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| - I love Middle Eastern food and I live on the west side, so I'm disappointed I avoided this place for so long. I even passed by it several days a week for a while. The lousy outward appearance did keep me from dropping by on a whim, but luckily once I found the reviews on Yelp I knew I had to go. (Side note: they have a 'People on Yelp love us' sticker on their window and a posted letter from Yelp congratulating them on the 5 star reviews, so if you get close enough you'll figure out they do rock).
Sadly, the location on University Ave annoys the crap out of me! I just want there to be a direct route through all of that residential area between University and Mineral but the only way is to get down to Whitney. Pretty weak, I know, since it only adds 5 minutes on a bad day.
Anyway, let's get to the food!
First went to lunch and got the Shish Kafta (ground lamb skewer) with hummus (stir in the spices they sprinkle on top) and tabbouleh. Delicious, delicious tabbouleh. Always remember with Indian and Middle Eastern: apart it's good, together it's fantastic so MIX! (eat them together, don't stir it up with your spoon, nub). Most meals come with some pita for the table which is actually a bit bland until you add some of the tasty seasoning mix you'll find on the table. Also got some Arabic coffee. The cardamom was a welcome taste to the coffee, just know that Arabic coffee has the grounds in the bottom of the pot, so when you get to the end of your cup, don't take a big swig. It's so rich anyway, you probably wouldn't do that. I don't really call myself a coffee drinker, but I enjoyed it. Too stuffed to try the baklava.
Then I went back to dinner with my sister, her bf, and his sister. YOWZA! Dinner dishes are always more expensive, but the broad selection of entrees and appetizers is fantastic. There are even a number of seafood options which we did not partake in. From the top: Arabic coffee: Not for everyone (I still like it!). Jibne is absolutely delicious fried cheese and it will squeak like a good cheese curd. Not that you'll want to go back to cheese curds after this, frankly. The Shish Sampler for two...can definitely feed three. And you won't need any rice in any other dishes if you're sharing.The mouhamara is too strong of a pepper flavor for me to eat in large amounts (pureed red pepper) but was appreciated greatly by others at the table. The Mediterranean noodles plate was surprising (Middle Eastern doesn't make me think noodles) but very tasty (and vegetarian) as a complement to the rest of the dishes (we were sharing) but would be too much of the same flavor/texture if I were ordering for just myself. Still too stuffed to try the baklava.
Bottom line: I don't think you can go wrong here. Pick something off the menu that looks good and you'll have a great meal. And if it isn't everything you were hoping for right away, it probably will be once you apply hummus and yogurt sauce.
If you don't k now where to get started:
Try the Arabic coffee if you like rich coffee, get the Jibne appetizer if you like cheese (if doing dinner), then go for the Shish Kafta with hummus and with each bite combine 2 or more of the components on the plate (lamb kafta or veggies, yogurt sauce, tabbouleh, hummus).
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