Mediterranean Restaurants

Zgara Revisited and Pita Grill SD

April 9, 2026 mmm-yoso Greek Food, Mediterranean Restaurants

I was looking forward to revisiting Zgara again, since it had been a while. For some reason, I was missing their pork gyros. So, I headed off to grab some lunch and when I got to that area of Morena….well, there was no parking to be found….I could not even find any parking on Savannah or Vega street! So, I needed to come up with another option. I headed toward Linda Vista Road…thinking of perhaps J&T. Yorimichi2 also came to mind, but it was just a few minutes after 11 and they weren’t open yet. But instead of taking the left onto Linda Vista, I went straight ahead on Napa Street and turned into the Arrive Mission Valley center. My usual choice here would be Pho Kitchen….but it was a bit too hot for pho or bo kho on this day. I saw another place that caught my attention.

Pita Grill SD:

Pita Grill…hmmm….. So, I thought why not? And walked on in.

The interior looked very “chain like”; but doing a quick check; I couldn’t find any other “Pita Grill” in San Diego. The prices didn’t look too bad…but it seemed like one of those fast casual “concepts”.

Still, the prices were not bad.

It seems this was one of those places that makes everything from Gyros to Hummus….. All the nice women working were speaking Spanish. In the end; I went with a Chicken Shawarma Wrap ($14.95). My wrap was put together on the “line” and I picked it up at the register.

It was quite hefty. At first bite, I knew this wasn’t typical. The “bread”…this was closer to a tortilla than something coming off the “sajj”. It was chewy, not warm enough. The chicken was on the tougher side, not really Shawarma in flavor…lacking in savory-herbaceous aromatics….you could take this chicken and put it in a tortilla with some salsa and call it a burrito.

The “tzatziki” was really watery lending little of that sour-savory-herbaceousness to this. This made the stuff that Tahini and the now defunct Simsim seem like great traditional food! I’m sure this will do fine for hungry students at USD or folks looking for something not too assertive in flavor, but this really didn’t do it for me.

Unless anyone has a recommendation for this place, I think this is a “one-and-done”.

Pita Grill SD
5375 Napa St. Unit 110
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 11am – 7pm
Sunday 11am – 6pm

Now, I was really determined to head back to….

Zgara Greek Grill:

Once a upon a time Zgara was a big part of my “rotation“. I’d been a fan since they first opened in PB back in 2015! Then back in 2024, because of all our travels…I didn’t visit for about six months. I finally returned to find out that Eric, the original owner had sold the place. Folks I know who were regular customers have told me that the food has definitely changed and on my revisits under new ownership, I’ve noticed perhaps some changes.

I figured since it’s been over 5 months since my last visit, it was time…… At least there was ample parking this time around.

I quickly noticed that since my last visit in October of last year, the price of the Pork Gyros has gone up $1.60, from 11.86 to $13.46, that’s a 13% increase in less than five months!

Though they still feature a lunch combo at $16.04 which becomes $17.68 after 4pm. Me, I’m just wanting my pork gyros fix.

I have noticed that the new owner does wrap things a bit tighter and the pork seems to be more chewy these days. Also, there seems to be less tzatziki????

Still, that savory porkiness with some nice crisp bites, with a bit of acidity, pleasant pungent tones, with a background of olive oil is still there. So, while I do miss Eric, I’ll probably still be coming here for my gyros fix.

Zgara Greek Grill
1229 Morena Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 11am – 8pm
Closed on Sunday

Road Trip – Peaked Hill (Sonoma), Point Arena – Stornetta, and Frankie’s (Mendocino)

November 19, 2025 mmm-yoso Marin, Napa, and Sonoma Counties, Mediterranean Restaurants, Mendocino, CA, Road Trip, Travel

Our next stop after Bodega Bay was the town of Mendocino. I’d heard some really nice things about the town and was excited to visit. The actual drive was set to be less than 3 hours, so I had some detours in mind.

Our first stop was right before the Russian River. I took a turn off Highway 1 onto Goat Rock Road making several stops at places like Blind Beach.

A then drove south finding some parking to the trail to the summit of Peaked Hill. Needless to say, the views were beautiful.

Loved the views of the shoreline.

I like to mix in interesting places when we travel and there happened to be a place I read about in Sea Ranch. Right off Highway 1 is a sign directing one to the Sea Ranch Chapel.

A non-denominational chapel dedicated to the memory of local artist Kirk Ditzler, it is designed to be a “serene refuge” for meditation and prayer. There were several people inside the building, so I didn’t want to bother them.

You can find some photos of the interior here.

We made a short fuel stop in Gualala and then the Missus went to check out this lovely little book store.

Right at the Rollerville Junction, we once again did a detour off the Shoreline Highway. This time up Lighthouse Road. We took a quick look at the Point Arena Lighthouse.

Before heading back down the road and parking at the beginning of the Point Arena – Stornetta Trail.

It’s a lovely coastal trail.

We only went until we could view the shore and rocks before heading on our way.

JJ did have time to stop and smell the flowers though.

From there it was just an hour to the town of Mendocino. We were instantly charmed by the village.

The Victorian style houses instantly took us to the East Coast.

In need of lunch, we stopped by a little shop steps away from where we were staying. You know why we “had” to stop here, right?

Yep, that’s right, it’s Frankie’s! Frankie’s is mainly a pizza and ice cream shop; but they also have salads and falafel…and even piadina.

There’s some patio seating, which was great on a nice sunny day.

The Missus and I really weren’t feeling like pizza, so we got Frankie’s Falafel and the Mediterranean Piadina.

The portion size for the Falafel Salad was quite generous.

This dish is actually Vegan. The exterior of the falafel wasn’t crisp enough, nor was the interior nice and creamy. We did both love the Tahini Dressing though. Nice and earthy, with a good acidic kick. The hummus was passable.

Both the Missus and I enjoyed the Piadina, which, while not being close to what we’d had in Malta, was quite refreshing.

The pita was crisp; the Tahini, like the salad was very refreshing; the Parmesan Cheese adding that salty-milky component. Crisp spinach, with olives and sun dried tomatoes as “hidden” surprises.

And while there wasn’t a “rainbow from Frankie” signifying his approval (we miss you F), this was a decent lunch.

Frankie’s
44951 Ukiah St.
Mendocino, CA 95460

Glad the lunch wasn’t too much food as it was now time to explore a bit before checking in.

Thanks for stopping by!

Road Trip – Treehouse Café (Carmel) and the 17 Mile Drive

October 24, 2025 mmm-yoso Dog Friendly, Fusion Cuisine, Mediterranean Restaurants, Monterey/Carmel/Santa Cruz - Monterey Bay/Peninsula, Road Trip, Travel

After checking into our room at the Green Lantern Inn we rested a bit and then decided to do some shopping before having a rather early dinner. The place I picked; because it was just a few blocks away from where we were staying…..the sidewalks are small and traffic both pedestrian and autos are pretty bad during peak times; was the Road Trip – Treehouse Café (Carmel) and the 17 Mile Drive. It’s a very cute location.

On the terrace of a charming little building. There’s a nice outdoor eating area.

Carmel claims to be the most dog friendly cities in the US. And heck, there were no less than 8 pooches hanging on the terrace. Including these two!

The pooches were so well behaved….even more so than their two-legged counterparts, many of whom seemed snooty and demanding. And I gotta say; the service here was on the abrupt side…..though that could have been because of the customers. And quite slow to boot.

Treehouse Café has an interesting menu. There are Thai, Mediterranean, and Italian dishes on the menu. A crazy mix that I would usually avoid….but because of how pooch friendly the place was, I thought we’d just have our first dinner here.

I started with an Allagash White, clean, citrus tones. Which went well with the bread and the herbaceous olive oil.

Being quite curious; I ordered the Thai Pork Sausage.

Very porky with a good amount of rice stuffed into it. Lacking in the herbaceous tones and spice I look for though.

Because I could not get enough bread…..I ordered the roasted garlic. Which was interesting as the garlic was still hard and bitter….not soft and spreadable like I prefer.

The olive oil it was soaking in was quite good though.

And for more carbs….we got the Veggie Combo Platter. Along with the overly chewy pita included…counterclockwise; Dolmas, which were too chewy and bland, some incinerated falafel….not good eats, both the hummus and baba ghanouj were good though…nicely blended, creamy, full of flavor.

And to finish off, a basic Greek Salad.

Overall, a fairly mediocre dinner, that took quite long…..and most places were closed by the time we finished.

Treehouse Café
7th & 8th San Carlos St.
Carmel, CA 93921

So, we just walked on back to our accommodations and called it a night. I did a post; while someone totally crashed out.

As for our full day in Carmel…well, we decided to do something that we had done once before, when we still lived in LA. We decided to take JJ on the 17 Mile Drive from the Carmel Gate.

But first, I took JJ to get some coffee. Carmel is a totally different city in the morning.

Peaceful and relaxing.

Though I did find that the Seagulls here feel quite entitled as well. I actually saw seagulls taking their time crossing the street, stopping traffic three times! I managed to get a photo of one of those occasions!

When you have time to relax and stroll you notice things……I hadn’t taken notice of Carmel’s City Hall before, though we walked past it twice the previous day!

I went to the Carmel Coffee House and Roasting Company to get the Missus a latte and myself a cold brew.

The Missus enjoyed Her latte; my cold brew was quite smooth and easy to drink.

Carmel Coffee House and Roasting Company
Dolores St.
Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA 93921

And then we headed out. We paid our $12.25 fee at the Carmel Gate, then headed out to see some of the sights. We made a few stops.

Of course we had to stop at that symbol of Pebble Beach, the Lone Cypress.

It is said to have started growing in the mid 1700’s and has survived so much. Even several arson attempts. A symbol of resilience it has been declared the most photographed tree in the world.

We made a stop at Crocker Grove.

There are only two Monterey Cypress Forests in existence and this is one of them.

Bird Rock Vista Point for both the view and a bathroom break.

And JJ seemed to be enjoying himself.

There was just one more stop I wanted to make. When we did our previous visit, China Rock.

Which was once the site of a Chinese Fishing Village.

For some interesting stories and history, check out these two posts.

By this time, we’d kind of had our fill and decided just to head on out to Pacific Grove. We turned on a familiar street; Lighthouse Avenue, where we enjoyed exploring the city on the self guided historic houses tour several years back. The Missus had really enjoyed shopping here and so we stopped and the Missus got some shopping in.

And then it was time to head back to Carmel….we still had the afternoon to do more exploring.

BoujieMana

September 18, 2024 mmm-yoso European Restaurants, Fusion Cuisine, Gastropub, Mediterranean Restaurants, Wine Bars/Wineries

Ah yes, BoujieMana. Like would you actually go to a place with "Boujie" in the name? Not quite sure how I heard about the place, but what fascinated me the most was the location, off Aero Drive. You basically go to where there's massive construction happening on Aero Drive, then head on down Aero Court to where the street ends at a office park. The restaurant, is in what looks like a business complex, on the other side of the Mira Bella Apartments. Shades of Green Acre, but not in Torrey Pines/Sorrento Valley/East Village.

I had looked at the menu online and thought that it would make for an interesting lunch excursion.

BoujieMana 01

It was quiet during our lunch visit on this day. It was before the heatwave and we decided to have a seat in the deck area.

BoujieMana 02

The large restaurant serves lunch and dinner during the week and brunch during weekends. The menu has some variations for each dining option and we were told that there are monthly changes to the menu.

Being the nosy customers we are, we spied what the other two tables were getting and determined that the sandwiches and pizzas seemed a bit hefty. In keeping with how we like to dine these days; we find that appetizers sometimes give a better outlook into the restaurant as the chef can take more chances with food, we ended up ordering three starters and a salad.

The Missus saw Smoked Deviled Eggs ($9) and made sure to try that.

BoujieMana 03

The Missus usually enjoys deviled eggs, but this wasn't a favorite of Hers. I think it's the sourish salsa verde which was intensified with the pickled jalapenos that took this over-the-top. Too many sour tones, which really seems unappetizing on eggs to us.

The Roasted Octopus ($19) was interesting as it was "almost there" for us.

BoujieMana 04

The octopus was pleasantly tender, the bean puree was nice and creamy, potent acidity…….it was just a bit too salty. I'm thinking that some bread would go really well with this; tempering the saltiness and complementing the savory-acidity well.

The portion size for Wild Chicory Caeser ($16) was quite large. Instead of bacon, this featured crisped prosciutto which added a nice layer of salty-savory sweetness.

BoujieMana 05

We enjoyed the bitter tones and the fact that the salad wasn't over-dressed. In fact, the leftovers did well with dinner. The salty-cheesy parmesan added another layer of flavor to the salad.

We were both curious as to how a Mediterranean restaurant would interpret an Aguachile. So, we ordered the Shrimp and Scallop Aguachile ($21) and this turned out to be our favorite dish of the meal.

BoujieMana 06 BoujieMana 07 As we figured, this wasn't an aguachile in conventional terms. It wasn't overly acidic, but quite mellow. Though I will say the seafood, especially the bay scallops were sweet and tender, so were the shrimp. Both of which weren't over-cooked and tough. The sweet and ripe avocado and the briny cucumber added another layer. But what clinched it all was the nicely toasted and salted sour dough, which was the perfect foil for the dish. Yes, it's not a conventional version of the dish, but we enjoyed it. We both wished that the octopus had that nicely toasted sour dough with it as well.

So, a few weeks later we decided to return; again for lunch.

This time, it was during the heatwave, so we sat in the large interior of the restaurant.

BoujieMana 08

Of course we got the Aguachile.

BoujieMana 09

This time it had a bit more acidity and "oomph". Still, the sweet and tender seafood was still present.

We decided to order the Mediterranean Pita ($19) as well. As with our experience with previous dishes, the portion size was quite large.

BoujieMana 10 BoujieMana 11 The highlight of the dish for us was the pillowy and warm pita. After that, well, everything was way too sour. Man, that chicken might have been ok, but the puckery-tartness overwhelmed things. Same with the green salad. Yikes, the sharp sourness just took over. Kind of a bummer.

In the end, we really enjoy the not-so-aguachile here, while not a true Mexican version of the dish, it is quite pleasant and the quality of ingredients here seems good. Service is welcoming, though things do take time getting to your table. I'm sure the folks in the new developments in the area appreciate the place and with all that is going on in the locale that it will keep being "boujie".

I need to return to try the chicken wings and the crispy squash blossoms.

BoujieMana 12

Things have sure changed since my office was in the area way back when!

BoujieMana
3545 Aero Ct. Suite B
San Diego, CA 92123
Current Hours:
Tues – Fri 11am – 9pm
Saturday 9am – 9pm
Sunday 9am – 2pm
Closed on Monday

Victor’s Kafe (Poway)

September 15, 2023 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

You are reading mmm-yoso!!!, which is being written by Cathy while Kirk is busy and not writing.

A morning of driving through Business Parks in Poway and The Mister and I stumbled upon this area of multiple restaurants, anchored by a bank and a Carl's, Jr., where everyone who works nearby must know about. It was all new to us.

Choices of pizza, Asian fusion, poke, a taco shop and Greek/Mediterranean (as well as a massage parlor)…what a unique mall area with plenty of parking.
We decided on Viktor's after checking out menus on the windows of all the businesses.
Walk up, order and pay. Grab your beverages. Your name is called out when everything is ready.
For this initial visit, we chose to share an Ultimate Salad ($14.95). A full serving of Gyros and a full serving of Victor's chicken on top of a Greek Salad. Wow! Plenty of food to share. A standard Greek salad-Romaine, bell peppers, onion, tomato, Feta and Greek olives, topped with a house made VK dressing. The marinated chicken was moist and grilled with a nice char. The beef and lamb gyros was shaved from the vertical rotisserie spit and very good.

I also ordered this "Feta Melt" from the starter menu ($6.25) and wow-this was great. Feta, red onion, bell peppers, tomatoes on a toasted pita.

A great bite of flavors and texture. Even though served folded, as above, eating the pita 'open faced' seemed proper.

We'll return to try more of the menu here as well as some of the other restaurants.

Victor's Kafe 14057 Stowe Drive Suite 104 Poway, CA 92064 (858) 6681717 FAX: (858)6681788 Open Mon-Fri 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Closed Saturday and Sunday Website

Tappi’s Cafe (Rancho San Diego)

June 23, 2023 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. Cathy has a post to write today while Kirk is just not able to write much about food.

So, this is another one of our "Oh, Look!"/unplanned finds. The Mister and I were going to shop at the Ralphs in Rancho San Diego and, as always, looking for a place to get a light lunch so we would not walk in and make excessive food purchases. Right across the parking lot…
The small signage with an interesting font was intriguing. Tappi's opened in October 2022.
The menu, more intriguing. There were South of the Border and Mediterranean categories and some items with Japanese names, along with a good breakfast menu, (which has Japanese souffle pancakes as well as German and Ube pancakes available). Fusion? Con-fusion? Simply good food?
We asked what the 'Soup of the Day' was. The answer was both tomato and broccoli cheese. Yes! One of each, please.

One size ($5 each), quite large. The tomato 'soup' was extremely thick, filled with seeds from tomatoes and flavors of bell peppers, onion, maybe cumin. It did not need any additional seasoning. At some point, we determined it must be the sauce used for the shakshuka from the menu and were very happy. The broccoli cheese had great flavor. It was a thin soup, definitely home made and filled with not-mushy, not-crisp/raw broccoli. Also very good. We decided to try the Khachapuri with kielbasa ($12). Plenty of cheese. filling fresh made crusty chewy bread, thin slices of a garlic-y kielbasa. A sizable meal (we took two slices home).
I had seen Kunafa (crunchy, sweet, cheesy, creamy) at the bottom of the menu and knew I was going to order it. Our nice waitress said they were 'trying something new' and offering the kunafa as a sandwich for $11 (the large piece of kunafa by itself is $10). Yes. The 'bread' is a sweetbread- an eggy, cardamom flavored, sesame seed topped delight. Separately or together, each bite was wonderful. We did take half of this home, too, to have with coffee.

We will be trying more of the menu, soon.

Tappi's Cafe 12098 Fury Lane (at Jamacha) El Cajon 92019 Open daily 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Website

Panini Kabob Grill (Mission Valley)

June 16, 2023 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! welcomes you back to our little blog. Cathy is writing todays post, while Kirk is enjoying the start to a three day weekend.

As you know, I do not 'regift' any gifts received, including gift cards. I have one particular client (who knows that I write on this blog) and the random gift cards received from him indicate places he would like to see me write about. PKG is a Southern California chain advertising itself as a "True Scratch Kitchen". Established in 1997 in Corona Del Mar, this chain only recently (since Covid-19) has expanded into San Diego, with locations in Mission Valley, Carlsbad, Carmel Valley and soon, University City. The location in Mission Valley, across the parking lot from the Trader Joe's (at the Northwest corner of Interstate 8 and Mission Center Road), inside the former Fuddruckers, is closest to home, so we stopped here for lunch.
Clean and organized, with indoor and outdoor seating, it is spacious. Link to menu (I forgot to take photos)
70613491628__72A40E07-BB09-471E-9941-542E502BBE6B I decided to try a cup of the Green Lentil Soup ($3.99)-wow! Made with organic lentils, tomato, garlic, carrot, onion, parsley, mint and a vegetable broth, this was a *wonderful* version! All flavors can be tasted, even the mint. I definitely will get this again.
70613495202__C9ABBBDD-BC56-45BF-AB71-7F2B1E692A68 I chose the Falafel Appetizer plate ($9.99) as my main dish. Again-wow! The falafel are made with fresh ground garbanzo beans and various herbs, lightly fried so there is a crisp crust and flavorful fluffy interior. It's served with hummus (also fresh made with garlic and lemon juice) and tzatziki (made with yogurt, cucumber, dill, parsley, mint and garlic) and grilled pieces of pita. So fresh and filled with flavors, plenty for a meal or to share.
The Chicken Brie Panini comes with a choice of standard salads or soup for $13.99, but you can choose the strawberry date salad for an additional $1.99…and The Mister did just that.
The sandwich is on grilled artisan bread, made with chicken tenders, tomato, basil and Brie. It is a large, tasty sandwich.
The strawberry date salad is so very flavorful! Mixed greens and strawberries are tossed with candied walnuts, chopped medjool dates and Gorgonzola. This 'side' portion was more than enough for us to share and experience the flavors and freshness.

We will be back to try more of the menu. The food here is is quality.

Soo has been here, too!

Panini Kabob Grill. 891 Camino De La Reina San Diego 92108 (619)299-9220 Open 10a.m.-9 p.m. daily Website

Monday Meanderings – Mister Falafel and Mi Pana Closes, Dinner with Friends at Kingfisher

February 13, 2023 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Colombian Food and Restaurants, Fine Dining, Lebanese Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants, Venezuelan Food and Restaurants, Vietnamese Restaurants

Recently, I got some bad news from two of my "FOYs".

Mister Falafel Closes:

"ChrisR" sent me an email saying that Mister Falafel had closed! Whoa, now I hadn't heard about this one! Of course being that Mister Falafel is a bit hidden from the street and is mainly a warm weather location for garlic paste, I hadn't really dropped by in a while. So, on the way home from errands I decided to see what was going on. And sigh…..yes, the place has been gutted. It seems Mister Falafel is no longer.

The folks here were so nice!

First La Miche, now Mister Falafel. This is so sad. When will the bleeding stop?

4461 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Mi Pana Closes:

This one is from our good friend "Ale". She sent me a text directing me to Mi Pana's Instragram. And yes, there it was…..

Screenshot 2023-02-12 150746

I really enjoyed my meals at Mi Pana and probably should have revisited.

This seemed so sudden and even caught "Ale" by surprise as she had just been there recently.

2241 Highland Ave.
National City, CA 91950

Dinner at Kingfisher with Friends:

I know, you want a post and I don't blame you. Especially with all the accolades Kingfisher has gotten since they opened, the 50 Best New Restaurants by Bon Appetite listing, a Michelin New Discovery Listing, and with the chef being a James Beard Semifinalist. I'll say that the food was excellent and I'm sure to be back. But this dinner was more important than me doing a post.

You see, this dinner has been over four years in the making. There's a part of me that Covid had eaten away. The part that enjoyed spending time with my friends. Friends that have shared many fun times together, like bringing a whole roasted pig to Karaoke or celebrating Thanksgiving in August, or doing a trolley scavenger hunt. We've gone to dinner roadtrips and even a wedding in Ciudad Obregon! We've been thru births and weddings.

My good friend Candice had been trying to set something up for months and finally, we were all together! It had been so long! I didn't realize how much I missed them all (and you too TFD!).

And as often happens when good friends meet, the conversations, jokes, and laughter all came together seamlessly. It was if we had just seen each other yesterday.

And while the food was fabulous, catching up on things was more important on this day. I didn't even take photos of all the dishes, but here are a few.

Yes, it's as good as it looks, but I'll wait to return when I can spend more attention on the food before doing a real post.

So, here's to friendship and making up for lost time. Thanks for setting things up Candice!

Kingfisher
2469 Broadway
San Diego, CA 92102

Have a great Valentines Day everyone!

Gate of Damascus (revisit)

December 12, 2022 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for returning to read mmm-yoso!!! Again, Cathy is writing while Kirk and His Missus are nearing the end of their vacation.

I wrote about this new El Cajon restaurant in February of 2022. In that post, the meal was a small sampling of a breakfast item, a cheese flatbread (manakish) and appetizers. Everything was wonderful and so fresh. We've returned a few more times. E20CF7F3-3B72-4006-A497-BAABBCB08CF2
E4CF4CEE-8F31-454D-809E-CA1B1864490C You can order 'to go' or find a seat. The 'to go' menu is on the wall to make it easy for the 'to go' people.

9EEF2D41-4663-47F2-A83E-34CE50E264DA The 'for here' menu; a bit larger.

65970FC9-BB91-438D-85AF-2121E73E3B82 A cheese manakish ($4.99). A small version of a herby cheese pizza with no sauce. Excellent fresh bread: thin, slightly crisp, slightly chewy.
3E4340D5-1109-4266-A2ED-BAB3445DED67 Here's a zaatar manakish (3.99) add cheese ($1.50). Zaatar is a spice mixture of thyme, oregano, sesame seeds, sumac and salt. It's herby, nutty, salty, savory and tangy. Sumac by itself has the 'tang' you get from lemon juice. In any case, this combination of zaatar and cheese is really good.
65970FC9-BB91-438D-85AF-2121E73E3B82 Six tweaks of falafel ($5.99). A nice version. Quite crunchy. The tahini dip is so creamy!

65970FC9-BB91-438D-85AF-2121E73E3B82 Kabab Plate ($13.99) Two very large beef kabobs with rice, grilled tomato and raw onion. Easily shareable.

65970FC9-BB91-438D-85AF-2121E73E3B82 63540C3C-A1C6-4064-8AEA-6BFCF61B9C31 An order of baba ghannouj (6.99) arrived with pieces of hot-from-the-oven pita. The roasted eggplant based dip is smoky and smooth and has a sesame flavor from the tahini. Olive oil and lemon juice as well as garlic round out the flavors. The version here is just lovely.
BAFBF841-CB23-48E2-9329-051352C30F83 A1F0A291-D8FD-4408-9617-D1A431403806 The Appetizers plate ($15.99). Choice of four. Plan on taking some home; the serving platter is deceptively deep. Hommus, fattoush, baba ghannouj and in the center, tabboule. All the salads are made here daily. The hommus and baba ghanouj are excellent versions. The fattoush is primarily a 'bread salad' with the pieces of fried pit toping lettuces, tomato, cucumber and other vegetables. It's another craving I've had. The tabboule is parsley, tomato, cucumber, mint, green onion and bulgur-crunchy. Its dressing (lemon juice, paprika, salt and pepper with olive oil) really showcases an excellent quality olive oil.
187DD9DC-9925-4FE7-90DE-C5C292A6918E A single beef kabab ($3) is sometimes quite enough for a nice snack/small meal. (This kabob is smaller than the two beef kabobs served on the kabab plate).

Quality, fresh food. Nice people.

Gate of Damascus 1142 East Main El Cajon 92021 (619) 312-0427 Open Monday: 9 a.m.-10 p.m.; Tues-Sun 8 a.m.-midnight website
C40742EC-549A-41BD-BD5E-511A45592E51 Free hot tea at the back; serve yourself.

Tel Aviv (Before Covid) – HaBasta, Abu Hassan, and Falafel Ratzon

December 20, 2021 mmm-yoso Beer, Israel/Palestine, Israeli Food, Markets & Grocers, Mediterranean Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Seafood, Travel

*** Here's a condensed post as I try to finish up all our pre-Covid trip reports.

Our flight from Paris to Tel Aviv on EL AL was on time and uneventful.

We were fed pretty well on the flight and arrived at Ben Gurion Airport right before 5pm. Getting a taxi to our hotel was also very easy and took about half an hour. Not quite sure about how long it would take, I made reservations at a restaurant I wanted to try, which was a nice walk from our hotel at 8pm. The restaurant is right next to the Carmel Market and I'd read a bit about the place.

On this Sunday evening, things were pretty quiet….and we really enjoyed the wonderful flavors and freshness of the food.

From the Cauliflower with Tahini….

To the Creamy-Smoky eggplant, to the slightly tangy-acidic Matbucha (a Arabic/Moroccan Roasted Tomato dish).

And the savory Cured Fish with Soft Egg…..

This was a wonderful meal and a great way to start our visit to Israel. I wish we were a bit more hungry and were able to try more dishes, but we left quite satisfied.

HaBasta
HaShomer St. 4
Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

The next morning; our only full day in Tel Aviv, we headed out early. Taking a walk thru the very quiet (on this morning) Carmel Market.

The fragrance of spices floating thru the air…..

And then past Hassan Bek Mosque….

To Charles Clore Park, where we could see Old Jaffa ahead of us.

We walked along to the beach area, where we saw this cat…..

Who was undoubtedly checking out these pooches having a great day at the beach!

We took a quick detour to check out the the Clock Tower and Saraya House in the old town.

There is so much much history here.

We took time to check out the Clock Tower which was built by the Ottoman's in 1901.

That structure to the left of the clock tower is the Saraya House and was once the residence and offices of the Turkish Governor. It was blown up by the Lehi a militant group.

We walked along the street checking out various churches and folks just going thru daily life.

There was quite a bit to take in here…… from the Monastery of St Nicholas to many other places which had no signs…….

There always seemed to be something that would catch your eye.

I was starting to get a bit hungry and really wanted to try a place that wasn't too far away so we headed up the stairs from Nemal Yafo Street connecting to HaShahaf Street….

To a place I'd a good deal about Hummus Abu Hassan, a very low keyed, but very busy little shop.

The folks here were very nice and even though the place was bustling we ordered and found a table.

Even though it was not even 10am, the place was busy. Our order arrived in minutes and just look at this will ya'….it is by far the most delici-yoso hummus I've ever had.

The Masabacha was amazing. And one of the old timers even showed us the proper way to eat it. You take the wonderful pita and dip it in the peppery lemon sauce, then the hummus, then you eat it was some of the sinus clearing onion! It was sooooo good.

During our short "brunch" we saw two taxis stop in front of the restaurant and older women get out of the car, walk up to the counter and pick up their hummus! This place really lived up to what I had read. In fact, twice during our stay in Jerusalem we mentioned this place and kinda impressed the locals!

Hummus Abu Hassan
Ha-Dolfin St. 1
Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

We finished up and walked back to our hotel.

And wandered the streets along the way.

We had a nice cup of tea back at the hotel…..

And then it was nap time.

We awoke later that afternoon and went back out for a stroll…spending most of our time around the beach area, walking from one end to the other.

The people (and pooch) watching was fun.

This being near the end of November, the sun would set around 430pm, and we were treated to a beautiful one.

After the sun went down we wandered around a bit more; then decided on some dinner. We just wanted something quick and easy and another place; fairly close to our hotel came to mind; Falafel Razon.