| Elegant Persian restaurant with laid back ambience and flavorful dishes. |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 10/24/2007
Rating: 9
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When Dominic mentioned this American-Italian-Persian restaurant I immediately had my doubts. It's hard enough to do one cuisine properly why burden yourselves with multiple palettes? With a name like Arya, we'd play it safe and stick to the Persian food.
The atmosphere is one of the nicer dining accommodations you can get in Cupertino. The exterior of the building does not do justice to what the interior holds for the customer. It's nice enough for those formal business meetings yet menu prices cheap enough for jatbar fans to be proud of.
Service at Arya is top notch with the waiter ensuring all our lunch needs were met. Very polite and genuine unlike the fake attitudes you get at those uninspired restaurant chains. Waters and bread arrived at our table in less than 5 minutes. My knife had soap residue on it and when the waiter arrived at my table, I informed him at the problem. He carefully looked at the knife, disapproved of it's condition, walked briskly back to the kitchen, inspected the new knife, and apologized. He was completely serious about the whole incident and I just kept thinking, wow...this waiter really cares. I've always had outstanding service at Alexander's Steakhouse and Fontana's Italian and I think Arya could share the same prestige.
My lunch order,
koobideh - seasoned ground beef on a skewer. Not to belittle the dish or anything, if you haven't had koobideh. It's pretty much hamburger meat seasoned with middle eastern spices. When cooked right it's one of the tastiest and most affordable dishes you can get. Arya seasoned it just right with each bite gushing with flavorful juices. I don't think it's quite better than Chelokababi but it's close. In between the cuts of meat were onions and bell peppers with beautiful grilling. There's no surcharge for the tomato either, big bonus points.
basmati rice - it's very good and buttery, saffron taste was on the lighter side which is kind of a letdown. Large potion, so I'm happy again.
The lunch menu prices range from budget $7 to $13 and you get fine tablecloths. Imagine that, $7, I can have Chelo Kabab (Koobideh) which is nearly the same price you'd pay for a meal at a McDonalds. My meal came with 2 types of free bread, 1 skewer of charbroiled seasoned beef, basmati rice, and grilled tomato. All for $7 and I get fancy utensils, waters refilled religiously, and exotic food. Great price for what you get.
Food and service were both excellent. There's no reason why I shouldn't give a 9. Parking is plentiful and people were friendly.
The bottom line, Chelokababi is one of jatbar's favorites. The food at Chelokababi edges out Arya just slightly but when it comes to service, Arya destroys Chelokababi. If you love Chelokababi, please give Arya a try. I think you'll approve of their tasty dishes and be thoroughly satisfied with entire dining experience.
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Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 739
Reviewed: 10/26/2007
Rating: 9
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Wow, I didn't have super high expectations coming here. Had no previous reviews to consult beforehand. Thought the place looked expensive and probably had better-than-average food. And had the lingering question in the back of my mind - did they keep the Jeep in the entrance lobby from when the building was previously occupied by Lori's?
We enter and the place is VERY upscale looking as expected. It was not too crowded, and little alarms went off in my head - perhaps this place is overpriced substandard food? We are seated quickly and scan the menus. Indeed the prices are high.
We are joined by Dominic today and he chooses the Tadig appetizer for us to start with. Its a crunchy rice dish combined with a few sauces. For my main meal, I settle on the vegetarian kebab.
I was starving today and it helped that we had a bread basket on the table. I attacked it and found the bread quite enjoyable. They offered both a flatbread as well as a more airy bread.
There was some meat in the tadig dish, but it was easy to push aside and dig into the sauces. They were all good, but I preferred the spinach myself. I would definitely order this again, the crunchy rice (formed by being at the charred bottom of the rice cooker) is a delicious start to the meal.
The veggie kabob arrived and looked like a LOT of food. Even with my extreme hunger, I felt comfortable offering Jason and Dominic some of the veggies.
I dug into it ravenously. The rice was rich and buttery, but a tad below the richness of Chelokebabi, but otherwise, everything on my plate was highly addicting. The vegetables were OUTSTANDING, especially the mushrooms. The charred flavor was intense and oh so delicious. I think overall this place edges out Chelokebabi (by a quarter point) - I think the fact that it wasn't as crowded helped this day as well. The owner came by and asked us about our meals and was quite gracious. The service was very attentive.
I cannot wait to return. I probably will order the same veggie kebab too - so damn good. Welcome to the neighborhood Arya!
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Reviewer: pyunnyhana
Total Reviews: 47
Reviewed: 12/21/2008
Rating: 9
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It was my 22nd birthday and a friend wanted to treat me out. I wanted to try a different cuisine, and Arya came to mind since I have never tried Persian food. The "Persian-Italian" aspect of the restaurant somewhat had me doubt the place, but I was very pleasantly surprised with the food and decor.
Complementary bread, butter, oil:
They give you two different types of bread and it was fresh, unlike some other restaurants that give you stale ones. No complaints here.
Sambosa:
Excellent! The potato stuffing inside was extremely flavorful and full of spice. I think there's five to an order. Even when I reached for the last piece, it was still steaming hot inside.
Curried chicken:
Very buttery and rich with chicken, carrots and potatoes. It came with rice and I LOVED how they also give you the crunchy rice from the bottom of the pan. I broke it off and dipped it into the curry.
Chicken Shishkabob:
Although it looks plain (comes with the chicken, rice and charred tomato), the white meat was very juicy and flavorful with a hint of lemon.
All dishes above would be repeat orders. Everything was so good that I called up two of my other friends and told them I would take them here next time. Service was great and the atmosphere seemed pretty classy too. The bill for the three dishes above came out to be around $30.
I might try some of the Italian dishes next time.
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Reviewer: DoctorJZ
Total Reviews: 32
Reviewed: 12/23/2008
Rating: 9
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persian-itallian-american, sounds like attempting too many things, so even though i live so close, i have waited a long while to try arya. due to high ratings on jatbar, i knew this place was worth a try.
stopped in around 130 for a late lunch. the place was not busy, but not totally empty.
immediately, i noticed a very well dressed staff. i was led into an elegent interior. i believe the person who greeted me and seated me was a manager of some type, possibly the general manager. very well dressed.
i was sat near the empty bar by a table near an actual gas fireplace. wow. very impressive. nice cloth napkins. nice long, heavy silverware.
i am a novice when it comes to persian (is it really different than mediterranian?)...so i took my time with the menu. it was a bit overwhelming, but everything looked good.
i was told that the last two pages of the menu were the lunch menu, and there was an impressive selection ranging from $6.95 to around $12-15.
add a soup or salad to any entree for $2.50.
after looking over the menu for quite a while, i settled on the first item. chelo kebab (kaboodeh): a skewer of seasoned ground beef a char-grilled (or roasted?) tomato, and was it basmatti rice? topped with saffron? if my memory serves, that is what i got.
the rice was a little plain, maybe i should have added a little butter and black pepper. it wasn't bad, there was plenty of it, but i only ate about half. it tasted much better when mixed with the keboodeh and tomato. the waiter offered me onions, i thought aloud "ok" he brought me a quarter of a raw onion, unsliced. a bit weird, i thought. i sliced a little, and mixed it with the meat, rice and tomato. it was good. a little to much work to slice neatly, and not really needed, in my opinion.
the kebab was good. subtly seasoned. pretty tender. not a dish to die for, but really this meal was only $6.95. think of how much you paid last time you ate at jack in the box, or even taco bravo!
i added the soup for $2.50, and as it was a cold day, this was a good choice. i had a choice of minestrone or some persian named soup(i am not even gonna try to remember the spelling), which it looks like they may serve every day, and i went with the persian soup. it included lentils, pinto beans, noodles, and some greens, possibly including spinach. it tasted and felt like a cross between a minestrone and a split pea. it was very good on a cool day.
my small water glass was filled before it was ever empty, and the same was true for my hot tea. before my last sip, the waiter brought a new, hot, glass and removed the last sip and the near empty glass.
the meal also came with a very generous helping of bread. a flat lavosh style was kind of plain. maybe i was supposed to eat that with my entree? it tasted similar to a flour tortilla. there was a fluffy type of focaccia. very fluffy. pretty good. the bread was not warm (too bad), but it was clearly fresh. served with butter, oil, and vinegar.
this place hits on all marks.
i tend to favor cheap meals/high values over fancy interiors and excellent service, but when they are all combined, the result is hard to comprehend. like:"did i just have such a nice, large meal, with such outstanding service, in such a classy restaurant, and my bill really only came to $13 including tax, beverage, soup, etc?"
full bar. live music/belly dance, and things going on on some nights. a classy place.
after all the lame eateries that have occupied this space, i am thankful, and sort of in a state of shock, that something so nice and so inexpensive is so close to home.
dinners were more expensive, but still reasonable. it looked like i could get the same dish i had for lunch, but with three skewers instead of one for around $15-17.
i will go back here soon, and recommend this place to friends.
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