Outside: Neighborhood Restaurant
Inside: Clean and Bright
Food: Middle Eastern
Service: Hit or Miss
Price: ~$20/pp
Arabesque is a fantastic restaurant and a staple destination for me on my yearly trip to Essen, Germany.
There isn't a bad dish in this place but I strongly recommend trying their lamb dishes and making sure you ask for an assortment of dips.
The real joy or Arabesque are the many little side dishes served with pita to enjoy with or as your meal. Hummus, tabbouleh, baba ganoush, pickled vegetables, and on and on. There is no end to these sides! (Honestly, I've been here 3 times and I still haven't seen them all).
If there are dishes you know you want, it's fine for everyone to order an entree for themselves, but truly the best arabesque experience you can have is to order everything family style.
This can mean ordering several dishes and sharing them, or it can mean actually ordering the mixed menu where you simply pay by the head and the chef provides an assortment of food for your table. If this is your first visit, I highly recommend the latter.
Just tell your server you want a faimly style meal for however many people you have with the dips/sides and they will bring you a platter of mixed, grilled, seasoned meal with potatoes and vegetables and an assortment of sides and I promise you will be in heaven with each bite.
So, why only 4 stars?
I had to take one of for the service which can vary wildly from visit to visit.
Strangely, if you are there when it is busy, the service is very attentive. But if you are there when it is slow, and god help you if you are seated in a corner, you may actually need to go find a waiter for drink refills or more bread.
It's not a big deal, but can be annoying when you want to keep enjoying your delicious meal but your beer and water has gone dry.
Regardless, don't let that stop you from checking this place out. It is absolutely a top 5 restaurant in Essen and if you are there, you owe it to yourself to give it a try! read more
