Kahto Grills is an Iranian Kababi in disguise. It takes its name from the town of Kahtuyeh in the south of Iran. Kahtuyeh, which neighbours the city of Bastak where Al Bastakiya in Dubai gets its name from, is no normal town – it is the de facto kabab capital of the south; made so in part by the legendary Ramazan Barbecue. I get the feeling that Kahto Grills fancies a little piggy backing off that legend. Point made, although Kahto’s small interior is clean and cool, it will definitely not win any design awards. But one hardly comes to these sorts of restaurants for the luxury or the bling.
Interior 
A view from the street 
Interior
Kahto’s menu is all about authentic Southern Iranian kababs, from Tikka Masti (yoghurt) to Bahraini. My food buddy, Soheil, and I ordered a half kilo mixed grill so we could sample as many of their kababs as possible. The biggest surprise was the Bahraini which arrived unappetizingly blackened. I thought it was burnt. It wasn’t. I’m told it gets this way because of the dried lime they use in its marinate. That same dried lime or noomi Basra (Iraq); limoo amani (Iran); and loomi (Oman) made the kabab taste bitter. Whatever else was used in the marinate had turned our kabab to mush. It ended up being the kabab we liked least.
This is how the kababs are brought out of the kitchen 
The unappealing blackened Bahraini 
The mixed grill served
The rest of the mixed grill comprised of the more familiar Chicken and Meat Tikka Masti, Koobideh Meat, Koobideh Chicken, Jujeh Zafarani and a spicy meat kabab I’d never had before. I felt all the kababs would have been more enjoyable if they had not been so overcooked. Other than that, they weren’t bad at all (except the Bahrani).
The Arugula Salad was a bit of a joke but the special Kahto Moutabel was interesting and, at only AED15, worth a try.
The special Kahto Moutabel is mixed at the table 
Not as good as it looks in the picture
I guess there are not a lot of English (or Persian) speakers in the Ras Al Khor area. If there were, I am sure the restaurant would have arranged for wait staff who could speak either language – neither could. The kindest I can be is to say that service was basic, very basic. That said, I am Kahto Grills will appeal to some hard-core kabab fans. If you liked the Masti at Ostadi or Al Fareej yet find yourself in the middle of Ras Al Khor, consider this little place – besides the Bahraini, the rest of the kababs make this place worth a visit.
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Xerxes physically dines at, or orders from, each and every venue he reviews. He pays in full for whatever he and his companions eat, drink, take away or occasionally throw at each other. Xerxes accepts no money, gifts, discounts or free meals in return for reviews or favouritism. What you have read was NOT influenced in any way by the venue. Join me on Instagram @ravenousxerxes or email me on xerxes@dellara.com.