Mashhad, Iran — Persian Late-Night / Fish Chelow
#3 in Mashhad

Amir Kabir Restaurant

The 2am-late kebab destination near Imam Reza Shrine — affordable Persian classics including the Mashhadi specialty fish chelow, the city's reference late-night anchor.
Solo Dining Team Dinner First Date $
Photo via عبدالله ابو علي · Google

About Amir Kabir Restaurant

Amir Kabir Restaurant caters to families and night owls with affordable kebabs and a standout fish chelow (grilled or fried fish served over rice with the standard Persian accompaniments). The restaurant is open until 2am — unusual in Mashhad's restaurant scene, which typically winds down by 11pm — and is the city's reference late-night dining anchor for travellers staying in the Imam Reza-area pilgrimage hotels.

The signature is the Fish Chelow at 14 — a grilled or fried Caspian-coast fish (typically white-fish or salmon) served over a generous portion of saffron-tinted basmati rice with the famous Persian tahdig (crispy-rice-bottom), grilled tomato, fresh basil, raw onion, and sumac. The premium Mixed Fish Chelow with two fish types runs 22; the standard Persian Mixed Chelo Kabab is 16.

Beyond the fish chelow signature, the menu runs Persian classics — koobideh kabab, joojeh chicken kabab, and the regional Mashhadi specialties (Sholeh, Dizi). Side dishes are limited; this is genuinely a kebab-and-rice kitchen.

The room is functional — eighty seats across two floors with bay windows facing Imam Reza Boulevard, the open kitchen visible at the back, fluorescent lighting, paper menus. Walk-ins always work outside the dinner peak (8-10pm); the late-night service from 11pm-2am is the kitchen's most distinctive offering. Cards are accepted; English picture menus are present.

8.7Food
7.6Ambience
9.7Value

Best Occasion Fit

Solo dining at its purest — counter or table seat, twenty-five-minute meal, 14 bill, the city's reference late-night anchor. For team dinners after a long Imam Reza-Shrine pilgrimage day, the late-night format is the right kind of restorative meal. As a low-stakes first date for someone visiting Mashhad on pilgrimage, the affordable format and the regional fish-chelow signature give the meal context.

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