We were a party of 14 with an afternoon reso on Sunday afternoon celebrating a big family event. Half of us are Palestinian and used to good quality home cooked Palestinian food.
SERVICE: 4 Stars
I must give a big acknowledgment to our waiter Hasan. He was so personable, attentive, and professional. You can tell he genuinely cares about people. He did his best to give us a great experience and make it extra special. He even told me a beautiful something from his heart that honored my late father. Thank you Hassan!
The 1-star off is towards management as they need more wait staff working when they have a full house, including one party of 14 and another party of 24. Not sure why they only had 2 waiters for all those people on a Sunday afternoon. We had to get up to ask them for more hot water, 3 times for more paper plates and more times for spoons as we were serving our cake, etc.
BE PREPARED FOR LONG WAIT TIME ON FOOD, but it was absolutely worth the wait!!
FOOD PRESENTATION: 5 STARS
FOOD TASTE AND FRESHNESS OVERALL 4 STARS
SERVICE 4 STARS
AMBIANCE 4 STARS
CLEANLINESS 4 STARS, except the women's WC, hopefully the manager follows through as he said he would and I'll give an update next time I go (see the PS section)
FOOD:
- Sitty's Family Mix Mashawie - 5 STAR!!!
- THE MASHAWIE is a pie-encrusted dish. Inside is a mix of all the above meats grilled to perfection. The meats are then layered on top of flavorful Arabic rice and potatoes, which all get covered with a flaky pie crust and baked, so the meat is extra moist and flavorful... THE LAMBCHOPS OMG WOW!! and that pie crust, also wow!
Taste, Freshness, and Presentation, 5 Stars easily!
- Muhamara- Roasted red peppers, pomegranate molasses, crushed walnuts. I could've eaten the whole 2 portions! So good, 5 Stars
- Hummus - simple, fresh delicious
- Fattoush Salata - Refreshing and well dressed, breaks up the heavier dishes well
- Batata Hara - chunks of well-seasoned fried potatoes,
- Garlic Toum & Tahini Sauce - both nice texture, delicious, fresh
- Falafel - a bit dryer than I like
- Fried Kibbeh - I've never been a big fan of these, but people seemed to like them.
- Fries - They were a big hit.
THE 1 DISAPPOINTING FOOD WE GOT IMO
- Kunafa - we got 1 soft and 1 crispy.
- Size: small, especially if you want to share with more than 2 people.
- Taste: Crispy kunafa is what I grew up on. I normally love it and can't resist it. NOT THIS ONE UNFORTUNATELY. These seem pre- frozen, not homemade, b/c the quality of these kunafa's don't match the quality of their savory dishes. The soft one was so very dry, and the crispy one hardly had any cheese, was hard to cut, and I think they forgot the syrup. It was salty and not sweet. Kunafa should be a highlight not a let down.
* 1 Star, thumbs down to their kunafa
AMBIENCE:
I like the design and artwork on the walls. Love the small merchandise section of Palestinian items you can buy, like kuffiyehs, ceramics and jewelry. (Sold by a separate Palestinian company) They have a nice outdoor shisha area also. I would for sure like to come here again with family or friends! I'd especially like to try their fish dishes.
PS I mentioned to the manager that the women's WC needs a serious cleaning. It was quite the contrast to the rest of the restaurant cleanliness. He was very receptive to this info and expressed that he appreciated me letting him know so he can better it. I'll update here on this issue next time I go. read more