Beryani is Isfahan's signature dish: finely minced lamb mixed with dried fenugreek and spices, pan-fried and served inside warm flatbread. The best versions are found at small specialist shops in and around the Grand Bazaar that open at 7am and sell out by noon. The most famous establishments have been in the same family for generations and have queues out the door by 9am on weekends. It is not elegant food — you eat standing at a counter or perched outside — but it is one of the most distinctive things you can eat in Iran. Ask your hotel or the bazaar stallholders to point you to whichever shop is considered the best that season; the consensus shifts but the quality at the top is consistently high.
Beryani Esfahani
The morning dish unique to Isfahan — minced lamb in flatbread