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| - After a double feature Sunday afternoon at The Manor Theatre, my best friend and I went for our usual dinner prowl. We considered Indian, but it was a little far to walk, and then basically tossed a coin between Aladdin's and the Bangkok Balcony. Aladdin's won.
The interior atmosphere was huge and very pleasant, and the staff was actually very nice and accommodating.
The menu was pretty extensive, offering a lot of pita rolls, salads, soups, appetizers, entrees, and dinners, ranging from vegetarian to unusual, to the usual Middle-Eastern fare.
I ordered a Diet Coke, and my friend ordered the Pomegranate Green tea. According to her, the tea was not only delicious, but incredibly fragrant.
For our dinners, we each ordered a variation on one dish, so we could try them both. They involved a plate of hummous topped with meat (I had chicken, she had beef) with some bits of tomato and parsley, with a basket of Pita on the side. We also ordered a side of the rice vermicelli with pine nuts just to check it out.
The chicken was ok, lightly seasoned chicken thigh, cut into very small cubes. The beef was more seasoned and flavorful, and in bigger strips.
I can't say that I was very impressed with their self-proclaimed 'famous' hummous. No garlic, no lemon, no olive oil flavors at all. Just chick peas and tahini, that's all that could be tasted, and it was a BIG plate of it.
The pita was fine, and actually came abundantly enough to cover the ginormous portion of hummous.
The rice and vermicelli was adequate. Tasty, but not spectacular, and the pine nuts lingered with me for the rest of the evening.
I didn't realize that Aladdin's was a chain, or we might have thought twice about it. I can't say it was awful, but I certainly can't praise it. I've definitely had more taste bud tripping Middle-Eastern food. We were also kind of surprised to learn that they don't have any kind of Arabic or Turkish coffee on the beverage menu.
Huh?
Now I know we didn't branch out much with choices from the menu, but to me, if something as basic a Middle-Eastern staple as hummous doesn't come with much flavor, I'd actually be concerned about ordering other 'typical' dishes.
The bill came to just over $30 for the basic meal we had, and overall, I was not impressed enough to go a second time. The space is pretty, the staff is uber-friendly (and the two Middle-Eastern guys sitting across from us were absolutely delicious to look at during the meal) but the prices were a little high for the product, and the product just didn't hit the spot as fulfilling. Ali-Baba on Craig Street has a more limited menu - but the flavors are far better.
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