The phrase 'I guess I ordered the wrong thing' is practically a cliche. After eating here, I can see why.
So yeah... Here's the deal. Hubby, kid, Mom and I shared several plates, mezze style and the whole experience was a roller coaster of extremes in terms of the food:
The Highs:
Kibbe aka fried, filled bulgur-crusted 'torpedoes.' - Both the Meat and Pumpkin-filled Kibbe were the stars of our meal. Beautifully seasoned fillings. Perfectly fried. The Pumpkin Kibbe was a bit surprising since it seemed to consist mostly of spinach and chickpeas and I couldn't really detect any squash... but really, really lovely nonetheless.
Spinach Pie - This consisted of 4 mini triangular pies, featuring pizza-like crust, rather than filo as tends to be typical in Middle Eastern restaurants. Another big winner.
Fattoush: We make this classic Middle Eastern Salad, which features bits of crisped pita standing in for croutons, at home. So I really wanted to order something more interesting instead, but hubby insisted. And sometimes you gotta wave the white flag for little battles like this. Happily, hubby was vindicated 'cause this was good.
The Lows:
Hummus Beiruty: With its addition of chopped tomatoes, tahini, and chiles, as described on the menu, I figured we couldn't go wrong. But apparently, we could. I imagined this would be topped with a dollop of tahini and then lots of chopped tomatoes and chiles, and a drizzle of EVOO. Instead, these ingredients were incorporated within. Thus, the Hummus was vaguely spicy, but otherwise tasted flat and in need of better seasoning, including lemon, garlic and salt 'n pepper. I wanted to pick up on the earthy, rich, nutty flavor of tahini and got none of that, and there was just the barest hint of chopped tomato that made no impact whatsoever. I would not order this again and would probably hesitate to order their other Hummus dishes too.
Shish Barak: I have wanted to try this Middle Eastern-style stuffed dumpling dish for years and was so excited to see it on this menu. So it was especially bummer-inducing that this turned out to be utterly meh. The dumplings, which were sort of ravioli-like, were stuffed with a really ho-hum meat filling. Hubby noted the filling would have been better had it been seasoned in the same way as for the Kibbeh. He also bit into a couple that were cold, leading him to think that maybe they had been frozen beforehand. The Yogurt Sauce that accompanied this was a bit curdled too. Not worth $17. At all.
Service was very welcoming and gracious, if a bit slow at times. And I liked that this is clearly a hub for family get togethers and celebrations.
Ultimately, am not crazy about the fact that you seemingly have to order VERY strategically here to wind up with a good meal. But the Kibbeh was so delicious, am sure I'll return one way or another.:) read more