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Honarmandan (Place of Artists; Map; 553 4594; Imam Khomeini St; meals IR15,000-45,000; 8am-10pm) Vaulted underground eatery with an amusing if tacky ‘sculpted’ centrepiece water-feature and a choice of tables or carpeted sitting platforms. Decent kababs and rich dizi (IR15,000).

Linette (Map; 555 6483; Baroun Avak St; meals IR21,000-38,000, pizzas IR13,000-27,000, coffee IR8000-12,000; 12.30-4pm & 6.30-11pm Sat-Thu) Warm wood tones, a pseudo-Swiss wooden chimney-breast and glass-topped inset-tables create a congenial atmosphere despite the slightly cutesy Christmas theme. Try the creamy mushroom stroganoff.

Modern Tabriz Restaurant (Map; Imam Khomeini St; meals IR30,000-45,000; 11am-11pm) This good-value favourite serves great kababs and excellent fried trout in a large, basement dining hall that somehow finds a successful blend of olde-worlde charm, 1960s retro and idiosyncratic kitsch. Meal prices include ‘service’, ie salad, soft drink and delicious barley-and-barberry soup.

Kahveteria Sonati Tarbiat (Map; 554 8819; Tarbiat St; coffee IR5000-10,000; 9am-9pm) Cosy, gently romantic brick-vaulted café for tea and dates (IR10,000) served on porcelain featuring Qajar royalty. Women can smoke a qalyan here without incurring the stares of 40 bemused grey-beards.

VALIASR AREA

Although there’s the functional Al Mahdi teahouse (Map; Amir Kabir St) and the relatively upmarket Pars Restaurant (Map; 333 0048; Homam-Tabrizi St; kabab meals IR35,000-60,000; noon-4pm & 6.30-10pm) Valiasr’s speciality is pizza and people-watching from coffee shops around Karimkhan Sq.

Pizza Fanoos (Map; 332 4700; Karimkhan Sq; pizzas IR25,000; 11am-midnight) Typically small but with attractive framed glass-art and a good view-window upstairs.

Mosbat Cafe (Map; 330 2977; Karimkhan Sq; espresso IR10,000; 9am-midnight) Marginally the best of Valiasr’s trendy coffee shops thanks to its stylish downstairs triangular tables and wooden ‘bar’ seating. Upstairs is less appealing. Look for the big red-on-yellow ‘Café’ sign beside Haida Sandwich.

Good, similar alternatives to Mosbat include Sharshab (Map; 330 7741; espresso IR7000) just south of Karimkhan Sq and Orkideh (Map; 331 1146; Mokhaberat St; coffee IR5000) a block east.

ABARESAN CROSSING

En route to Valiasr or Elgoli you’ll usually need to change shared taxi here, but there are several fairly nice little pizza parlours of which Abdi (Map; 336 6245; 29 Bahman St; pizza IR25,000-30,000; 5-10.30pm) remains the most noteworthy, with black décor and real flames over the doorway. Across the busy junction, Sadaf (Map; 334 5346; 29 Bahman St; meals IR22,000-45,000; noon-10pm) is an elegant family kabab restaurant serving decent chelo morq.

ELGOLI

Baliq (Map; 385 9294; Golshahr St; meals IR20,000-50,000) Fish, fish, fish. Fresh whole fish, fish kababs, fish köfte balls in the IR20,000 salad bar, fishing nets on the ceiling, little aquariums between the tables and even fish-shaped souvenir pens. Standards are excellent, the enticing décor includes log-and-rope chairs and a cave-wall trickling with water. Get off a Rahnamae-Golshahr savari (IR1000) on 35m Sina St.

Talar Bozorg Elgoli (Map; 380 5263; Elgoli Park; meals IR30,000) Within Elgoli’s mock Qajar palace, this busy, surprisingly unpretentious family restaurant serves Tabrizi köfte, a local home-cooking speciality like a giant Scotch egg. Order ahead in winter.

Revolving Restaurant (Map; 380 7820; Hotel Elgoli, 11th fl, Elgoli Park; meals IR50,000-140,000; 7.30-11pm) A Plexiglas elevator fires you through the Hotel Elgoli’s atrium like Charlie in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory for predictably great views. The basic charge of IR50,000 entitles you to raid the soup-n-salad bar. Then add main courses including steaks, sturgeon kababs and fried shrimp.

Getting There & Away

AIR

Iran Air ( 334 9038) has direct flights twice weekly to İstanbul (one way/return IR2,080,000/2,480,000). Kish Air and Caspian Airlines both fly weekly to Dubai (IR1,140,000). Six weekly flights weekly to Mashhad