Lala Rokh

the ambiance is warm and private, service is helpful, and the menu is satisfyingly Persian. i also appreciated the iranian art work and photography that hangs on the walls. i felt a little frustrated by the misleading names on the menu (the lamb kebab is actually a lamb shank and one of the appetizers is named like dumplings but it’s sauteed mushrooms instead). that aside, i had a delicious meal with my mom and best friend at Lala Rokh. my mom barely eats and is very picky about her Persian food (she’s Persian). she loved the lamb dolma and mint /​feta salad here. my best friend and i LOVED the lamb «kebab» (shank!), very juicy and flavorful, but the winner of the night was the pear + rosewater compote. OH MY GOODNESS!!! it was a whole pear, heavily poached (was poached to the point of a sponge consistency) with sugared rosewater, sitting in a pistachio and rosewater «sauce». if this compote had a little less sugar, it would easily be one of the best things that i’ve ever ordered while dining out. will definitely try recreating it at home.

Overly priced, mediocre Iranian food. The soup was cold, the musir barely had any garlic and the lavash/​peta was cold and old. Very disappointed. The service was good, but no way I’m wasting my money in this place again.

Sorry Lala Rokh the food and service are not that great and I believe you know about it but have decided to let it go. I have never been to a Persian restaurant that serves only one piece of bread to each guest, has smaller portions, the staff do not attempt to ask how the food is because perhaps they anticipate the response, or serves Kabob (may have been this one time or this one Sultani dish) that you need to add spice to it to avoid the taste. I am not writing this review to put the restaurant down but to bring it to the management attention. Your location is great and atmosphere is good and maybe the tourist clients do not mention the food because they know they are not coming back.

Lala Rokh has a nice, romantic atmosphere and beautiful décor. The food is good, not outstanding– but good. I grew up near «Tehrangeles» and my childhood best friend’s Persian so I know Iranian food really well. I would recommend Lala Rokh to explore a different type of cuisine but I don’t think the quality or preparation is worth the high price.
We had the chicken kabob as an entrée. It was juicy, well-​cooked, and tender. However, it was too plain paired with the mediocre saffron rice. I feel like you could get this somewhere for a quarter of the price. I would highly recommend also ordering the homemade yogurt– this poured on top, saved the entrée. For mezzes, the roasted eggplant and tomato purée was delicious but avoid ordering the lackluster scallop mezze.

Just had an absolutely terrific meal at la la rokh on Beacon Hill. Highlights: Nader, our server, went above and beyond to explain menu, offer suggestions, and help us understand portion sizes (2 to 4 small plates per person equals an entrée). Take his word for it when he tells you to order the scallops small plate. My only regret is that we didn’t order two of them. I also loved the deliciously spiced calamari. The kale and beet salad was terrific, as was the sirloin tip kebab. Topped off with delightful saffron ice cream. We will be back soon.

It’s a bit pricey and small-​portion, but the food quality and service were impeccable. The grilled liver and braised tongue appetizers were really good. The lamb shank entrée was also pretty tasty. We will come back when passing by the neighbourhood.

This is one of my favorite places for dinner! Not only does the salmon make me come back every time, but the service is always quick and friendly. One of the waiters, Mustafa is also the reason that we keep coming back! So hospitable that he makes us feel like we’re in a home away from home.
Thank you Mustafa!
Thank you staff!
And thank you guys for always making us feel so welcome :)

Great quality of ingredients, great wine selection and a unique ambience in the heart of Beacon Hill. Professional staff, which is not common for middle eastern businesses (I’m middle eastern myself, and I approve this message).
Portions are very small. But again, this place is about quality!

The ambiance is really nice. Good decoration and very nice staff. The food is not the most authentic Persian, I’m vegetarian and was satisfied with the options, but I think carnivores would question the authenticity of the kababs.

Shamir C was a fantastic server. He made great suggestions for dishes to pick and made the experience feel personal and memorable. Looking forward to eating here again. Thank you Shamir!

A couple of weeks ago, a dear friend treated me and a large group of our friends to dinner here. I was very impressed with the menu offerings and the service. This was my first time dining at an Iranian restaurant, but the server was more than willing to help us out with describing some of the dishes and providing recommendations.
I opted for the trout stuffed with almonds and fruits with saffron rice. It couldn’t have been better. Very flavorful, big portion and delicious. I ended the evening with Saffron ice cream and baklava for dessert. I didn’t know what to expect because I thought that was a weird flavor for an ice cream, but it delicious. I was pleasantly surprised with the baklava. I had written it off as something I didn’t like because I had it once at a lebanese restaurant. I guess some places make it better or have a different take on it.
I will definitely return when I’m back in Boston.

Lala Rokh has been on my list for a long time, and I was not disappointed.
The menu was diverse, not too confusing, many options. Many meals can be made as vegetarian with simple substitutions. The ingredients were varied, fresh, and very appealing. The presentation was fantastic. Staff were very helpful, attentive, polite, and professional. The wine list is varied with some good depth.
Everything was done to make sure that our meal was enjoyable — the attention to detail was much appreciated! I would definitely go back!

Unfortunately, I think my fiancé and I showed up for dinner on an evening when the restaurant was short-​staffed. This one detail led to longer than expected wait times in between dishes (we ordered small plates) and then a very long wait for the check. So my review is biased because I have very little patience for poor service, whatever the reason. If this was the only thing that went wrong, I would consider giving LaLa Rokh another chance but…
We ordered the potato patties and had to send them back — far too salty. The chicken croquets were tasty but alas, arrived lukewarm. The pita bread was so stale it crunched. I really wanted to love LaLa Rokh but all in all a big disappointment. Will not return.

The people who work here are super nice. I love the location in Beacon Hill, and the ambiance of the restaurant. But the food is a nono. It is not traditional Persian food, and quite tasteless and too much $$$ for what it is.

We found this restaurant on a quiet Tuesday afternoon. We were the only ones in the place. The décor is nice and modern.
We order the kash-​bademjan (eggplant appetizer) with lavash bread. The eggplant was very tasty, though surprising to pay an additional $ 4 for the bread since most persian restaurants off it for free.
For lunch, we ordered 3 dishes: Barg kabab, koobideh kabab and lamb shank with fava bean rice. The best was the lamb shank, quite flavorful. The barg was also very tasty and well cooked, though real barg is made with tenderloin and this version was a bit thicker, using sirloin. Still it was very tender and flavorful. The koobideh was initially undercooked (showing rareness) so we sent it back. When it returned, it was well done but became rather dry and tough.
The server/​manager was very polite and accommodating.

On all three of my visits, I’ve been supremely satisfied with the food (and cocktails). For those of us who are less familiar with Middle Eastern cuisine, I consider Lala Rokh to be a place for adventurous eaters, only because I have no idea what I’m getting when ordering! But I’m always pleasantly surprised. I recommend going family style: a few appetizers and a couple entrees should suit a small group. The eggplant dip is must, you can’t go wrong with any of the lamb and chicken entrees, and be sure to get a yogurt dip on the side. Most recently, I ordered the stuffed trout and was naively surprised when a whole fish was placed in front of me (not sure what I was expecting?!). Either way, it was delicious! Stuffed with dried fruits and nuts, it was sweet, savory and satisfying.
The cocktails are also excellent — my favorite is the gin/​rose water/​cucumber drink — but any of the martinis are great too.
The service is definitely slow — specifically the drink service — but as long as you have good company you won’t be bothered! Think of it as a place to go to catch up with an old friend. Not a place to go for a quick bite before a show.
Come hungry, adventurous, and not in a rush and you’ll leave full bellied and happy.

Excellent persian cuisine at a good price. The eggplant dip was a delicious blend with mint and garbanzo while the lamb kebob (really just a chop) was cooked to perfection.
We ate at the and the service was prompt, informative, and cheerful. The atmosphere is a great balance between formal and family run and welcoming.
Definitely doing back!

I was extremely happy with food quality. Very nice and cozy environment and very good drinks.

Food: the food here was solidly spectacular! We tried an array of exotically named apps, each of which was divine, and then split 2 entrees between four of us (the apps were filling). What stands out in my mind:
— bread — Turkish style with sesame seeds
— calf tongue app — it was stewed with mushrooms and turmeric, mmmm
— duck in pomegranate sauce — something to dream about for at least a week after you taste it
Service: they meant well, but…
— took them 20 min to bring us water and take our drink orders
— put in the wrong apps order, thus brought us the wrong apps, then we had to wait for the right apps
— took forever to brig our entrees
— when we ordered more drinks, took 20 min to bring them, AND two separated waiters came to take that order — first we told one, then 15 min later, we asked another to check up on it. Our drinks were glasses of wine. I suppose they didn’t grow the grapes onsite, so wasn’t sure why it took so long
–they are nice, and told us they’d comp some of our apps because of all the errors and delays — they didn’t, so we had to even send the check back to be updated
Ambience: nicely decorated but nothing eye catching. Given the exotic food, I’m surprised how blah the décor was. I would come here again because I love Persian food and want a fix, but not on a date, not on a double date, not if i wanted to be out in less than 2.5 hours and not if I had out of town visitors.

Lala Rokh kind of dissapointed me. I haven’t been in years, and I remembered it being more exotic and interesting than it was. It looks a little downtrodden and in need of TLC physically as well as in the food department.
I had mushrooms over polenta for an app, and it was nothing i couldn’t have made better at home and made better (i had it because my partner doesn’t eat mushrooms.)
My entrée of lamb kebabs /​lamb kofta with grilled veggies and a dollop of grains (bulgar?) was well cooked, but unseasoned. This is not what i expect from «persian» cooking — this was at best the quality of a hole-​in-​the-​wall greek deli.
Maybe they’re stretched too thin with other restaurants in their group?