Mashhad
The logo apes the classic Pink Floyd album, but the music played in this couple-y, mood-lit coffeeshop ranges from Persian love ballads to shoegazing…
Must-see nightlife in Iran
Iran
Tingling with Sufi-esque music and creating great coffee (IR40,000 to IR55,000) on a professional Simonelli machine, Zhino is just one of at least five…
Southeastern Iran
Great caffeine fixes provided by baristas whose beards are more Hackney hipster than Mashhad mullah. Tables are old cable spools, a bicycle hangs from the…
Iran
This pleasant cafe, a short walk downhill from Darbansar Ski Resort, is where locals hang out, sipping coffee or tea, tucking into cakes and puffing on…
Tehran
A good place to get in touch with Tehran’s hip young artistic community is this arty cafe plastered with posters for events and a wanderlust wall of…
Mashhad
The best coffee (from IR110,000) within walking distance of the Haram is hidden away beneath the Javad Hotel in a cellar room with wooden beams, brick…
Esfahan
In a lane off the northeastern corner of Naqsh-e Jahan (Imam) Sq, this popular teahouse sports an enormous collection of bric-a-brac hanging from its…
Southeastern Iran
Excellent coffee from a Wega machine in a mood-lit, female-friendly cafe displaying pipes, coffee paraphernalia and B&W photos of film stars.
Iran
Locals and tourists alike cram this tiny hole-in-the-wall cafe at the northern end of Khayyam St for its eclectic range of coffees (included iced), cakes…
Tabriz
The coffee's first class and the light meals are very moreish, but it's the signature red-velvet cake that really draws the crowds at weekends. It's at…
Iran
Super-central yet hidden away down a tiny alley beside Bank Sepah, this well-pitched, youthful coffeehouse (coffee IR60,000 to IR110,000) is most notable…
Iran
A grungy, narrow doorway leads to a refined, intimate courtyard that's perfect for a coffee or exotic chay and cake fix on the way back from Abidar Park…
Tabriz
Turn south into Shari'ati St from Imam Khomeini St and immediately follow the coffee sign upstairs. The boys do a deft espresso and chocolate-ripple cake…
Iran
Shut off the outside world and relax in the intimacy of this restored traditional Sanandaj Jewish house, where you wish you could read the books. It's…
Tabriz
One of the hippest new caffeine fuelling stations along the Valiasr strip, Gr8 has tasteful wooden panelling, herbal teas and cakes to die for. Oh, and…
Southeastern Iran
Qa'en's most internationally styled cafe serves decent cakes and inexpensive yet remarkably good coffee (IR20,000 to IR50,000). It's opposite the park …
Iran
In this funky-town smoke haze women can light up and not get hassled. Negative also does cakes and good, strong coffee.
Iran
A stylish green, cream and chrome coffee bar serving sundaes and shakes. It's 2km north of Shohoda Sq.
Iran
If you're visiting Ziyarat, this wobbly, charmingly unsophisticated little teahouse, with blanketed tea-beds around a central wood stove, is a possible…
Iran
Most of the teahouses along the stream approaching Kang are family-run, simple affairs. Cafe Ehsan is arguably the best-located, with basic tea tables…
Iran
Right beside the super-popular Cafe-Restaurant Soufi but barely marked, the vaguely 'secret' upstairs room in Darbar Zartosht is Nahar Khoran's 'in' place…
Tehran
With its solid dark-wood tables and chairs, black-and-white photo portraits and gleaming espresso machine, this is an excellent cafe with an artsy feel –…
Iran
In a rural spot 1.4km from Bastam's historical complex (7km from central Shahrud), Kahkeshan consists of hexagonal, domed bungalows ranged around a…
Iran
Stylised cityscape silhouettes are the only decorative quirks of this understated, female-friendly coffeeshop (coffees IR70,000 to IR100,000), which also…
Shiraz
This tiny upstairs teahouse, next to the Karim Khan Hotel, is a good place to meet locals, as the Tetris-like shuffling of cushion stools and tables in…
Iran
One of the best tea house experiences in Sari is on the top-floor restaurant-teahouse of the Hotel Asram, with qalyan and tea (for one/two people IR150…
Iran
Signed with a luminous strawberry, this small, bright-white cube of a coffeeshop is a good place to meet young Kordkuy locals over fresh juice, an…
Mashhad
This unpretentious juice shop serves Mashhad’s best maajun (IR80,000-150,000), a fabulous mush of crushed walnuts, pistachios, ice cream, cream, banana…
Iran
The attractive mezzanine coffee shop inside Qom International Hotel offers respite from the cold in winter and a welcome blast of air-con in summer. It…
Tehran
In the lovely gardens of the Film Museum of Iran, this chic cafe, one of a chain you'll find across Tehran, serves a wide range of expensive but very…
Iran
The rooftop of this simple cafe, hanging out over the sheer hillside, is an excellent place for a cold drink (or a pizza), as there are extensive views…
Iran
This seasonal teahouse (which opens in good weather) is a series of simple wooden pavilions amid plane trees across the river from Roein (behind the fish…
Tehran
Brick-walled and attractively decked out with old projectors, cameras and radios, this is a cosy little place to stop for coffee or hot chocolate,…
Iran
Only handy if you're staying nearby, this gently stylish cafe, south of the centre, serves good, strong espressos.
Tabriz
Vaulted underground qaylan den full of smoke and male students puffing away on carpeted platforms. It also does dizi (IR70,000), if you don't mind choking…
Iran
While not the most stylish of coffeeshops, this friendly place makes good-value espressos (IR50,000 to IR70,000), has courtyard as well as indoor seating…
Iran
Pleasantly appointed split-level cafe cube serving shakes (IR50,000), hot chocolate and good Turkish coffee (IR60,000) – beautifully presented with a…
Iran
The most upmarket caffeine and nicotine den in town has huge windows as dark as its coffee. It's in front of Maku Tourist Inn.
Iran
Extremely cutesy refreshments are on offer at this teahouse, located at the inscriptions site.
