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| - Aladdin's is a chain I first discovered in Columbus, Ohio. The food is pretty good, on the whole, and the reasonable prices make it a nice fresh alternative to, say, Eat n' Park. The portions are pretty huge and I always leave with leftovers unless all I get is a rolled pita.
They really hawk the health aspects of their food on the menu, which gives me a giggle since I don't think I've ever gone there without tacking a huge piece of cake on to the end of the meal. It is true that the appetizers and entrees are made with fresh ingredients, plenty of veggies, and olive oil -- so the cake doesn't make it entirely a lie.
So what's good here? Everything I've ever tried is at least reasonably tasty, but some items stand out. The almond dressing, first and foremost, makes anything better. I could drink it if it weren't completely unreasonable to do so.
Aladdin's hummus is great. It's a thin, smooth version, topped with olive oil, kalamata olives (just one or two) and cucumber. It's heavy on the tahini, which gives a faint bitter taste that contrasts nicely with the sweetness of the flour in the pita. If you don't like that, you can always try adding a little salt, which also counteracts bitterness.
Speaking of the pita, it's a little hit-or-miss here. I've sometimes gotten baskets of dry, stale pita and sometimes nice warm fresh pita. If you luck into the latter, it's nice and chewy. If the former... well, send it back and ask for fresh instead.
The mujadara is good, but not as deliciously filled with caramelized onion flavor as when I make it at home. Best eaten in the salad pocket pita, then, to add contrast in taste and texture.
One of my favorites is the shawarma hummus plate, which boasts all the above hummus features plus pine nuts and pretty tasty grilled beef strips. It's enormous, though, so plan having it for two meals if you are of average appetite.
My standby, though, is the tuna shawarma rolled (pita). It takes them about 15 minutes to make this; a bit of a wait, but worth it for fresh-grilled tuna. Now, we're still in landlocked Pittsburgh at a casual restaurant, so it's not going to be the best tuna you've ever eaten. It's almost invariably slightly overcooked, but the tahini yogurt dressing remoistens everything. And the pickled turnips lend crunch and tartness.
As for the smoothies, I've only ever had the fresh fruit one, which is mixed up with strawberries, bananas and orange juice. It mostly tastes like strawberries and bananas, and does have some bits of apple or grape skin lingering about, but it's pretty good and almost the same price as a Coke.
And then there are the desserts. If you elect to have dessert, they walk you over to the case to give you a guided tour. I kind of hate that, since I feel like I'm awkwardly blocking the entrance/exit and can't remember the top of the case by the time they reach the bottom. But hey, OK, that's how they roll.
The cake is good. I've been a pastry chef and worked in a bakery, and the cake itself is well-executed. It's light and has a good crumb going on, and since they keep it refrigerated you get a smooth, cool texture that isn't overly sweet by itself. Their mousses are decent, and the ganache is reasonably good, too. Put them all together and you have something rather tasty. I like the peanut butter and chocolate variants they often have, as well as the espresso. Best cake ever? No, but it's better than most.
I've never tried the cheesecake, but want to. Today they had a baklava-topped cheesecake which sounded amazing but also kind of ridiculous. We decided to save it for another visit.
Service is friendly and prompt at this location. The interior is pretty laid back; nothing to write home about, but it's clean and not distracting. With plenty of vegetarian options and health-conscious ingredients (NB: you still have to watch the calories, if you're watching them, since the portions are so large), it's a good place to visit if you need to accommodate varying dietary preferences. Maybe not so much with the low-carb, but who still does that, anyway?
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