Persian tea room Pomegranate may not be sophisticated, but it’s a delight

Attempts at culinary appropriation aren’t always successful; we all know chefs who have had a go at ‘traditional’ world fare and fallen short. No, said mole. It’s run by an Iranian family, it’s the genuine article. I continued to resist until one day he sent me a picture of what resembled a Sabrina Ghayour feast: bowls of creamy hummus and baba ganoush, plump flat breads studded with toasted seeds, bowls of bejewelled yoghurt and pots of ruby tea. Regular readers of these food pages will be familiar with British-Iranian chef and author Sabrina Ghayour; her debut cookbook Persiana became a bestseller, she’s a familiar face on TV and her recipes are regularly featured here since she made Yorkshire her home.

It’s a miserable Saturday lunchtime, with driving rain and fog thick enough to slice. I’m questioning the wisdom of the journey, but the welcome is so warm the weather is forgotten in an instant. The smells coming from the tiny kitchen are tantalising and no time is wasted ordering; maast-o-khiar is like Greek tzatziki - velvety strained yoghurt with cucumber and mint, topped with dried rose petals. Literally the finest hummus I’ve had in a long time lands, smooth as double cream with a sweetly piquant note, and a bowl of baba ganoush, a Persian staple. My attempts at making this have always ended badly, but here, the smoky aubergine, tahini, garlic, yoghurt and lemon topped with a swirl of sumac isn’t just a feast for the eyes, it has terrific depth of flavour. You scoop these beauties up with squares of whole wheat, leavened sangak flatbread. I look it up and discover there are as many types of bread in Iran as there are street corners. Traditionally the bread of the Persian army, sangak is mentioned for the first time in the 11th century. Each soldier carried a small quantity of pebbles which at camp were brought together to create the "sangak oven" that would bake the bread for the entire army. It’s made the same way today and you can see the bumps on the bread from being laid on the stones.

We’re perhaps familiar with falafel as a go-to veggie option in restaurants – but for the uninitiated they’re a sort of street food, made with ground chick peas, crunchy on the outside, fluffy and herby within – and here they literally melt in the mouth. Soosis Bandari is a spicy Persian sausage dish and it’s cooked here with caramelised onions and sweet peppers and served with a soft pitta for mopping it up. Every day they make a ‘special’ and today it’s Gheymeh Nesar: lamb stew over rice shot through with orange zest, pistachios and almonds. The lamb is slow cooked for around five hours with spices including cardamom, cinnamon and saffron from Iran – the best you can get, according to Hamideh, whose mother sends it regularly from back home. The meltingly tender meat sits on a plate of rice that looks as if it’s had a handful of jewels strewn over it – just stunning.

One defining feature of Iranian or Persian cuisine is that you are going to find bread and rice served with almost all of the dishes; ash (casseroles), kebabs, and stews are also staples and today’s is Baghala Ghatoogh, a northern Iranian dish flavoured with dill and an explosion of spices, colours and textures: creamy green lima and fava beans, saffron rice and saffron-infused chicken the colour of gold all topped with a fried egg. It’s fiercely garlicky and a fabulous plate of food.

Hamideh and Massoud Qafouri have been in the UK for 20 years and their story is one worth telling. Hamideh worked in the stock market in Tehran and her husband was a textile engineer, leaving behind “the best life we had” when they sought asylum. They fetched up in Middlesbrough – Hamideh going to college in the town to learn catering while Massoud went to Stockton College to do the same, where he discovered he had a natural talent in the kitchen and won all the awards. Hamideh didn’t speak any English but “a fabulous woman gave me a job in the Hope Foundation Café where I learnt from her and the lovely customers”. They ended up running a successful supper club and friends encouraged them to open a restaurant. They’d been living in Great Ayton for 15 years when the building came up for rent and they jumped at the chance, opening in February this year, with Hamideh’s sister Sara working front of house – with immense charm and warmth. “Our friends in the village were a little worried on our behalf when we said we were going to serve Persian food but we stuck to our guns, though we made some small adjustments to what we thought they would like. They love it now and have supported us tremendously!”

Under glass by the counter are piles of home made scones, brownies and flapjacks, but when in Persia, only baklava will do – and here there’s a fabulous selection including cream-filled, chocolate and more traditional almond and pistachio – all soaked in syrup and super-sweet. With a pot of cardamom tea they’re the real deal.

Don’t go expecting sophisticated, precisely presented food. But do go for fragrant, aromatic all-the-colours-of-the-rainbow food which will fill and delight you in equal measure. Oh, and to be greeted like a long-lost cousin.

Pomegranate Persian Tea Room, 5 Park Square, Great Ayton, Middlesbrough TS9 6BP t: 01642 958764

Sunday to Thursday 9 – 4

Friday/Saturday 9 – 6

Closed Tuesday