Iraqi Food and Restaurants

Kaelin’s- Eating inside the market

September 20, 2022 Cathy Iraqi Food and Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Middle Eastern Restaurants/Cuisine, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! continues being blogged by Cathy while Kirk and His Missus continue to enjoy vacationing.

I wrote about Kaelin's Mi Pueblo back in 2011 and it still is one of our 'regular' stops. As always, The Mister and I try to have a small meal before grocery shopping so as not to be tempted to purchase 'impulse' items. D004219F-2CEB-4F04-A436-4913D4B6BBAD The name of the market has changed slightly, the interior is still kept organized and clean.
A01CD495-0DB0-47C0-9F1D-D73755C06C34 As you walk in, the first kitchen/menu board/ refrigerated grab and go to your right has a clay tannour oven with fresh, hot flatbreads on the counter (El Cajon has the second largest Iraqi community in the USA). Actually, this Middle Eastern kitchen is shared with the Mexican kitchen- there is a spit of rotating shawarma next to the spit of rotating al pastor. You order Middle Eastern foods here, are given price stickers and pay at the cash registers while your food is being prepared. 1C6D9955-8367-4B28-80E8-8B94DD740D7C The Taqueria/Mexican menu board and cash register is a few feet more into the store, next to the seating area. We usually purchase an aqua fresca here.
702C04B6-B909-4585-9175-C86A894AB534 On this visit, we chose a package of hummus ($4.99). Fresh made that morning, great flavors, plenty left over to take home.

561FF3F4-AE33-4EE7-A9D4-EACA1FB9CA5E 04E7DC12-3B50-4354-87AA-F6C0D75679A7 We ordered two beef kababs ($2 each) and I watched as the ground beef, mixed with spices, was placed on long, flat kabab skewers and began cooking on the grill. Made to order. The meat was served with a roasted tomato half and a mix of chopped onion and parsley.
561FF3F4-AE33-4EE7-A9D4-EACA1FB9CA5E Here is the loaf of hot tannour bread ($2.25) which was placed in a paper bag after being removed straight from the side of the clay oven. Crisp, flavorful browned bubbles with soft, easy to tear middles. Great flavor. It went well with both the hummus and the kabab meat.

A nice light meal with leftovers and beverage for less than $15.

Kaelin's Market 1435 East Main Street El Cajon Ca 92021 (619)440-1423 Market is open daily 7a.m.-10 p.m. Kitchen opens 10:30 a.m.

First and Last Meals in Portland – the Mekong Bistro; Dar Salam

July 18, 2017 ed fromyuma Cambodian Restaurants and Cuisine, Iraqi Food and Restaurants, Portland, Oregon, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Kirk and Cathy get a day off today as Ed wants to talk about his and Tina’s first and last meals in Portland.

On our trip, we flew into Portland and out of Portland, but the lion’s share of our visit was spent on the road going to Central Oregon, Southern Oregon, and the Oregon coast. After we flew in and before we flew out, we had the same problem, we wanted to eat somewhere close to our motel and to PDX.

Mekong Bistro:

The area along 82^nd Ave. in East Portland is a treasure trove of small restaurants of various ethnicities. Intrigued by the thought of Cambodian food, we found the Mekong just off 82^nd:

The restaurant was a large space with an inviting bar, though not very busy on this Monday night:

The menu was huge, a whole page of happy hour specials, and several pages of Cambodian, Lao, Thai, and Vietnamese choices. Of course, we wanted to focus on the Cambodian, but first, to take the edge off our appetites, we ordered chicken wings off the happy hour specials:

A real winner. Fresh from the fryer, crust perfectly crunchy, meat tender, moist, and flavorful. Though almost too hot to handle, we couldn’t stop ourselves from munching away. The dipping sauce was meh, mostly sweet, but nothing could detract from the wings themselves.

Our first bowl of Cambodian soup was sour pork and watercress:

Okay, that’s a pretty lousy picture; this’ll give you a better idea of what was in the soup:

The rich broth had a complex sour profile and the pork and watercress were well cooked, but not overcooked.

The sweet and sour fish soup had different flavors:

This photo shows many of the ingredients:

Bean sprouts, greens, squash, pineapple, and perfectly cooked excellent quality fish. The fish had no off or muddy flavors, tasted very fresh, and had been lightly grilled or fried so that the pieces of the filet stayed together. Really excellent.

The soups had come with a small bowl of ordinary rice, and the bill – gotta love no sales tax in Oregon – was quite reasonable:

Our friendly waitress, who was Lao, explained that the bistro is owned by a Cambodian/Lao couple, which helps explain the wide range of menu items. I would happily go back and wish I had an opportunity to work through more of the menu.

Mekong Bistro, 8200 NE Siskiyou, Portland, OR 97220; (503) 265-8972.

Dar Salam

Looking for our last Portland meal, Tina found Dar Salam, pointed out it had good ratings and that we hadn’t had Middle Eastern food anywhere on the trip. Sounded good to me and the restaurant looked inviting that morning in a modest neighborhood on NE Alberta:

We were early, no doubt the first customers of the day, and were both impressed by the pictures and memorabilia of Iraq that covered two walls of the restaurant:

Looking at the photos closest to us, you can see a wide range of vistas and individuals in Iraq. So many of the images seem to have a personal meaning and there was a poignancy just looking at the decor. It reminded me that exile from one’s friends, family, and native land is often very sad. Americans picture Iraq the way we see it on TV, full of violence, dust, rubble, and chaos. It wasn’t always like that:

Tina and I each ordered a soup. Her chickpea and onion soup (leblebi) was wonderful and healthy, flavors brightened by lemon juice:

I had the adis, an extremely smooth soup based on red lentils spiced with garlic and zatar:

Both soups were outstanding.

A large warm pita bread arrived next:

The joys of fresh Middle Eastern flatbreads. I pity those poor people (like us in Yuma) buying their pita bread in Kroger’s or Albertson’s. The bread came with a small bowl of all of olive oil and zatar:

Truth be told, neither Tina nor I used much of the flavored oil because the mezza plate showed up:

We loved it. The tzatziki was fresh and tangy. The hummus smooth and perfectly flavored. The baba ghanouj was perfect, extremely smoky and extremely flavorful. Good enough for a close-up:

The falafel was crunchy, rustic, and flavorful:

Overall the meal was as good as I could imagine. A perfect expression of Iraqi cuisine. Everything is prepared from scratch by the owner and his mother, truly prepared with love. I wish I could return and explore the whole menu.

And the bill was downright cheap:

Dar Salam, 2921 NE Alberta St., Portland, OR 97211, (503) 206 – 6148.

Sagmani’s Restaurant (El Cajon)(revisit)

May 6, 2015 Cathy Iraqi Food and Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Here you are, mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Kirk is busy today, Ed(from Yuma) is resting today and Cathy is posting about another meal.

It seems that either Kirk or I have stopped at Sagmani's, an out of the way, kabob centric Mediterranean standby off the beaten path in El Cajon. It's comforting to be able to get a tasty meal from some nice people in a home-like setting.This chilly day had The Mister and I driving around in search of some items to share for lunch.The Mister ordered the #1 Beef Shish Kabob plate ($8). You can see the herbs and spices mixed in with the lean beef. Two kabobs on top of an excellent basmati rice, served with turshi (mango pickled cabbage), vegetables sprinkled with the salty/citrus-y red sumac and plenty of warm pita bread.Being undecided as to to order tabouleh, baba ghannouge or hummus, I asked what was good and the friendly cook/owner gentleman said he had just made the hummus, so a side order ($5) was a simple decision. This is a tahini based hummus, not too garlic-y, and the olive oil made it perfect. This is the order of warm, fresh pita bread that accompanied our meal. Whenever I am here, I order the lentil soup ($5). It is wonderful, also just made fresh that morning. Lentils cooked in chicken stock bursting with cumin, turmeric, garlic and onion flavors…simple and perfect on this chilly day.

A great meal on a chilly day. I hope your day has been as enjoyable.

Sagmani's Restaurant 478 Douglas (between El Cajon Blvd and Main Street) El Cajon, CA 92020 (619)440-0077

Sammoon Bakery and Restaurant-El Cajon (revisit)

June 12, 2013 Cathy Iraqi Food and Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

It appears that Sammoon has closed.

Well here you are, back at mmm-yoso!!! looking at posts about food. Cathy still has places to talk about while Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are trying to get back to normal after each of their whirlwind vacation jaunts.

Yes, I've posted about Sammoon, a Mediterranean restaurant owned and run by Iraqui immigrants which makes its own breads, in El Cajon twice already. If you've ever had Jury Duty in El Cajon, you probably have been here, since it's within walking distance of the Courthouse.

This is the entrance from the Parking lot. From the street, you'll see it's next to the Panda Express.

Once inside, you'll see the menu and the former pizza oven, which is now used to create the wonderful, fresh samoon shaped breads made here throughout the day.

You may also notice the rotating spits of beef and chicken schawarma, and additional menu offerings over the rest of the open kitchen area.

One day, The Mister tried a Lunch Special ($5.99) which was choice of schawarma with a choice of bread and included fries and a salad (this day was a roasted eggplant salad). The bread choices are either a samoon bread or saj bread. The above is a chicken schawarma saj sandwich. There is pickle and tomato wrapped in the saj before the bread is grilled. This is very, very good. The fries are standard and crispy, not greasy and that roasted eggplant is really great.

One day, I noticed on the menu the "Sajj beef burger" ($4.49) and decided to order it. It came wrapped looking like a sort of American hamburger, with fries. Then I opened the paper…and you can see the Saj bread folded so perfectly tight. It was then cooked on the grill, sealing in the already cooked burger (you can click onto the small photos which will enlarge).

When I cut through the delicate yet crispy after being baked/sealed closed Saj bread, the inside of the tightly folded bread revealed a very nice sized ground beef burger, tomato, pickle, onion and a sweet sauce. The burger was not as spiced as the kabobs here, but was still the coarse ground beef used for the kebabs. The meat was moist but apparently drained, so no grease softened the Saj to make it fall apart. A very good non-traditional, yummy burger.

One day, we noticed a separate ad on the outside window (on the left side of the first photo)-a "Feast for Two" ($18). We ordered it.

First out was a basket of three hot, fresh samoon breads, along with a platter of hummus, tzatziki and baba ganouj. All fresh made here and very refreshing.

Since everything here is made to order, there was a less than ten minute/more than five minute wait for this GIANT platter to be brought out. Clockwise: pickled cabbage, roasted tomato, chicken schawarma, fresh falafel, beef schawarma, fresh tomato. On top of the fresh long grain yellow rice are a beef kebob, chicken tikka and chicken kabob with fresh cucumber slices and raw onion topped with sumac (a citrus/salty spice). We had leftovers which were enjoyed that evening.

Always good and always fresh food at Sammoon.

Sammoon Bakery & Restaurant Mediterranean Cuisine 190 N. Magnolia Suite 103 El Cajon 92020 (619)441-2823 Open seven days, 10am-10pm

Sammoon-another visit

June 12, 2012 Cathy Iraqi Food and Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Sammoon has closed.

This is mmm-yoso!!! It's a food blog. Kirk is still adjusting to the time zone and not blogging. ed (from Yuma) is adjusting to not having to be at work early each day and is not blogging. Cathy appears to be adjusted and this is a short blog post.

It does seem that my blog posts are about return visits to a bunch of places. This is because when The Mister and I go to eat out, we like to patronize local businesses close to home which are relatively inexpensive and serve really good food. When I first posted about Sammoon, it was after only a few visits. The business is run by recent Iraqi immigrants who make really good food and Sammoon is part of our "regular rotation".

Sammoon is located within walking distance from the El Cajon Courthouse as well as the new El Cajon Police Headquarters and ends up being quite crowded around lunchtime on days when court is in session. However, on Fridays and weekends, business is steadier without the 'rush' and that's when we like to go out for lunch. The owner, takes great pride in putting out a good product and there is a wait for most food orders, because items are prepared fresh.

The oven over there along the wall is where the Sammoon bread and all the sweets are made, daily. You can see the two rotating upright spits of schawarma (beef and chicken) along the other wall. Sammoon bread is shaped in its unique way and is a heartier type of bread, almost the texture of Ciabatta.

The oven is also where this wonderous cheese bread is made. Listed on the wall menu by the cash register, this is only $1. You can see how much cheese is on the fresh baked bread by looking at the cross section with a bite taken out…Fresh baked bread, still hot. The cheese, mixed with parsley does not melt much, but browns. It is firmer than Mozzarella and it has a good flavor- like Feta in texture, but less salty. We've never asked what kind, just ordered.

This is the chicken schawarma salad ($7.99). Yes, it is large. There is lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, onion and Feta and a nice oil and vinegar dressing on the side to pour over all of that freshly cooked thinly sliced chicken. The salads are served with fresh Sammoon bread.

Here is a better photo of the Sammoon bread with my blackened salmon salad ($8.99). The salmon is rubbed in Za'atr- a mix of finely ground oregano and sesame seeds and the flavor is amazing. This is not as much protein as on the chicken salad, but just as satisfying.

Anyhow, glad I could share another meal. Hope everyone is having a good week.

Sammoon 190 Magnolia Avenue, Suite 103 El Cajon 92020 (619) 441-2823 Open 10-10 Sun-Thurs and 10-midnight on Friday & Saturday

Nahrain Fish and Chicken Grill (with a short visit to Shakira)

February 29, 2012 Cathy Bakery, Desserts, Iraqi Food and Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome (back) to mmm-yoso!!! the blog of food. Sharing meals with you is what we do. Today, Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are lurking while Cathy is sharing.

Hi. The Mister and I have noticed signs for Nahrain and Shakira while on Main Street, whenever we are going to Valley Foods Mediterranean Market, where we shop (and eat in the store) fairly regularly and finally decided to stop one day. This is the view from the parking lot, but from the street, while stopped at the signal light at Ballard, you may only notice "Shakira", the top sign for the mall right next to the parking lot flower stand. Shakira is a bakery.

Over there, to the right, on Main Street is Nahrain- the blue sign.

When you walk in, the fresh fish are in the counter next to the cash register. Those on the far end, next to the catfish, under the tray of shrimp are yellow pompano, which are only served fried with rice according to the menu. All the other fish are sold by the pound.

To the far left are the very large Grass Carp fish.

On the side of the dining room is…a fountain.

It's filled with even fresher fish.

Just so you know, the live catfish are $8.99/lb, the ones in the counter are $5.99/lb. The live tilapia are also $8.99/lb and the ones in the counter are $6.99/lb. Strip bass are $8.99/lb, Grass Carp are $5.99/lb and the red snapper are $7.99/lb.

On our first visit, we weren't certain what to order, asked about the tandoori chicken (because we noticed a Halal certification for the restaurant) and were told it would take 40 minutes to prepare, so we ordered this side of hummus ($3.99) was very good, fresh and not too large.

Then we each ordered a sandwich. These were served on fresh sammoon bread.

My Chicken Cream Chop sandwich ($4.99) was freshly fried and crispy. Cream chop is a chicken breast (or beef ) marinated in a seasoned cream sauce and 'chop' means then rolled in bread crumbs and fried (I've seen potato chop on menus). The rest of this sandwich was onions and tomatoes. All the flavors melded perfectly.

The Mister ordered a beef tikka kabob sandwich ($4.99). Finely ground beef mixed with onion and parsley and seasonings and grilled. This was very moist and flavorful. This sandwich was served with all those pickles, tomatoes as well as onions and flat leaf parsley.

When we were leaving, the owner came over and told us we can always call in and order a tandoori chicken, masgoof chicken or masgoof fish and it would be prepared and ready by the time we got there.

Masgoof. We had to research. Masgouf. The national dish of Iraq. The fish(or chicken) is split down the middle, leaving the back intact, sort of a large circle. Then the animal is coated in olive oil, salt, turmeric and tamarind then cooked over fire. (Masgouf was the downfall of Saddam Hussein)

We called in that Friday, telling them we were driving in and would like a tilapia, around 2-3 pounds; that there would be two of us sharing a meal inside the restaurant. We arrived pretty quickly and the food wasn't quite ready and so we decided to order a salad. We could not decide on fatoosh or Arabic salad, and since both are $3.99, we were offered half of each.

The Arabic salad, on the left, is mainly lettuce, cucumber, green pepper and tomatoes and a delightful dressing that has fresh mint. The Fatoosh salad has fried pita bread croutons and an equally delightful, fresh and different dressing. This is a large plate.

Soon, a giant flat folded wheat bread as well as plates and sides and hot tea (which was brought out early because we asked, but it is included in the meal and usually brought out at the end)

The condiments (in that cute fish shaped platter) are tomatoes, onions and pickled mango…mango chutney..salty and not too sweet and it is complimentary to the fish:

The tilapia was proudly presented to us by the chef. Beautifully cut, seasoned and cooked, this meal was wonderful, fresh, filling and..less than $20. Yes. Everything is included and the fish ($6.99/lb) was less than three pounds.

Here is (the now) obligatory photo of The Mister's fancy fish carcass cleaning work. The skin of the fish was not as tasty as other fish skin I've had, but the fins were crispy good. Also, this was tilapia, a fish with a double skeleton going on…so not as easy to eat as other fish.

So. We walked next door, to Shakira and were overwhelmed with choices. We were not hungry after that awesome meal-but knew at some point we would be hungry again.

We decided to take home one of the cheesy flatbreads. This is not as large as the bread that accompanied our meal, but more the size of a very large pita bread. It is $1. It was a fresh and soft bread topped with a soft mild cheese. There were several differently topped flatbreads, all vegetarian and all $1 each. I will be returning.

Then we exercised restraint and each of us chose one sweet piece of dessert. The top/square piece is filled with chopped pistachios and topped with shredded filo. The bottom round one has whole pistachios. Sold by weight ($8/lb) the price for these two pieces was $1.08. These were not too sweet and made with a light syrup rather than honey. The filo dough remained crispy until the next morning.

All in all, this is yet another great place to eat in El Cajon.

Nahrain Fish and Chicken Grill 1183 E. Main Street #A El Cajon, CA 92021 (619) 334-3222

Shakira Pastry 1183 E. Main Street #B El Cajon 92021 (619)440-6068

Valley Foods Mediterranean Market-and a meal.

November 28, 2010 Cathy Iraqi Food and Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

See other posts about Valley Foods here and here. A 2015 update, from another blog: Here

mmm-yoso!!! That's the name of this blog. It's about food. With anecdotes tossed in. Cathy is blogging today. The guys aren't.

Hi. El Cajon has a new Mediterranean Market. It's on the South side of Main Street, just West of Second.(Next to the Rally Burger).
It's a new building, but the facade is more visible to the parking lot than on Main Street. It is not as large as Vine Ripe Market, does sell Halal meats, fresh breads and has enough of a produce section to make this a regular stop for me. Of course, as with the other Mediterranean markets I frequent, it has an in-store eating area. With good prices. Below, the deli area (which has many choices of Feta cheeses as well as the olives and halal deli meats shown)and a sort of 'grab and go'/prepared foods area.

When you walk in, you will go to the left and there is a hot food counter and small eating area. On the far left of this photo, the beverage machine with red juice- that is pomegranate juice- $1.49 for a large styrofoam cup. I get on every time I am here, but never seem to have snapped a photo. It is not from concentrate. The sign underneath the "Seafood" sign is "You Buy We Fry".

The steam tray area has a large menu above it. Prices are good. Really good. Order, pay and find a seat.

Beef shawarma sandwich ($3.95). Yes, that is the price. Yes, my hand is small. It is still a very large sandwich. Usually I don't order beef shawarma, because elsewhere, it is dry. Here at Valley Foods, the beef shawarma is moist and wonderfully flavored. The bread is one of the three main types sold in the store. Fresh. Those are turnips pickled in beet juice and onions in the sandwich, along with a garlicky hummus sauce.

On the bottom right is a 'side' of Biryani rice ($2.99). It's a pint.
Cooked Basmati rice, sauteed with shredded chicken, onions and some potato, along with cumin and maybe cardamom (a sweet spice, not cinnamon), this could be a meal in itself.
The falafel plate ($5.95)Seven fresh made from garbanzo beans(not powder) falafels, with a side of pickled mango , fresh made hummus (nice and with light garlic), fresh-fresh tabouleh (parsley, mint, tomatoes and bulghur wheat in a lemon-olive oil dressing) and two standard (fresh made here and warm) pita breads.
Here is a blurry photo of a cross section of the falafel. It is fresh, fluffy and good.

This is a good place for regular grocery shopping or a quick, good, inexpensive meal. It's worth the stop.

Valley Foods Mediterranean Market 1275 East Main Street El Cajon 92019 619-749-8355

Website

Sagmani’s Restaurant – El Cajon

September 19, 2010 mmm-yoso Iraqi Food and Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants

**** Sagmani’s is no longer

It had been while since I had a kebab, so I thought I’d head on down to El Cajon, home to the second largest Iraqi population in the US (next to Detroit). The mostly Chaldean Iraqi community has turned El Cajon’s Main Street into a parade of Halal meat shops, markets, and kebab shops, providing a kind of ethnic vibrance, albiet a very laid back vibe, to the street. My initial thought was to hit my favorite spot, Village Grill. I gave my good friend JohnL a call, but he was tied up with work, so I headed down to El Cajon solo. While driving, I decided to check out someplace I hadn’t been to. I drove past a restaurant I’d seen a few months earlier, but it had shut down, and was being replaced by “Nahrain Fish and Chicken Restaurant”, which was not yet opened. Then I recalled a place I saw during one of our visits to Athena Market….. the shop was behind the market, away from the main drag. It is called Sagmani’s Restaurant.

A few months back, I was talking to someone about all these Iraqi/Kebab Restaurants in El Cajon, and was taken aback when told, “I’d be afraid to go there….. I don’t think I’d be welcome.” I explained that my experiences, like what happened at Ali Baba were just the opposite of what she thought. Even though many of the men were fairly stoic, the women are warm and welcoming…. which turned out to be untrue based on this visit to Sagmani’s. I was greeted by a jolly gentleman, who smiled and said “welcome….have you had kebob before?” I answered in the positive, and looked over the menu, which like many of these restaurants is compact, but deceivingly varied, with tekka, kebabs, stews, kubba(kibbeh), and even grilled quail and cornish hens. Looking over the menu, I just couldn’t make up my mind….so the gentleman made it easy for me…..”I’ll make you one beef, and one chicken, and you can tell me which you like better…. how does that sound?” Well, it sounded just right to me.

The interior of Sagmani’s is much smaller than it appears from the outside, only a couple of four tops, and two large, almost communal tables. But based on the table-tops laying against the corner, I’m guessing that they can accommodate a pretty sizable crowd if necessary.

I had a seat, and the very nice, but quiet young lady brought me some water, and asked me if I’d like to have some tea. And soon enough I was brought some.

Here’s my Beef and Chicken Kabob:

Let’s work around the protein first…… I really liked the “turshi” aka pickle, which was the pickled tumeric cabbage, which was really good, not too sour, and full of flavor. The salad was your basic plain lettuce dressed with a bit of olive oil and vinegar. The rice was moist, and had a nice savory flavor, almost like some kind of stock was used to make it.

On to the Kabobs…….

I really couldn’t decided which I enjoyed more; the beef was fairly mellow, with just a touch of herbaceousness…. but man it was moist and tender. I could cut it easily with a fork. I loved that sumac was sprinkled liberally over the kabobs as that added even more flavor to them. On occasion, I’ve had a kabob that has what I call a “negative gamey flavor”, which is that slightly off flavor of meat that is starting to head South….. this tasted clean. The chicken had more flavor, and did well with the char. It was also moist, but as with chicken, it was not as tender as the beef. It did have good flavor, though!

The only major item I didn’t care for here was the bread.

Which were basically pita, and were pretty tough……..

I would like to mentioned the service, which I thought was wonderful. When the young lady saw me finish my water; she brought me an entire pitcher. I was checked on twice by the young lady, first to see if I wanted more bread; second to see if I wanted more tea. The gentleman came by to make sure I was enjoying my meal. I was surprised to find that I wasn’t charged for my tea….. the entire meal came out to $7, the price of a sandwich in most of San Diego……. And from the various signs, they’ve got a slew of deals going on, from 99 cent kabobs to Monday and Tuesday lunch specials….. there’s quite a bit of competition in the area.

So where do I place Sagmani’s compared with the other Iraqi Kabob shops in the area? I still think the bread at Ali Baba is the best, followed by Hammurabi. For protein, my favorite with regards to flavor is Village Grill(and they make the best okra stew). Still the kabobs here were the most tender I’ve had to date, and I thought the rice was very good. And I’ll go back, I’d like to chat with the really nice guy who made my kabobs…….

Sagmani’s Restaurant
478 West Douglas St
El Cajon, CA 92020

Saturday Stuffs: What’s up with Royal Mandarin, Maharlika closed, Hal Mu Ni temporarily closed, and a “Main Street Meatfest” at Village Grill

April 3, 2010 mmm-yoso Iraqi Food and Restaurants

I jumped in the car this morning, and did something I hadn't done in a couple of weeks……. I headed somewhere just to see what was up. This time it was Plaza Boulevard in National City.

What's up with Royal Mandarin:

The main reason I headed down to Plaza was that the Missus was wondering if Royal Mandarin had reopened after fire had razed the restaurant. The last time I dropped by, the sign said February or March, which I thought was rather optimistic. The sign now says late April, but looking through the plate glass window, I'm thinking that might be a bit of wishful thinking as well.

Also in the same strip mall, the Submarina Sandwich shop is being replaced by Lisa's Filipino Cuisine:

I'm guessing it's the same owner as the turo-turo joint of the same name in Otay Lakes?

Maharlika no longer:

As I was driving toward the 805, I noticed that the parking lot to Maharlika was roped off. Sorry about the crooked photo; I took it while driving.

Squinting, and trying to not hit the vehicles in front of me, I noticed a couple of 8 1/2" by 11" sheets of paper, with "For Sale" printed on them taped to the windows. For some reason this made me crack-up…… the restaurant is for sale, with these notes of paper like you'd stick in the windshield of a car for sale on the side of the road. And it's really hard to read from the street……

Hal Mu Ni temporarily closed (I think):

The Missus had arranged to meet some friends for dinner at Hal Mu Ni two weeks ago. But when She arrived the restaurant was being closed down. She was told that there was a gas leak in the kitchen. We've drove by a couple of times, and the place is still closed.

Must be a pretty bad leak…. or perhaps they're just hanging it up until the space where the restaurant was supposed to move next door is finished?

The "Main Street Meatfest" at Village Grill:

**** Village Grill has closed

Some good friends and I had some plans today, but unfortunately the plans fell through. Looking for a "plan B", and knowing that these folks like to eat, I suggested Village Grill in El Cajon. After sharing the "Feast For Two" at Hammurabi Family Restaurant, I wondered if we could do some damage with something similar at Village Grill. So six of us went ahead and ordered the "Feast for Five". I won't bore you with a long and drawn out post, but let me say, we finished about 60% of it. Here are some photos:

And though I still think the bread at Ali Baba is better; I prefer the meat at Village Grill. YY and TammyC seemed to think the Chicken Tekka was the best item.

We all had our theories as to why the "Feast for Five" got the better of us. I think I shouldn't have ordered that plate of Baba Ganouj…. yes, that's it…. it was the Baba Ganouj…..

That Feast for Five at $49.99 is:

5 Skewers Beef Kabob

2 Skewers Tekka Chicken

2 Skewers Tekka Beef

Beef Shawarma (Gus)

Cream Chop (chicken)

Rice, Hummus, Salad, and of course the bread.

Everything lies on a pretty large bed of rice… so maybe that's what it was…… the rice… or perhaps that yogurt drink I had…. Oh well, whatever it may be, it is a pretty large meal. And to think that Tammy C and MrC have to go to a BBQ tonight!!!

Village Grill
550 East Main St
El Cajon, CA 92020

Hope you are having a great weekend! I gotta go take my gout medication now……

Hammurabi Family Restaurant

March 22, 2010 mmm-yoso Iraqi Food and Restaurants, What Howie Eats - Where the Foodie from Foodieview Eats

*** Hammurabi Family Restaurant has closed ***

One of the wonderful benefits of having a food blog, is that I've had the opportunity to meet (or is meat?) so many fantastic people. Folks who find the same amount of joy in sharing and eating food as I do. Not only does it make me feel less strange about my obsessions, but I've found some great places to eat as well. Over the past year or so, three of my favorite FOYs (Friends of Yoso) and I have been getting together about once a month or so to share a meal, conversation, and some very healthy, and hearty laughs!

This time around, it was Jenne's turn to choose the place, and I was excited. You see, Jenne is quite familiar with the downtown El Cajon area, home of many Chaldean/Iraqi restaurants. I'd already been to Village Grill and Ali Baba, and I was looking forward to checking out La Pita, one Jenne's favorites. Unfortunately, it seems that La Pita has just closed down, so Jenne came out with Hammurabi as a plan B. The restaurant itself is quite interesting, I'm certain that it used to be a diner in a previous life, so think of diner juxtaposed with a kabob house.

After deciding on what to order, I started with some yogurt. Why yogurt…….. well, after having visited a few of these places, and seeing what huge meat-fests they are, I needed to get the tummy squared away.

Every one of these Kabob Houses has "feasts" designed for two, three, four, or five people. Actually, it should be more like three, five, six, or the entire neighborhood. What you're about to see is the "feast for two"($35).

Which starts out with a rather innocuous plate of nice fresh greens tossed with olive oil and lemon juice.

It also comes with a nice plate of Hummus.

This was a good version, nice chickpea flavor without being too heavy on the tahini.

And of course there was the bread:

Known as Khubz, this pizza sized flat bread is a wonderful vehicle of flavor. There were two pieces of warm bread overflowing a basket that was surely not up to the job. Better than what we had at Village Grill, but not as good as Ali Baba's.

Next up was our plate of meat, starches, and pickles…. remember all of this, the salad, hummus, bread, and the platter below is for two!

The pickles, the "Turshi" ranged from pretty good the pickled saffron-curry cabbage, to "meh", I thought the pickled turnips were too bitter.

Here's a rundown on the rest of the plate: Two Lamb Kabobs (nice and moist, but low on the gamey scale), Two Chicken Kabob (pretty good, well seasoned), One Chicken Tekka (also pretty good), Shawarma (fairly moist, but mild in flavor), Chicken Chop (which I enjoyed), Rice (meh), and Bulghur (well flavored, mildly spicy and tangy). Sheesh. I finally had the "cream chop", in this case breaded and fried chicken. It was pretty moist, and very tender.

Since Jenne had picked the place, I let her take some photos, like this one.

And darn if she didn't do a better job than I did! Heh, you'll never touch my camera again Jenne! he-he-he….

I'd wanted some Baba Ghanouj, but they were all out. We went with a small Tabbouli($5) instead.

This was not bad, it was fairly heavy on the acid, but the "green" chlorophyll flavor that sometimes overwhelms the dish was adequately muted.

There was one menu item that grabbed my attention:

It simply said "Birds". When I asked the very friendly young lady serving us about this, she said simply: "it's small whole birds………" Small birds? I had visions of the fantastic whole roasted sparrows we had at Highway 4 in Hanoi dancing in my head. So when our "Birds" arrived, I couldn't help but be a bit disappointed.

The "Birds" were simply quail! This was a simple preparation, salt rubbed, some lemon, and roasted. The wings and legs were salty, smokey, and crunchy….great nibbling. The carcass was pretty dank and gamey. Howie and Jenne enjoyed them though. Jenne said it tasted like the wild quail her dad used to hunt.

By the time Candice's dish, the Tashreeb, a braised lamb shank served in a huge bowl lined with Khubz soaking up the wonderful braising vegetables and liquid arrived we were all stuffed. I was too full to take photos! I did have some lamb which was soft and tender, but it's the saturated bread, which I wrapped in another piece of bread that tasted really great.

Needless to say, there was a good amount of leftovers. It was another meal made better by the company. I can't wait to do this again soon! As you can tell, the portions are generous, and make sure to check your gout at the door.

During our meal I kept peeking at the back room, which in contrast to the rather worn dining room, was being nicely decked out. The young lady told us that there was an engagement party later that evening….. As we were leaving I saw men dressed nattily in suits arriving. It gave the evening another interesting twist.

Hammurabi Family Restaurant
401 W Main St
El Cajon, CA 92021

"All that meat and nothing for me!!!"