Rumi’s Kitchen

Persian cuisine gets an update at this high-energy Mount Vernon Square eatery teeming with Middle Eastern hipsters who share platters heaped with grilled meats and mounds of herb-, nut-, and dried-fruit-studded rice. Lamb plates (whether kebabs, shanks, or rack) are a routinely delicious go-to, but buttery, saffron-scented hunks of lightly charred Chilean sea bass are an unexpected pleasure. Ditto for chinjeh lubia polo, spiced sirloin with pickles and shallot yogurt fanned on housemade flatbread—all the better to soak up the juices. Cocktails enlivened with rose water, black lime, and tea bitters pair well with mezze such as black-pepper shrimp and eggplant with tangy cream of whey and crisp onions.