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This story was corrected April 6.

Beyond the jars of honey, and cases of nuts and dried fruit, Sam's Café and Market is a modestly appointed café that is all windows and light. Diners place their orders at a small kitchen counter at the back of the dining area. Find a table, and a cup of smoking hot fragrant jasmine tea quickly finds you. In addition to gyros, various kabobs and hummus, the menu includes some unusual house items and specials.

Oloveih is a cold salad of shredded cooked chicken, peas and minced vegetables folded into whipped potatoes and mayonnaise. Spikes of Persian pickles provide just the right salt and vinegar to make the dish come alive. The creamy, light hummus has flavors of fresh garlic, toasted spices and tahini, all blended into a smooth base of pureed chickpeas, and served with warm toasty flat bread sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Aash, the house soup, is a thick fortifying vegetarian peasant soup of lentils, red kidney beans and vermicelli noodles strongly flavored with coriander and topped with drizzle of fresh cream cheese. Although it is served in a Styrofoam bowl, it arrives at the table piping hot. Among the sandwiches, Sam's gyro is less about a heaping portion of meat, and more about crisp herbs, lettuces and a zesty sauce with the right proportion of the broiled combination of ground beef and lamb.

Tasty vegetarian entrees feature eggplant, tomatoes, herbs and spices. Chelow kabob is the national dish of Iran, and it's a delight at Sam's. A variety of kabobs, from skewered marinated lamb, chicken, colored and flavored with turmeric, nicely seasoned filet mignon, and kobiedeh — lamb and beef ground together with onions and parsley — are grilled to order and served with buttery basmati rice flecked with saffron. Each dish also comes with grilled plum tomatoes and yogurt sauce, accompanied by a refreshing small mound of fresh sprigs of tarragon, mint, parsley and spring onions. Sam's combination no. 2 is a glorious sampling of the three best kabobs with the works. A few shakes of powdered sumac (somagh) provides a pleasantly smoky and slightly bitter finish on the meats and rice.

Baklava and other honey glazed pastries are available from the market. Dozens of house made gelatos and a concoction known as bubble tea, iced tea flavored with your choice of fruit or dairy essences and garnished with gelatinous pearls of tapioca, are all consumed through a unique wide straw.

While the dining room at the new Sam's Café and Market is unpretentious, the atmosphere is alive with the scents, sounds and genuine hospitality of a robust Persian market.

Sam's original location in the Ritchie Center was a destination for the Persian community for sundries, groceries and prepared meals. The entrance to the new Sam's Market and Café opens right into the market, a veritable emporium of Persian household delights and necessities from teas, candied almonds, plump medjool dates, select produce, and house made gelato to Arabic DVDs and CDs, exotic toiletries, and giant hookahs and their various accessories. Fresh coffee is available from a grand samovar right in the middle of the market.

Sam's Café and Market

844 Rockville Pike, Rockville

301-424-1600

Hours: Hours: Mon.-Sat.: 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Sun.: 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Style of cuisine: Persian

Appetizers: $3 -$4.45

Soups and salads: $4-$9

Sandwiches: $6 -$7

Entrees: $8-$18

Desserts: $2 -$8

Credit cards: Major credit cards, however cash is recommended