Antler Grill and Wine: A taste of Persia and the Mediterranean right in the heart of Hillsborough

Antler Grill and Wine has only been open for just over a year now - ok, 18-months - and in that time it has been on the receiving end of plenty of plaudits and hugely positive feedback from patrons in the intervening period — recently it placed among the 10 ‘best overall’ South Yorkshire restaurants in OpenTable’s Diners’ Choice list.

The restaurant is the brainchild of Meysam Iravani, who hails from Iran and has previously lived in London where he worked as a chef at some of the capital city’s most popular Persian restaurants. A love of ‘the city, the nature, the Peak District and Rivelin’ led to him buying a takeaway business that leads us to the present and this delightful trove of culinary delights nestled in the heart of Hillsborough.

I headed down during the week to test out the dishes for myself, and to be frank it was an easy decision to make after perusing the restaurant’s hunger-inducing Instagram page. As I type these words my stomach is grumbling again in anticipation, so you can see where this is going already.

Beginning with a couple of the small plates, I opted for the Kashk O Bademjan, a rather lovely dish with pan fried aubergines, mashed with dried mint and whey yoghurt, along with a walnut topping. I’m not the biggest fan of the aubergine but this was a smooth, tasty and flavoursome dish which was complimented with a crispy flatbread to scoop up the combination of flavours.

This was accompanied by the Dolmeh, a Vegan-friendly staple, with vine leaves stuffed with rice, split peas and a tangy herbal pomegranate sauce. While I thought this was alright it didn’t quite set me off like the Kashk O Bademjan and was definitely the weaker of the two.

Moving on to the mains, I chose two dishes to try out: Ghafghazi and the Bandari Chick.

Featuring a combination of mixed lamb rump, chicken fillet, onion and pepper. Packed full of flavours, a warming yet not overpowering spice, along with a melt-in-your-mouth experience the Ghafghazi was served alongside a rice side called Zereshk Polo. Zereshk polo morgh is one of the most famous dishes in Persian cuisine, packed full of flavours from the likes of saffron, turmeric and barberry. It looks like someone has cracked egg yolk over a neat mound of rice and sprinkled with Persian barberries. It’s a great combination of dishes, very tasty and I’d definitely recommend these two together.

Next up was the Bandari Chick with a side of Saffron rice, which is very similar to the Zereshk Polo — minus the barberries. The Bandari Chick itself is a baby chicken slowly marinated in saffron, lemon, chilli, sumac and a red pepper paste. Tender, juicy and with a slight kick to it. Again, a really flavoursome dish.

Naturally this was a lot of food and I ended up taking the leftovers home with me, so I didn’t get to try the desserts nor the wines. I suppose it’s all the more of an impetus to return and this time keep aside some space for their selection of sweets.

For two starters, two mains with sides and a Diet Coke the bill came to £55.55, which isn’t so bad at all. However, I do now know why this place is gaining such plaudits and I’d like to add to those with one of my own.

The Antler Grill and Wine is undoubtedly a food journey that can help you escape from the British Isles to the sun-dappled shores of the Mediterranean and the Persian pleasures of Persepolis, right here in Hillsborough no less — and that’s a very good thing.