i was SO excited to try this new place. As a Middle Eastern i'm always on the lookout for some nice, fresh, flavourful, authentic middle eastern food. dropped by for some take away with my boyfriend. As two vegans, we tried the only two vegan dished on the menu. The place is very small and overshadowed by Hard Rock Cafe but as it branded itself as a high-end place (and since there are 2 well established Middle-Eastern restaurant within a 50 meters radius) we were both happy to try it out.
The place itself was clean and nicely designed. 2 cooks were in the tiny kitchen and a guest having a wrap of some sort sat in one of the 2 available tables. I wouldn't want to eat there since its a bit cramped (though air-conditioned) but we didn't plan to anyway. We ordered a falafel in pita (which they named bastard for some unknown reason) and a vegan pasta dish. we waited for the food for about 10m which is very reasonable.
Personally, i don't like it when i feel that restaurants pay too much attention to the packaging- the paper box in which the pasta was and the bag in which the pasta box was placed looked above and beyond any takeaway box i've ever seen before. Very very fancy- like shopping for a tie in Ralf Lauren or a bag in Chanel (see pics). I would have preferred a simpler, environmentally friendly packaging which won't make me feel like i've paid for the over fancy packaging rather than the food itself.
The falafel was nice but nothing special. The pita was considerably smaller and not as good as the ones you get in "hungry guy" or "Miznon" just down the street. Also, it was half open and toasted which isn't the Middle Eastern style rather than the European adaptation. You won't find such a pita in Sababa, maschu maschu or the 2 nicer restaurants i've mentioned before. It wasn't bad but i could have gotten a much larger and nicer pita filled with different salats and not only lettuce and sauce in sababa/maschu maschu. I would have also paid less for it.
The pasta was, though, the biggest disappointment. I've never heard of this dish so i can't tell you for sure it's not authentic but it was definitely a disappointment. The presentation was terrible- inside the super fancy box was simple take away box with the pasta. It looked terrible (see pic attached) very underwhelming, especially after expectation rose by the fancy packaging. Portion size was ok, but the pasta was so dull and plain that i didn't want to eat it at all, not to mention finish it. As expensive as a dish in a sit-down restaurant i expected bread, salat, sauce- basically what you get if you order any of the other plate dishes here. The pasta was a strange mix of rice, pasta, lentils, tomato sauce and fried onion. Why would i need rice and pasta in the same dish?? the sauce wasn't creamy or smooth or nice and there were absolutely no veggis involved, just plain, tasteless carbs. no spices whatsoever and very little sauce. Dry and tasteless.
With a bill of 17.5 euros for a small falafel pita, one pasta dish and a beer- (which was more expensive than the same one in the next door pub!) and another euro tip it was just a huge disappointment. Plain, dull, overpriced food. I was left unsatisfied, hungry for a nice fresh vegetable (such as those in Miznon), some spicy Middle Easern salats (like in maschu maschu or sababa) or the best pita's in town like those in hungry guy.
I hope other people had better luck. I won't be coming back. read more