Add another to the long list of ethnic cuisines and restaurants that can be found in Southern California.
Kurdish cuisine was new to us until yesterday when we visited Niroj Restaurant located in Agoura Hills.
Owner is Luqman Barwari, who after many years in medical science, opened Niroj as the first restaurant to feature this Middle Eastern styled food.
The Kurdish people reside in the mountains between Persia and Mesopotamia and their cuisine has evolved with influences from several of the surrounding countries including Turkey and Iraq.
Open for three years only recently has Niroj added lunch as well as dinner.  The menu is large and many choices available as we discovered with five cold appetizers to start and then five hot starters to follow.
For lunch there is a buffet as well with a lentil soup, Mussaka, Kayle Veggies,  beef stew and chicken Barjani.
The dinner menu shows many Kebabs and Tawe, meat stews.  There are salads and family style feasts that offer a large selection of menu items.
The wine list includes several wines from Middle Eastern countries, the Massoya Lebanon Beqia Valley 2012 we tasted was an excellent vintage.  There are also two brews from the Middle East, Almaa Pilsener from Lebanon and Kotags Gold Pale Lager from Armenia.
Niroj is located at 30313 Canwood Street in Agoura with free off street parking.  It is open for lunch Tuesday thru Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with the buffet.  Dinner is from 4:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, on weekends from 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. with live entertainment on Sunday evenings.  Closed Mondays.