PERSIAN HUG YOU'LL EMBRACE THE MIDDLE EASTERN FARE AT NAIMA IN SANTA CLARITA.

Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic

THE NEW NAIMA in Santa Clarita is a bare-bones storefront cafe that claims it's the first Persian (although it also describes itself as Mediterranean) restaurant in the area.

If that is so, Santa Claritans now have the opportunity to sample carefully crafted Persian-style kebabs, stews, polo (rice) dishes and the like at a reasonable price.

The kitchen fashions several sizable salads, including the traditional Persian shirazi ($4.50), a refreshing combination of diced cucumber, tomatoes, onions and chopped parsley in a tangy lemon dressing; and a breezy Greek salad ($5.50) of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, parsley, black olives and little cubes of feta cheese.

If a soup is preferred as a starter, there's a very thick, almost risottolike version of chicken and rice soup ($3.25) available.

Naima's Middle Eastern-style dips and spreads include the always welcome hummus ($4.95), a chickpea mixture flavored with garlic, lemon and olive oil, of smooth and creamy texture and a warm beige in tone.

Certainly spreadable and of subtle flavor, kashke-e-bademjan ($4) emerges as a tasty mashed eggplant creation with a yogurt topping. Add a little sumac seasoning (there's a shaker on every table) to spark it up somewhat.

Lamb is a must at any Middle Eastern eatery. It indicates the commitment or dedication to quality of the kitchen.

Naima's lamb is best in kebab form ($14.95), juicy, firm but not tough, with grilled onion, green bell pepper and carbon-blackened tomato plus a mound of nicely executed basmati rice.

A homier version, lamb shank (maheecheh, $11.95) cooked slowly with herbs and onions, can be had with white basmati or sometimes green-hued dill-flavored rice. Lamb shank fanciers will appreciate this rendition. I prefer the kebab-style lamb loin.

Entrees, by the way, usually arrive on large, white, square platters, a sort of canvas for some of the colorful main-course arrangements by the chef.

A prime example, the gehmeh ($9.95) dish of beef chunks and split peas, seasoned and simmered in a tomato broth and caped with tiny shoestring potatoes, could become the most popular of the beef dishes here. It's a very satisfying and savory melange, one of the several stews prepared daily.

My strongest chicken recommendation is the chicken soltani ($14.95), a pairing of chicken barg kebab and chicken koobideh.

The former materializes as a seasoned, moist, oblong-shaped arrangement of somewhat flattened boneless chicken breast pieces pressed together and obviously cooked on a skewer.

Almost a pale orange in color and taking up a good third of the platter, the barg sits side-by-side with the koobideh, very similarly prepared and arranged, but made of ground and seasoned chicken instead.

Actually, I would opt for the koobideh if I had to pick one kebab over the other. As do the majority of the kebabs, this comes forth with a generous portion of steamed basmati rice and the black-skinned, barbecued tomato half.

For a sweet ending, a pretzel-shaped goodie called zoulbia ($1.75) of flour, honey, sugar and rosewater might help alleviate residual garlic and onion tastes.

That, and perhaps a gulp or two from a bottle of fizzy dough (pronounced doog) made with yogurt.

Larry Lipson, [phone]

larry.lipson(at)dailynews.com

NAIMA

Food: Three stars - Service: Three stars

Where: 26877 Bouquet Canyon Road, Santa Clarita.

Hours: Open for lunch, dinner and snacks from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Lunch specials from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. week days.

Recommended items: Chicken and rice soup, Greek salad, eggplant mixture topped with yogurt sauce, hummus, gehmeh stew, chicken soltani, lamb kebab, zoulbia, bottled dough (doog).

How much: Starters from $3 to $6, entrees from $10 to $16, desserts from $1.25 to $3.25. Beer and wine license pending. All major credit cards accepted.

Reservations: Helpful. Call [phone].

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Photo:

The large square plates at Naima can be filled with attractive combinations that include the chicken kebab.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer