Missagh "Misa" Rajaei's is the classic story of the small restaurateur. He always enjoyed cooking. Growing up on the Big Island after his family emigrated here from Iran, he would cook for his friends at parties or for his family at home — the Persian (aka Iranian) specialties of his culture — and everyone would say, "Open a restaurant, open a restaurant."

Six weeks ago, having moved to O'ahu some time ago, he did.

With a touch of humor, and reflecting his years here and his mastery of pidgin, he calls it Dat One Persian Restaurant. It's just a simple lunch spot in that rabbit warren of lunch spots at 801 Alakea (corner of Alakea and Queen in Downtown Honolulu). Rajaei does all the cooking, and he also caters events and is considering how to start a dinner business, possibly on First Friday evenings, although he's a bit removed from the action around Nu'uanu Avenue.

The recipes are standard homey dishes from Iran, except for a nontraditional creation of his father's: a vegetarian stew of mixed vegetables with coconut milk. "I keep telling my family I took their recipes and made them better," Rajaei says, half-jokingly.

There are seven standard entrees, including a soup, stews and meat dishes, and Friday is "Kabob Day," with beef or chicken skewers served over basmati rice. He plans to introduce weekly specials soon.

One thing I particularly enjoy about Middle Eastern cuisines is the pairing of fruit with protein. Rajaei's menu reflects this in several dishes, including fesenjoon, a slow-simmered stew of boneless chicken with a fried walnut/pomegranate sauce. It is almost candy sweet and yet richly meaty; there's a slightly grainy texture from the crushed walnuts. I enjoyed this dish very much. Rajaei says they run out of this selection almost every day; it's among their most popular. It is particularly nice with the yogurt salad they serve, the tart yogurt and herby mint balancing the rich stew.

Another example of the fruit-protein combination is khoresh aloo, a chicken and prune stew, sweet and sour, tender and meaty, colored and flavored with turmeric. Both in Europe and in the Middle East, prunes, with their density and dark, rich flavor, are seen as a fitting companion to meats, but it's an idea still rather foreign here.

None of the dishes I tasted was spicy-hot or in any way odd-tasting, but if you're a bit timid, start with the khoresh nademjoon, beef and eggplant stew. It's a thick, jammy mélange of boneless beef and chunks of tomato and eggplant, and it's about as comforting and homey as your mom's smile. Rajaei says this dish, too, is very popular because people here are more familiar with the ingredients. Actually, it's like an Iranian take on beef tomato, but without the bell pepper. The flavor is tartly sweet, and this is a dish pretty much anyone (well, any meat eater) could love.

I didn't care as much for the khoresh karaiss, beef and celery stew, but that's probably because I grew up with a mother who had suffered overcooked celery for years at the hands of a college dormitory and taught me to consider cooked celery anathema. It's just difficult to keep celery from going unpleasantly gelatinous. The spicy, lemony flavors of this dish were fine; I just didn't care for the celery texture.

Dat One Persian Restaurant has been discovered by those who can best appreciate its food. Rajaei said that since he's opened, "I met a lot of Persians I never knew existed. They drive downtown to pick up lunch, and they are so happy."

Like Hawai'i, Persia is a rice-eating culture, so all the entrees come with rice. But it's not the short-grain type we're used to but a long-grain, loose basmati/saffron rice. In the three-compartment take-out containers at Dat One Persian Restaurant, the rice occupies the largest container, reflecting the common practice of indigenous cultures: starch big, meat small.

Still, the servings here are very generous; they pack the smaller compartments (you can choose one or two entrees). You can also choose to skip the rice and get a bowl of whatever entree you want.

Reflecting the Rajaei family's long residence in this country, there's no confusion here as there can often be in small ethnic restaurants where language is a barrier. Signs prominently posted describe "how it works" — what they charge for each number of choices and so on. And on both my visits, the young woman at the counter was sweetly friendly. And — this is something I've never seen in a plate lunch place — they offer tastes. You can get a spoonful of anything to see if you like it before purchasing. Nice idea.

One thing I found disappointing was the side dishes: You get a choice of a yogurt/cucumber /mint salad, rather like an Indian raita, or shirazi, Persian salad, which is a sort of diced relish of cucumbers, tomatoes, parsley onion, olive oil and lemon juice. Both are delicious, but they are served in miniscule plastic containers; the size you generally get with condiments such as ketchup — no more than a few ounces. For my taste, I'd rather have smaller portions of rice and entrée and an equal-size portion of the salad/side. But that's just a small quibble.

All in all, I enjoyed this little spot. It's a nice change from standard Island-style plate lunch fare.

Reach Wanda A. Adams at wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.