Lala Rokh

I must admit, I hardly ever go to Beacon Hill in the summer....the amount of tourists on Charles Street usually is enough to deter me and drive me nutso but the rainy weather has seemed to keep some of the masses at bay, so I was more than happy to join my friend Julie for some good food and great company at Lala Rokh.

Lala Rokh is tucked away on Mt. Vernon street, right off of Charles St. The food is Persian and has won accolades from around the country. Seemingly small from the exterior, Lala Rokh is quite a large restaurant for the area with butter yellow walls, white table clothes, and warm lighting. Julie and I started off with some wine. The wine list was a good size with about 10 different types of wine by the glass (ranging from 7-12 dollars) and more half/full bottles that you could choose from. I got a delightful Riesling that paired perfectly with my main course.

We started off with appetizers.
(Now, before I begin, I have to tell you in advance: for some reason Lala Rokh does not publish their menu online or have take-home menus available (we thought that maybe the menu changes frequently?) so, being the consummate American, I found it very difficult to remember the names of the dishes we ordered, so you will have to pardon the lack of terms and just play along.)
We ordered two sets of appetizers. One appetizer was a beef croquet and was absolutely delicious. The croquet was a bit lemony and tangy and left our taste buds watering and wanting more. It was served with an awesome fig sauce that we happily slathered on. Our second appetizer was an eggplant tomato medley that was served chopped up—another good dish. It tasted a bit like tomato sauce (no complaints from me!). We ended up using our bread that we were given to scoop it up since it felt more like a dipping dish than something you'd eat with a fork.

For our main courses, I ordered the Loubia which is braised beef with green beans and cinnamon and pollo (pollo is not chicken, it's a type of flavored rice). The entrees were around $17-$22, but the portions were sufficient; and, by the end of my meal, I was full. My beef was excellent. It was slow-cooked, tender, and marinated with a mild sauce that reminded me of Indian food. Actually, to me, most of the food was similar in flavor to Indian food except less spicy (in my book, that's a big plus). Julie ordered another type of beef that had tomato in the sauce and it was excellent as well.

We opted out of dessert. Neither of us found anything that tickled our fancy too much. The desserts did look interesting though, most had some sort of rose water combination to them.

Overall, we had a fantastic dinner at Lala Rokh (in case you were wondering, it means Tulip Cheeks...don't worry, they explain on the back of the menu). The restaurant has a good atmosphere, great food, good portions, competitive prices, and the wait staff is friendly. If you love Indian food you will really like the food here as well. Definitely worth a trip to Beacon Hill....even in tourist season.