Naroon and TheFork: Bringing the charm of Iranian cuisine to diners across London

Named after a beautiful suburb in Iran’s capital, Naroon offers an authentic culinary experience to delight both Iranians and non-Iranians alike. Founded by Reza and Mo Malekzadeh back in 2020, what started as a singular location in Fitzrovia has expanded to three beloved restaurants that are helping to bring the tantalising tastes of Iran to London’s dining scene.

Everything about Naroon, from the menu to the decor, has been crafted and honed to introduce Iran’s delicacies to those new to the cuisine – while still offering a comforting familiarity to other Iranians in the UK. For Reza, it’s a labour of love that stems from a passionate appreciation for his upbringing.

“I was born in Iran and grew up here, while Mo was born and raised in Iran and came here more recently,” Reza tells us. “Iranian food offers so much in terms of the flavours, complexities, and history. We felt that no one was presenting that to non-Iranians.”

Iranian-meets-World cuisine

To introduce a new audience to the treasures of Iranian dining, Reza and Mo spent a lot of time perfecting the menu. “We wanted to put a contemporary twist on a lot of classic dishes,” he says. “We’re keeping the flavours and ingredients very authentic but presenting them in a way that’s approachable for non-Iranians.”

“We have a lot of the classic dishes that every Iranian restaurant should have, but we also decided to put in some of our own dishes and some that our mothers would make at home — like a Kuku Sabzi, which is a mixed herbs frittata that a lot of us Iranians grew up with.”

Whether you’re trying Naroon’s full breakfast (including lamb sausage, turkey bacon, and zaatar fusion mushroom) or a saffron gin and tonic, their menu delicately balances classic international favourites with unique Iranian perspectives to create a one-of-a-kind experience that diners come back for again and again.

“It’s a good sign that we not only get a lot of non-Iranians coming there, but it’s also become the go-to place for a lot of Iranians in London, whether that’s for family gatherings or catering for their weddings.”

Expanding across London

Having grown over the last year with three new sites, the team is now focused on ensuring each location delivers the same level of high-quality food and impeccable service that their customers have come to know and love.

“Iranian culture is known for warm hospitality,” Reza explains. “We wanted to offer it to more customers than we could in our first location. So, we opened these three places, and they’ve all exceeded our expectations.”

If their menu wasn’t already tempting enough, Reza and the Naroon team have big plans to make it even better.

“We’ve hired a top chef from Iran on a sponsorship visa to take us to the next level, and he’s already been implementing changes in the menu — it’s a really exciting time for us.”

A real game-changer

Having signed up to restaurant management platform TheFork over three years ago, Reza explains how this partnership helps Naroon reach even more customers, as they work towards their ambitious goals.

Naroon previously had a simple booking widget on their website, but Reza tells us that switching to TheFork was “a real game-changer.”

“We’re always looking to maximise capacity,” he says. “TheFork helps massively with that.”

Reza takes full advantage of TheFork’s suite of restaurant management features, telling us his favourite thing about using the platform is its flexibility.

turn off discounts on your busier days, like Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but if you have a quiet period during your lunches, you can put an offer there. You have total control over what you're offering, and the flexibility has been great for us.”

“One of the features on TheFork that I haven’t seen on other booking platforms is how you can limit the amount of covers available to book rather than close off bookings. It’s just the press of a button — it's very easily done.”

Customer loyalty with TheFork

Well-acquainted with using TheFork to manage and increase bookings, Reza has recently been exploring the platform’s other capabilities, such as its integration with Lightspeed’s ePOS system to optimise and streamline the booking process for customers. We’re still in the early stages with this integration,” he says. “But I can definitely see us starting to use this more within our CRM.”

Reza is also beginning to use more of TheFork’s customer management capabilities to create the perfect omnichannel experience: “Whenever we're doing a newsletter — for example, we did one recently for our Christmas menu — it's super easy to access booking audience data. You know which customers opted in or out, which is very useful data to have.”

Naroon’s commitment to offering a 5-star experience to its guests isn’t going unnoticed by diners. “I'm proud to say we have very good reviews on TheFork, and I believe all three of our sites are consistently in the Top Community Choice chart in London,” Reza says. “It’s something that we're very proud of and hope to continue.”

If you’re looking to get more diners into your restaurant and deliver an even better customer experience, sign up to TheFork today.