I just moved to Boise from Seattle and have been desperately looking for a good Middle Eastern restaurant, as Middle Eastern food is my favorite. Well, after reading the reviews and looking at the website I was excited to find a place I thought would be somewhat reminiscent of the good quality food I had back in Seattle. That is not to say Seattle is great for Middle Eastern food, but it is miles ahead of Boise.
Anyway, after going to the restaurant I sat down at the traditional booth. The ambiance of the little restaurant was pleasant and the owner seemed friendly. I did like the decor and the traditional booths, which many of those Seattle hole-in-the-wall restaurants lacked. However, things started to go downhill when we got to the menu.
The first red flag was the fact the owner was not Arabic, but rather Afghani. From my experience, when people from totally different regions try to become cross cultural with cuisine, there can be lack of authenticity. However, I was desperate and wanting to give the place a try and the guy seem to have a nice section of Egyptian/Arabic/Middle Eastern style food in addition to the Afghani and Indian style foods he was also serving.
Anyway, I was a bit aggravated the pricing and lack of sides. The owner also seem to want to nickel and dime his customers for everything. For example, unlike many other Middle Eastern places that will give you salad, bread, even a soup with your meal, he gives you just a tiny side of bland, unflavored rice, OR (yes OR) , a piece of Naan bread OR a salad. I was confused by the menu and thought you get bread and rice. Also, he does not give you any sauces with the kabob so you have to spend like $6.00 to get a side of hummus which is also very small in size and he gives you a small amount of bread. The guy had the nerve to charge me like $4.00 for a single piece of bread when I asked for a little more bread. He is a real cheapskate and does not seem to give a crap about pleasing his customers. Considering I was the only guy there at 7PM on Wednesday, he seems not to be exactly booming in business. You would have thought he could have been a bit courteous and not charged me such an exorbitant fee for just a tiny piece of bread! What a ripoff!
Well, despite being overpriced and skimpy on the portions, the ultimate reason I am giving the place a bad review is that the food was not good at all. The kofta (ground beef kabob, he uses an Afghani name) was overcooked, tough as rubber, dry and the seasoning was too mild and flavor bland. The rice was nothing special and had very little spices and he was too cheap to add any saffron so it had a very white, Uncle Ben rice color. It was also dry and lacking in flavor. I ask if he had a garlic or tahini sauce for the kabob, which is standard at all Middle Eastern restaurants and instead I got some type of tzatziki sauce that was not spectacular and did not go good at all with the kabob, so I used it with the extra piece of bread I received. Overall, the meal was really bad and I am very picky and a stickler for good quality meat and Middle Eastern food. Even the worst Shawarma place on the University District strip in Seattle blows this place away by miles for half the price.
This business is typical example of a business owner who wants to nickel and dime his customers thinking if he gives them less food or makes them order more he will make more money. Sadly, when you give customers small portions and try to manipulate them into buying more stuff to raise the price of the meals, the customers feel cheated and do not feel satsfied with their meal. So, even though the business owner feels they made an extra $5-6 on the meal, in the end they lose, as the customer will find a place that gives them plentiful portions and lots of sides and will save them that $5-6 and they will come more often and indulge more. The most successful food businesses I see that are not gourmet restaurants , not only have good food, but don't skimp on the portions and sides.
The only reason I am giving this place two stars is that his hummus was decent, not amazing, but good enough. It was slightly too sour, with a little too much lemon juice , but the consistency and texture was good and had a nice balance of tahini with garbanzo. However, for $6 or so, you get a pretty small portion. Also, another reason for 2 stars instead of 1 is that the ambiance was nice. I like the persian/afghani rugs and the traditional booth seating. read more