If you are not able to travel far afield on an HBS trek for Spring Break, Lala Rokh offers an alternative to evade campus life, Arabian Nights style. Hidden in a quiet street, this Beacon Hill hideaway offers all that the HBS campus doesn’t: peace, romanticism and… Persian cuisine.
After stepping down a short flight of stairs, you make your way inside the half-modern, half-Persian interior. The traditional art collection puts you in the right mood in a – let’s face it – much more efficient fashion than Spangler and its regional cuisine days. While the attentive staff is trained to make you feel at home, the menu sets you off on an alluring culinary trip. The grilled “Belderchin” quail was a personal favorite, both crispy and elegant at the same time. Other home classics stand out for their shrewd use of oriental spice combinations including the mulard duck and its touch of honey. Of course, as per the Middle Eastern tradition, the menu showcases a variety of dishes for the vegetarian palate that blend very well with the different types of bread on offer.
Lala Rokh also presents a decent wine list. The owners, an immigrant family from Azerbaijan (part of the Persian Empire until the 19th century) even boast of their home country being the birthplace of wine. Annoyingly enough for a Frenchman like me, Wikipedia is on their side.
All in all, at this price and in this city, it is a challenge to find better quality, service and atmosphere than Lala Rokh.
Lala Rokh – 97 Mt. Vernon Street, Boston, MA
lalarokh.com
*** (Out of four stars)
$$ (Out of four dollar signs)
Francois Manil (HBS ’19) has traveled to 50 countries and as many Michelin-starred restaurants. His weirdest culinary experiences include winning an apple stacking competition on Chinese television and eating mustard-flavored worm jelly.
