Shiraz restaurant is a Persian restaurant in Clarke Quay that serves authentic Persian cuisine and is also one of the few places that still have their shisha license until the official end date on the 31st July of this year when it’ll become illegal in Singapore.
The interior of Shiraz is elegant with a middle eastern feel to it and they serve a variety of stews, kebabs, starters, soups, salads and desserts. The Chef’s Signature Platter ($25) is a good option to go for as a starter and it’s great for sharing. It includes small portions of the four most popular appetisers on their menu – Kufteh-Ye Anar-O Pesteh (ground minced lamb meatball drizzled with pomegranate sauce and pistachio), Kashk-E-Bademjan (roasted mashed aubergine with sun-dried yoghurt, mint and fried onion), Hummus (garbanzo beans mixed with tahini, garlic, lemon and olive oil) and Borani Esfanaj (blend of sautéed spinach with onion, yoghurt and garlic).
All the starters in the Chef’s Signature Platter were delicious, the lamb meatball was juicy and the other starters went really well with the complimentary flatbread. We were also given a small complimentary spinach, mint, spring onion and tomato salad with feta cheese.
For the main, my friend and I shared a Boneless Chicken Shish Kebab ($38) which is basically grilled, marinated boneless chicken legs. It came with butter basmati rice flavoured with saffron and a grilled tomato, chilli, carrot and potato. The chicken was really good, it had a lovely chargrilled taste and was very tender. The rice was nice and it came with a saffron rice cake which was a bit dry and unfortunately wasn’t much to my liking.
The entire meal was very enjoyable overall and although it is a little pricey, the portions are big and very filling. There was even a belly dancer to entertain us at regular intervals throughout the dinner.
It’s not really the place to have a nice glass of wine though as all the wine on their menu was unavailable because they had apparently changed their wine menu even though we were still given the old one. So we asked for a dry, white wine which I’m not entirely sure what it was as I got a kind of vague reply from the manager when I asked, but it wasn’t particularly nice. I had a glass of prosecco too afterwards which was ok except that it came with a fly in it, but this was replaced when I informed them. They also don’t serve iced/tap water by the way.
Service at Shiraz is fairly efficient and the manager is friendly. He reserved a table for us outside so that we could have shisha afterwards as it gets very busy later on in the night. Shisha is $42 where a maximum number of 2 people can share it. They only had mint and apple flavour available on the night we were there so we chose to have mint together with some Persian tea.
It was very relaxing sitting outside even though it’s right in the heart of Clarke Quay where all the bars and restaurants are but it’s a good spot for people watching and enjoying the liveliness of the area. Shiraz also have several takeaway outlets in Singapore including one just opposite the restaurant called Shiraz Mazzeh where you can get takeaway kebabs and falafel wraps.
Shiraz Restaurant and Bar
Address: 3A River Valley Road, #01-06 Clarke Quay, Singapore 179020 (Nearest MRT: Clarke Quay)
Tel: 6334 2282
Opening Hours: Monday – Thursday: 6.30pm – 11pm, Friday & Saturday: 12pm – 3pm, 6.30pm – 2.30am, Sunday: 6.30pm – 2.30am
Hope you’ve enjoyed my Shiraz review, please feel free to leave a comment below with your own review or if you have any questions!
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