brochette) and a lamb filet and rice. The rice was plentiful and the meat was well-seasoned. The hot aubergine dish I ordered was probably the highlight though – braised and packed in flavour, and generous in size.

However, the service was very slow (perhaps not a huge surprise in Geneva!) and the brochette dishes were filling, but apart from the serving of roasted tomatoes on the side, it was all a little underwhelming. Perhaps a bit more of a side salad of some sort might have spruced it up, but it was definitely slightly deficient compared to the traditional meat and rice dishes you might get in a Turkish restaurant. However, there is a huge selection of “ragouts” or stews and traditional dishes such as Baghali Polo (saffron rice with dill served with marinated chicken thigh), which I would love to try at some point as this is possibly where Golestan starts to stand out from other restaurants that serve brochettes. In any case, it is cheap and cheerful (chf 70 for 2 people with 2 drinks, 2 mains and a side dish of aubergine) and centrally-located in Paquis, so if you want a quick and tasty fill and some tasty aubergine, go here!