Mohsen Restaurant provides Bangkok with a taste of Iranian (or Persian) cuisine, which shares much in common with the rest of the Middle East, only with milder, more-restrained flavors. That puts it in a league with just one other local restaurant we know of: Pan Road’s Persian House.

Recent visits to both prove Mohsen to be the more popular—possibly to do with the prices. A lamb shank here with meat falling from the bone will cost you B350, while at Persian House you’ll be charged B470. The atmosphere here is akin to your average Soi Nana Middle Eastern diner—faux-white-leather cushioned seats, glass-covered tables, white-washed walls and mock-classical pillars. It’s not exciting, but clean and well-organized.

Unfortunately, the all-essential bread (B30/piece) here tastes chewy and not fresh, far below the puffy, soft, crusty standards of some places, while the minty eggplant dip with crispy garlic (B170) is also underwhelming in flavor. But it’s not all bad news. Mohsen makes a superb hummus (B120) that’s creamy, not-at-all watery and, most-importantly, dressed with the perfect amount of oil.

The Bakhtiyari kebabs (B220)—a platter of ground beef, beef fillet and chicken kebabs—reveal excellently grilled meat that’s tender and never dry, complete with a juice-absorbing piece of bread underneath. We also like the fizzy Persian yogurt drink called doogh (B50), whose tanginess and subtle saltiness provide a new but pleasant taste experience.

But back to that lamb shank. While it might be cheaper than Persian House, it also has a shallower depth of flavor—something that can also be said of the cold-and-tasteless fava-bean rice that comes with it. And that’s our abiding feeling of dinner at Mohsen. While it provides the city’s cheaper introduction to Persian food, we can think of a half-dozen other Middle Eastern restaurants where the prices are comparable, the dishes not all that different, and the flavors and textures in a different league. No alcohol 

This review took place in February 2018 and is based on a visit to the restaurant without the restaurant's knowledge. For more on BK's review policy, click here.