Shiraz eats differently from Tehran: cabbage-and-meatball kalam polo, salty mast-o-khiar, faloodeh noodles drowned in lime, and sharbat scented with the roses of Qavam Abad. Three days of markets, ash kitchens and rooftop tea.
The attari lanes off the Vakil Bazaar sell Fars saffron, dried Persian limes, sumac, barberries and pistachios by the kilo. Traders open around 09:00 and shut for Friday prayers. Ask for zereshk and sabzi ghormeh mixes ground to order.
A basement dining hall on Zand Boulevard beside the bazaar serving Shirazi kalam polo — cabbage rice with tiny cinnamon meatballs — plus shishlik lamb chops from Shahreza. Live santur most evenings; lunch runs 12:00-16:00.
The sweet street behind the bazaar stacks masghati (rosewater starch jelly with pistachio), kolompeh date cookies and Shirazi halva-ye ardeh. Shops trade until 21:00 and box everything for travel.
Neighbourhood nanvai bake sangak on beds of hot river pebbles, sliding metre-long flatbreads onto a rail for customers to shake the stones off. Queues peak 17:00-19:00 when families collect bread for dinner.
A restored Qajar caravanserai inside the bazaar with a pool, orange trees and tea houses along the arcade. Chai comes with nabat saffron rock candy and gaz nougat from Isfahan; carpet and miniature shops fill the upper gallery.
Seven themed floors on Setad Square: a traditional Persian floor for beryani and khoresh, a grill level, sushi, and a rooftop. The Iranian floor plates Shirazi salad — cucumber, tomato, onion, lime — beside dizi served in stone crocks.
Faloodeh is Shiraz's own frozen dessert: thin rice-starch noodles set in rosewater syrup, served with lime juice or sour-cherry sharbat. The Ghasrodasht shops churn it fresh; peak trade is 15:00 to midnight in summer.
Fars distills golab from Damask roses each May, and the sharbat vendors here blend it with basil seed, sekanjabin vinegar-mint syrup and sour cherry. Bottled golab travels well and clears customs as a food product.
Sheep's head-and-trotter soup is a dawn ritual eaten with sangak and lime. Kalapaz kitchens open 05:00 and sell out by 10:00; ask for 'maghz' brain or 'zaban' tongue portions rather than the mixed bowl.
Noodle-and-bean ash ladled from vat-sized pots, finished with kashk whey, fried mint and caramelised onion. Haleem — wheat and lamb pounded to a paste with cinnamon and sugar — sells alongside in winter mornings.
The walled garden belt northwest of the city grows the grapes that made Shiraz wine famous; today the harvest goes to table grapes, sour oranges and dried fruit. Roadside stands sell shahani grapes and bitter-orange juice.
The Qavam family's nineteenth-century mansion keeps a bitter-orange courtyard where tea is poured beside the reflecting pool. Sour-orange marmalade and Shirazi date sweets are served; the garden closes at sunset.