Fari & Ali's Kitchen: Delightful deli lunches with Middle Eastern & Mediterranean flavours

Returning to Fari & Ali's Kitchen on a Friday afternoon, here's a fun reason to rediscover this family-run, Persian-inspired place: Deli-style spreads every Friday and Saturday, bringing the fresh flavours of the Middle East and the Mediterranean to Bukit Damansara.

Evoking the laidback deli lunches of Ottolenghi Notting Hill, Fari & Ali's cosy counter offers a cheerful variety of ever-evolving treats, with possibilities like royal potato salad, kale and tahini Caesar salad, saffron baked crispy rice with chicken, and sweet potato and onion quiche.

Everything's lovingly prepared from scratch in the kitchen - no ultra-processed deli meat here! 

Less than a year after Fari & Ali's first opened in this neighbourhood, it's increasingly becoming a community favourite for its comforting fare. In the morning, from as early as 8:30am, folks flock here for the traditional Persian breakfast, Persian omelette and shakshuka, each excitingly unique with house-crafted ingredients..

For teatime, top temptations include Fari & Ali's renowned cream puffs, plus plenty of charmingly baked cakes, from Persian love cake to chocolate carrot cake and pistachio cake.

Come through the bright blue entrance to find founders Samira and Athirah, cousins and best friends, recreating their family recipes for a genuine encounter with a generations-old Persian heritage of heartiness and hospitality. 

Fari & Ali's regulars regard this space as their second home - it's warm and welcoming, casually connecting customers with personal touches in nearly every character-filled corner.

Samira is Malaysian-born with an Iranian mother - throughout her childhood, she spent happy school holidays visiting her grandparents, Fari and Ali, in Tehran, Iran's capital.

This deli-bakery is a tribute to those memories. You'll find ceramics made in Tehran, plus photographs and keepsakes from her late grandparents' home, such as a framed copy of Iran's national anthem and a colourful collection of pillowcase fabrics.

Fari & Ali's fare feels home-cooked too, with a focus on fresh, healthy produce, vibrant with vegetables, based on many of Samira's mother's own recipes.

Bookmark Fari & Ali's Kitchen for your next lunch on Fridays and Saturdays - the deli counter is brimming with delightful dishes to build your own meal, spanning salads to bakes and roasts, 12pm until everything's sold out.

Make a mouthwatering plate with Saffron Lemon & Garlic Roasted Chicken (RM18) - joyously juicy meat, cooked evenly through its flesh, buoyant with the floral aromatics of saffron and fruity liveliness of lemon, bolstered by garlic to balance the zest.

The Lentil Salad (RM15) is tasty enough to enjoy even on its own, popping with peppers, pomegranates and feta in an uplifting lemon juice dressing, enhancing the earthiness of the lentils with tangy lacings of cheese and lashes of citrus.

The Roast Vegetable Tart (RM16) rounds out our ensemble, spilling out with a full-bodied filling of sweet potatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, capsicum, cherry tomatoes and cheese, multi-textured with buttery oven-baked smokiness.

Even if it's not a Friday or Saturday, there's so much to savour at Fari & Ali's Kitchen.

The Traditional Persian Breakfast (RM38) is an alluring alternative to conventional cafe brunches: Barbari flatbread with za’atar-spiced hard-boiled eggs, feta and fresh cheese, butter, walnuts in brine, tomatoes, cucumber and watermelon.

The classic Iranian flatbread boasts a beautiful bite, relatively thick with a crusty crunch, baked in-house, studded with sesame seeds and nigella seeds for an antioxidant powerhouse.

Everything is thoughtfully sourced - the feta and fresh cheese are all flown in from Iran, promising a real kick, perfectly paired with bread, butter and walnuts in one punchy mouthful.

The breakfast includes Persian cha’i, the quintessential heartwarming tea that's an essential part of everyday Iranian life.

For egg enthusiasts, check out Fari & Ali's Persian Omelette (RM22) and Shakshuka (RM24).

The Persian Omelette has an addictive scrambled consistency, topped with a torched yolk, perked up with tomatoes and caramelised onions, fragrantly delectable for dunking with flaky taftoon flatbread. A communal Iranian staple that Malaysians can easily appreciate too.

Fari & Ali's Shakshuka is one of KL's most soulfully satisfying - poached eggs on natural-tasting tomato sauce, complex with roasted vegetables and pleasingly pungent Iranian goat's cheese, gorgeous with buttered sourdough toast. Completely hits the spot!

Fari & Ali's Kitchen spreads the love with Kashke Bademjan on Toast (RM16) and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus with Flatbread (RM12).

Kashke bademjan is colourfully mouthwatering - caramelised eggplant sautéed with whey, sprinkled with crispy shallots, luscious on crisp buttered sourdough toast. Everything comes together terrifically, with some heat and sharpness to lend a memorable edge to its flavour.

Hummus is also a should-try, thick and textured, scrumptiously straddling between smoky and sweet. We'd happily take a huge jar of this home. 

Fari & Ali's Kitchen has its original roots in cream puffs, which Samira began baking at home to sell four years ago. These Noon Khamei (Persian cream puffs) are close to her heart, evoking how she recalls them in Tehran from decades past, offered as Classic Cream Puffs with icing sugar (RM4) and Chocolate Cream Puffs with dark chocolate (RM5). 

They're fantastically fluffy to the bite, indulgent to the chew without being cloying, baked every morning with the kitchen's own puff pastry and light whipped cream, so they're ready by 11:30am. The ideal introduction to why Fari & Ali's Kitchen has a loyal following.

  


The Persian Cha’i (RM8 on its own, or complimentary with the traditional Persian breakfast) is the time-honoured drink of choice, a concentrated Earl Grey black tea, specially brewed in a Persian teapot for potently perfumed fragrance.

Put a twist on your lattes with these wholesome wonders: The Turmeric Latte (RM14) is frothy fun if you like it hot, while the Iced Orange Latte (RM15) is a cheerful balance of citrusy caffeination.



On hot, humid afternoons, we'll quench our thirst with the Saffron Rose Cooler (RM14) and Mint Lemon Cooler (RM14); the latter is soothingly sweet and sour, inspired by sharbat sekanjebin, a Persian drink that dates back to ancient times, centuries before KL's first cafe!

Come with an appetite to Fari & Ali's Kitchen - this venue merits multiple visits, with a parade of cakes, croissants and scones that call out to us. Next time!

Fari & Ali’s Kitchen
65G, Jalan Medan Setia 1, Bukit Damansara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Open Monday to Saturday, 8:30am-5:30pm. 

Tel: 011-2408-9838