Ella North Airport

Ella North Airport in Langar may be a modest regional hub, but it punches well above its weight when it comes to feeding hungry travelers. The main terminal's small café, run by a local family for over two decades, is the kind of place that smells like saffron and toasted bread from the moment you walk through the door. Don't breeze past it — the morning ash reshteh, a thick herb and noodle soup, is as warming and restorative as anything you'd find in a proper teahouse in the city.

For something a little heartier before a flight, the hot food counter near the domestic check-in area reliably turns out kotlet — pan-fried meat and potato patties — paired with a tangy tomato and herb salad that locals have been eating for generations. The portions are generous and the prices refreshingly honest. Wash it all down with a glass of doogh, the fizzy salted yogurt drink that divides opinion among first-timers but converts almost everyone by the second sip. It's a proper taste of Central Iran without even leaving the terminal.

Langar's surrounding region is famous for its pistachios and dried mulberries, and you'll find small cellophane bags of both sold alongside the coffee near the departures gate — perfect for the flight ahead or as a gift that actually means something. The tea here is brewed properly, steeped dark and served with a sugar cube to hold between your teeth in the old Persian style. It's a small ritual, but in an airport this size, that kind of authenticity is genuinely rare and worth savoring slowly.