Food in Iran

What kind of vegetarian food is available in Iran?
Is there a lot of garlic in Iranian food?
Is it safe to have meal on the road?

Iranian food is very varied, however there is not much choice in the menus of the restaurants. If traveling alone, the menu will be the same in most of the restaurants: Kebab, Kebab, Kebab… Having a guided trip makes it easier to have different sorts of food, as the guide can order a specific kind of food before arriving at the restaurant. The Iranian main dish usually has rice, meat or a sauce with meat, and additionally bread, yoghurt, soup, and vegetable is served.

The way Iranian Cook

Iranians prepare the rice in a different way than other Asian countries. The yoghurt is not sweet, but most of the time sugar can be added to sweeten it. There are different kinds of soup available, but mostly there is barley soup served. The vegetable served is a mixture of different herbs. Iranian bread is flat, and varying. Different sorts of flat bread, baked in traditional ways, is available.

Most of Iranian food does not contain garlic. Vegetarians have to order special prepared food, as there is usually no vegetarian food available. As beverage there is always Cola, Pepsi, and non alcoholic beer available. The water is drinkable, but it may contain too many minerals. It is recommended to have mineral water. Unlike tea, coffee is not popular among Iranians. In certain places it is not possible to get coffee. There are rarely hotels offering French coffee, instead there is instant coffee available.

One should buy a bottle of instant coffee when leaving cities.