Iran - Andrew Burke [156]
Meraj Hotel ( 823 3288; Modarres St; s/tw IR150,000/250,000) Mosaferkhaneh-style rooms albeit with small shower booths and squat toilets. Access up stairs guarded by a stuffed goat.
MIDRANGE & TOP END
Karbala Hotel ( 727 3665; fax 727 5999; Parking Shahrderi; s/d with breakfast US$25/37; ) There are some attractive mouldings in the foyer, but the recently redecorated rooms at Karbala remain fairly characterless with war-torn bathrooms.
Dariush Hotel ( 722 7001; Motahhari Blvd; s/d IR300,000/350,000; ) Partial redecoration has failed to rid the Dariush of its 1970’s atmosphere, typified by the Blue Peter DIY look of the corridor ceilings. Room décor now uses a pleasant coffee-and-cream colour scheme, but bathrooms (with Western toilet) are distinctly aging.
Bisotun Hotel (Kashani St) Kermanshah’s most delightful old hotel is sadly closed for now while the owner (wanting to demolish it) battles with the government (trying to protect the lovely building).
Jamshid Hotel ( 429 9666; fax 429 6002; Kuhnavand Sq, Taq-e Bostan; d/tw/tr/ste US$58/87/112/136) Easily the best of Kermanshah’s top-end hotels the new Jamshid Hotel has an eccentric white-stone ‘castle’ façade, but interior décor and service are elegantly international and restrained. Rooms have all the usual extras down to minibar, kettle and logo-ed slippers.
Hotel-Apartment Lizhan ( 721 0102; fax 727 6666; Motahhari Blvd; apt IR600,000; ) Self-contained apartments with full kitchens sleep up to six in two bedrooms, which might have a 1970’s Cindy Doll feel but are 110% clean, comfy and new. The perfumed entranceway features Leonardo’s ‘Last Supper’; well, not the original obviously.
Eating
Around Azadi Sq and on Motahhari Blvd near Ojak Crossing there are snack stalls and confectioners selling Kermanshah’s archetypal Nan Berenji cookies (literally ‘bread-rice’; a round semi-sweet confection that’s usually yellow and flavoured with saffron). There’s a great concentration of kabab cafés and open-air teahouses near the Taq-e Bostan carvings and several restaurants around Kashani Sq.
Chelokababi Tavakol ( 722 7184; Modarres St; meals IR18,000-25,000; 11.30am-3pm & 5.30-9pm) This would be the backpacker meeting place, if there were any backpackers. Excellent value Iranian food is served in an atmospheric once-grand old bathhouse that’s slightly gone-to-seed. Charming owner Ali Rahban looks somewhat like Dudley Moore, speaks good English and can rustle up eggplant delights for vegetarians. Head downstairs through white-framed doors with coloured glass panels.
Borj Pizza ( 728 9741; Shahid Ashrafi St; medium pizzas IR21,000-26,000; 10am-2.30pm & 5-10pm) Though not quite as swish as nearby Zagros Pizza, its unusually good Borj Special Pizza (IR26,000) has enough flavour that you don’t need to reach immediately for the ketchup. Rare indeed in Iran.
Eram Restaurant ( 727 8506; Bahmany Bldg, Shahid Ashrafi St; meals IR22,000-50,000; 9am-3pm & 6-10.30pm) Beneath the same fake 1920’s-style tower building as Borj Pizza, Eram’s staff are as eccentric as its wavy brickwork interior, which culminates in green-bronze framed copies of the Bisotun reliefs. It serves mainly kababs, but does fesenjun at lunchtime.
Homa ( 723 4246; Kashani/Dabir Azam Sts; meals IR30,000-55,000; noon-3pm & 7-11pm) Combining the atmosphere of a teahouse with the calm elegance of an upmarket restaurant, Homa has embroidered tablecloths and blue-brick dining niches ranged around a gently trickling fountain. Though not a patch on homemade equivalents, the semi-sweet fesenjun (IR30,000) is ideally complemented by their acidic dugh (churned sour milk or yogurt mixed with water).
Jamshid Restaurant ( 424 4185; basement, Jamshid Hotel; meals IR45,000-85,000; noon-3pm & 8-9.30pm, longer in summer) Surveyed by a gigantic bronze eagle and huge samovar, this unusual dining room is cut in two by an artificial ‘stream’. Try the local speciality khoresht khalol