Fifteen minutes from the center of Halifax on the Bedford Highway there lies beautiful Peresopolis. I was taken there for another birthday lunch! A lovely wee Iranian market and cafe.

Inside there is a wealth of foodstuffs and interesting items to be had. I had fun looking around. Gorgeously displayed.

Shisha/ ḡalyān/ hookahs( they have many names) and supplies, dried figs, fruits, seeds, packets of biscuits, tinned goods, tea sets, something for everyone.

Camran and Vida Khandan are the owners and rebuilt the place themselves using no contracters. Really a labour of love. They will be offering Persian cooking lessons soon too.

Stepping beyond the shop, there is an open rustic cafe. Pillows and backgammon games invite one to while away the afternoon, sipping tea and having some fun. You can see the snowy scene outside. In summer it will be lovely with sides open.

The menu is small and features delicious kebabs done by traditional charcoal cooking and panini sandwiches but there are also a few warm dishes to be had. This is the Aash soup, with parsley, dill, coriander, chickpeas, black eyed beans, lentils, onions and rice noodles. Wow. Stick to your ribs for sure! It was tasty and very filling. Look at those crispy fried onions on top!

We also ordered the stews, which come with a simple crunchy salad.

The star was the fesenjan, a dark fragrant stew cooked for ten hours!Usually for special occasions. In it are ground walnuts, pomegrante paste onions and chicken. We also ordered the gheymeh, with chicken, split peas, tomato paste and dried limes. All served over Persian rice.

So good! Yes, we had dessert too. Not quite as good as the mains but nice to finish off with something sweet.

Cardamom tea. Really yummy. You can also bring your own wine here and there is NO corking fee.We had a lovely relaxing time. Spent a few hours here.

And as a special treat, my friends ordered a shisha. I’ve never tried it.These are normally only available at night but there was no one about on this snowy afternoon so as a favour the owner let us try it. There is no nicotine in the mixture that burned, it was flavoured with fruits and a most delicate perfumed wafting permeated our table. I think there are 24 flavours to choose from.