What makes Sufi’s Mediterranean Grill & Bar different?
For one thing, in addition to Mediterranean food, Sufi’s also sells Persian food.
And, as far as I know, it’s the only Memphis (or maybe anywhere else) restaurant making and serving rose-flavored and saffron-flavored ice cream.
They also serve fabulous Shawarma Nachos. I don’t know anybody else doing this.
What’s more, they feature live belly dance shows from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. every Friday and Saturday.
I recently visited the beautiful, comfortable restaurant, with a wonderful, spacious front porch seating area, owned by Rabiya and her husband Sardar Fahad Ali Khan, as well as Rafiq Devji and Badruddin Kheraj, at 7609 Poplar Pike in Germantown. I tried an array of appetizers, entrees, and, of course, the desserts, which I couldn’t get enough of.
And I got to meet their children, Sardar Adam Ali Khan, 7, an aspiring soccer player, and Alizay Fahad Ali Khan, 10, an aspiring lawyer.
Rabiya was born in Dubai and Ali was born and raised in Pakistan, which is where they met. In 2017, they moved to Memphis, where Ali has family. Ali became an investor in gas stations and liquor stores.
After Rabiya began hosting parties featuring her cuisine for groups of sometimes 300 people, including business and family friends, Ali said they should open a restaurant.
Their business partners, Devji and Kheraj, have more than five decades of experience in the restaurant and retail industries in multiple states and overseas, Rabiya says.
They bought the Casablanca restaurant, which was at the current location, then changed the name to Sufi’s two years later. “Sufi” is a mystical, spiritual word that means “bringing all types of people, races, and religions together,” Rabiya says.
She and Ali enjoy traveling. “Traveling to 16, 17 countries around the world, you do get a taste of a lot of different cuisines. And you do get an idea of what people are looking for.”
They decided to add some Persian dishes to their extensive menu because they didn’t know of any other place in Memphis selling that type of food. Persian food includes ingredients that “are famous in all the areas of the Mediterranean region.” These include sumac, za’atar, turmeric, saffron, and yogurt.
Their Persian dishes include Mirza Ghasemi, a dip made of roasted eggplant and tomatoes. They also serve Persian koobideh dishes, including “Sufi’s Koobideh Chicken” and “Sufi’s Koobideh Beef,” both served with saffron and rice.
Describing what makes it “koobideh,” Ali says, “We grind the meat and marinate it. When you hit the meat with a hammer, it’s a different kind of grinding, not the machine grinding.”
“We marinate it with onion, parsley, and different Mediterranean spices,” Rabiya adds. “And then we put it on these metal skewers and chill it in the cooler for five or six hours before it’s ready be cooked and served.”
Then there’s my favorite: the Persian ice cream sandwiches, which Rabiya says she and Ali created. “We make those two different types of ice cream in house: saffron and rose,” she says.
“Rose petals are an integral part of Persian cuisine and part of the Persian culture as well.”
The rose ice cream is “slightly on the sweet side. It’s as good as having a dried rose.”
Both ice creams are “basically threads of flavors,” she says. “We extract the rose petal and then fuse it in our ice cream. And these are edible rose flowers. Saffron, on the other hand, is also a spice that comes from a flower. And in order to enhance its flavor, we dip it in milk for some time and then use the saffron flowers in our ice cream base.”
Instead of cookies, the ice cream is sandwiched between two wafers.
We began the meal with the “Sufi’s Mezze” appetizer. The large one. It features hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, grape leaves, and tabbouleh with pita.
The nachos, another Khan creation, include nacho chips made in house with veggies, cheese, sour cream, and choice of meat. I could make a meal out of this. It’s incredibly delicious.
For the entree, we had the “Sufi’s Special Mix Grill,” which includes chicken and lamb kebabs, as well as chicken and beef koobideh.
This lavish dish serves two, Rabiya says, but I think you can squeeze in at least another person.
It’s served with rice, hummus, vegetables, naan, and, as the menu states, “our fiery sauce.” I tried the sauce and it is fiery. They make all their sauces, including mild and garlic sauce.
Sufi’s also features fusion dishes, including the Mediterranean Pizza and the Chicken Alfredo. “It doesn’t taste like traditional food,” Ali says.
Their house-made cocktails include Rabiya’s favorite, “Red Carpet, which is made with Pearl pomegranate vodka and Stirrings pomegranate liqueur.”
The Khans introduced people to Persian food by giving out samples, Rabiya says. They got the word out “slowly and steadily with word of mouth. And people started talking about it.”
They “did a lot of marketing” on Google, Facebook, and Instagram.”
And the couple did cocktail hours, where they also served food. “People got familiar with new items that they enjoyed. Their taste buds loved it. Everybody loved it. It was a win-win for everybody.”
They’ve catered corporate events for businesses, including FedEx, and hospitals. “And now we have a party hall located in the same building upstairs. People can host events: birthdays, wedding receptions, graduation parties.”
The Khans have made a lot of new friends with their restaurant customers. “We see them,” Rabiya says. “We’re happy. We dine with them. They invite us to the table to sit and talk.”
And, as Ali says, people who come to Sufi’s Mediterranean Grill & Bar have “found the hidden gem.”