Qasr Al Shams Café & Restaurant is a newly opened Iranian shisha parlour and restaurant on Al Muteena Road in Deira. Spread over two floors, the lower of which is the café and shisha parlour, its interior is sparkly and has a never-been-used-before look. Mujtaba, the head chef, is from Mashhad in the northeast of Iran which suggested that the braised meats, khoresh and lamb chops would be good. So, that’s what we ordered – braised lamb’s neck (gardan), mixed grill and khoresh samplers. As suspected, the lamb’s neck was very good (but not in the same league as Cando or Toranj) as was the khoresh gheimeh, but the rest was…forgettable. Service, compliments of a friendly Persian-speaking Egyptian (how bizarre), was as good as could be expected. One must remember that this is a shisha parlour which is also a restaurant, and in that context the dining experience was good. I wouldn’t travel across town for it but if I were in the area, I would definitely consider going back for some of that amazing braised lamb’s neck…
A view from the street 
Shisha parlour and cafe 
Upstairs (non-smoking) dining area 
That’s the extent of the dessert they have…healthy 
Khoresh Ghormeh Sabzi (top) and Khoresh Ghaimeh
#1 Food Blogger on Zomato Dubai – 2018, 2019 and 2020
Xerxes (pronounced Zûrk’seez) 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 his culinary journey on Instagram: @ravenousxerxes or reach out to him via email on xerxes@dellara.com.