Arash Aminzadeh and Hassan Mohammadi with a Persian flatbread called sangak at Ziba Cafe, in Henderson. Photo / Michael Craig
Arash Aminzadeh and Hassan Mohammadi with a Persian flatbread called sangak at Ziba Cafe, in Henderson. Photo / Michael Craig
Ziba Cafe doesn't serve many dishes, but each is a sensory delight. The restaurant's Iranian owners are committed to authentic Persian cuisine and helped Amanda Saxton find a meal fit for purpose.
Choosing is hard at Ziba Cafe, in Henderson. I was in a rush one recent Sunday, yet ditheredbetween spiced shish kebabs and a slow-cooked lamb stew that looked so gosh-darn pretty. The Persian restaurant's co-owner, Arash Aminzadeh, sensed my helplessness. "Take the kebabs," he advised, gently. "That stew tastes better if you have time to eat slowly, over conversations with friends."
Aminzadeh never thought he'd end up in the food business. He studied electrical engineering in Iran and his passions have always been music and photography. Life, however, "took me somewhere unexpected", the 48-year-old says.
Aminzadeh's family fled Iran for Pakistan in 1999, as refugees. They arrived in New Zealand in 2001, four days after the September 11 attacks. In Auckland, Aminzadeh enrolled in a computer science course. But love derailed his plan: the woman he fell for was in Iran and Aminzadeh needed a concrete job to secure her New Zealand visa. So, he embarked on what became a 15-year career in retail – throughout which Aminzadeh married his love, had two sons, and practised photography in his spare time.
Vaziri with sangak bread at Ziba Cafe, Henderson. Photo / Michael Craig
Then, his friend Hassan Mohammadi imported a three-tonne oven from Iran. The plan was to start supplying Middle Eastern grocery stores with a Persian flatbread called sangak. Aminzadeh joined him and, at the end of 2019, their successful sangak business sprouted Ziba Cafe. It's the third restaurant 53-year-old Mohammadi has owned since starting his career as a dishwasher in 1998, the year he moved from Iran to New Zealand.
At Ziba, Mohammadi and Aminzadeh do everything themselves: Mohammadi in the kitchen, Aminzadeh everywhere else. Their days often go from 5am, when they start baking bread, to 8pm when the restaurant closes.
"It is madness, " admits Aminzadeh. "But we are totally focused on high-quality food and creating a good experience for our customers."
Entering Ziba feels like stepping inside a pāua shell. Colourful fabrics – sewn together by Aminzadeh's mum – cloak its ceiling and a peacock tapestry hangs across one duck egg blue wall. Persian artefacts abound, including an exquisitely sewn buttercup-yellow dress owned by Mohammadi's daughter. He bought it for her when she was 8 (she's now 20), from Iran's Azerbaijan Province, to wear at a school event celebrating cultural heritage.
A friend of Mohammadi supplied the bright kilim cushions that soften bench seats on one side of the restaurant. Sturdy wood tables are prettied up with pots of flowers. Aminzadeh assures me the decor was done with lots of love and little budget.
At Ziba, Arash Aminzadeh and Hassan Mohammadi do everything themselves: Mohammadi in the kitchen, Aminzadeh everywhere else. Photo / Michael Craig
Ziba's menu is careful and short. Mohammadi and Aminzadeh don't want to tweak Persian cuisine for the Kiwi palate. Instead, they serve authentic dishes that naturally appeal to heat-sensitive Kiwi tongues (so long as you're an omnivorous Kiwi; there are no vegetarian options). You'll find three types of shish kebab, two stews and assortment sides.
Let's start with the kebabs. Koobideh is grilled lamb mince, chenjeh is lamb chunks and joojeh is chicken breast. Mohammadi marinates each mouth-watering morsel for at least 24 hours, which he says is the secret to good Persian meat. Lamb is soused in coriander powder, paprika and turmeric; chicken in saffron, cayenne, and yoghurt. They're served with grilled tomatoes, salad and either sangak bread or saffron rice ($25-$42). I got the koobideh that Sunday, and swooned.
Hearty dizi ($28) – named for the stone pot it is cooked in – is a peasant stew of lamb-on-the-bone, chickpeas, white beans, potatoes and dried limes. It likes companions: you'll get fresh sangak bread, pickles, and mast-o-khiar (Persian tzatziki) at Ziba. Dizi is the dish Aminzadeh advised time-poor me to save to savour with friends.
While the other stew, Ghormeh Sabzi ($25), contains diced lamb, herbs are the hero here. It starts off as a mountain of fresh parsley, coriander, and spinach, sauteed down into dark green sludge. Fenugreek leaves add sweetness. Dried limes lend an intriguing, bitter edge. It's deep and delicious and not unlike Indian saag.
Ziba had a stop-start entry to the market, opening just before Covid struck. But it's built up a loyal customer base. Iranians, especially, drive long distances to eat here. One couple comes up from Taupō every weekend, Mohammadi says. Maybe not only for Ziba, but they do make a point of dropping in each visit. Henderson is a melting pot suburb and Aminzadeh and Mohammadi say they've enjoyed introducing people from all backgrounds to Persian cuisine.
Ask anyone who's travelled through Iran what stood out to them most, and I bet they'll bring up the warmth and kindness of locals. This hospitable spirit, I'm pleased to report, is alive and well at Ziba.
Ziba Cafe 386 Great North Rd, Henderson Opening hours: Tuesday 11.30am-3pm, Wednesday-Saturday 11am-8pm, Sunday noon-3pm. Ph: (09) 218 1111 Dine in and takeaway BYO (wine only) and licensed (beer and wine sold)
