A new Persian restaurant opened its doors to the community in December, hoping to share their cuisine and culture with Greater Victoria.
Niloo Persian Restaurant offers an array of delicious traditional Persian dishes, along with some fusion and familiar dishes for those who are just trying Iranian food for the first time.
The eatery is located in Saanich’s Royal Oak Shopping Centre at 4440 West Saanich Road.
Niloo’s story
It all started for Niloo as three immigrants from Iran sought to share some of the dishes that reminded them of their origins with people from their new home.
Co-owners Aylar Ebrahimi, Arash Sichani and Iman Ronaghi launched the business initially by testing the waters and doing a few pop-up events in Victoria before taking the leap of faith and opening their brick and mortar restaurant in Saanich.
“The story is that I tried to introduce Persian food here in Victoria because there was a lack of Persian food here,” Ebrahimi told Victoria Buzz.
“I had a chance to do some caterings and introduce Persian food and flavours in those events.”
The trio hosted a few big events for the Persian community, which included the Persian New Year (Nowruz) and the longest night (Yalda), which both saw over 300 people come out to try their food.
After finding success within their own community, the three restaurateurs sought to find a space of their own to share Persian food with the entirety of Greater Victoria.
They secured their location in Royal Oak Shopping Centre which used to be a raw vegan eatery, so they had to build out the kitchen, brand new, and give the space some love to showcase Persian culture.
Although they faced many setbacks while trying to open their space, they managed to finally open in December. Niloo is now working hard to spread the word and share the food that means so much to them.
They chose the name Niloo, which means water lily, because in their culture, water lilies are an important symbol of resilience.
Niloo’s food
Sichani says that for him, making and eating Persian food brings him right back home and it’s something that Victoria is lacking.
“I know in Vancouver there is an abundance of Persian food, but here in Victoria, there are a few, but they don’t capture that taste of home,” he explained.
“After meeting Aylar and trying everything that she’s made from scratch, really brought me back to how I would be feeling eating at home.”
He says that the way Ebrahimi cooks, the char on her kebabs (koobide), the flavours she infused her food with, really brought him back to a time when he was 8-years-old eating kebab for the first time.
Some of their most popular dishes are their Koobide Signature Kebab with Saffron Rice, their Shwarma and Kebab wraps, their Naan with Baba Ganoush, Hummus or Mirza Qasemi, which is a Persian dip made with smoked eggplant, tomatoes and garlic.
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See more photos of their food on Niloo’s Instagram account.
The Persian community has already embraced Niloo with arms wide open, and now the trio of owners hope that their food will begin to reach the mouths of more non-Persian people in Greater Victoria.
Going forward, Niloo is looking to expand their service by offering breakfast with traditional Persian dishes such as Shakshuka, and also baking their own fresh breads.
Try Niloo Persian Restaurant next time you are in the mood for something new.
Customers can dine-in, or order their food through Uber Eats, Skip the Dishes or Door Dash.
