My English Persian Kitchen Review

October 3, 2025

My English Persian Kitchen Review

30th September – 11th October 2025

It was a feast for the senses, I said to my friend as we waited patiently to try a bowl of Ash-E Reshteh—a fragrant, herby and thick noodle soup which is popular in Iran. 70 minutes earlier, I’d never heard of it but now I could hear it cooking on the hob; I could smell the tangy mix of herbs and spices which filled the Main Room at Soho Theatre; and I could taste the warming and comforting broth which felt like a hug in a little cardboard bowl.

“…it’s a living, breathing creature which is brought to life through smells and sounds, flavours, photographs and songs”

It’s very rare for a show to engulf you in the way that Hannah Khalil’s My English Persian Kitchen does. Inspired by the true story of cookery author Atoosa Sepehr, the sell-out play explores a woman’s quest to start again and what it means when life as you knew it becomes a memory.

While the play explores several important themes around belonging, community and identity, the way in which they are interwoven with memory felt particularly poignant because memory is not two-dimensional. In lots of ways, it’s a living, breathing creature which is brought to life through smells and sounds, flavours, photographs and songs.

As the woman, played by Isabella Nefar, is reminded of both the good and the bad—both of which are bought to life over the course of an hour—the audience is taken on a visceral journey from her childhood through to her marriage and beyond.

And I think setting this story within a kitchen was genius. Much like memory, kitchens are often living things too. They’re the heart of most people’s homes and the space in which people gather to share food, drink and stories.

Above all, My English Persian Kitchen feels incredibly human. There are moments which are heart wrenchingly sad, moments which have the audience in olive oil-related stitches and moments which are somewhere in between. To achieve this in a way which is not only smooth and believable but also interactive is no small feat.

Teamed with exceptional lighting and thoughtfully considered instants of silence and stillness, I’d go as far to say that, much like the Ash-E Reshteh, My English Persian Kitchen is an absolute triumph.

Th e good news is, you can see it for yourself as it will be running at SohoTheatre until 11th October before heading to Bristol’s Old Vic, Dublin’s Pavilion Theatre and wrapping things up at Belfast International Arts Festival. So while you do that, I’m going to make myself a big bowl of Ash-E Reshteh.