Mediterranean Restaurants – Page 6

Village Grill – El Cajon

November 22, 2009 mmm-yoso Iraqi Food and Restaurants, Mediterranean Restaurants

**** Village Grill has closed

Over the years Cathy has mentioned that El Cajon, and Main Street El Cajon has become an enclave for Iraqi's in the US. A few months back, I was meeting two of my favorite FOYs, Candice and Howie in El Cajon for lunch. I arrived a bit early and decided to drive down El Cajon Boulevard, which turned into Main Street, and I was astounded by the amount of Middle Eastern Markets, restaurants, and snack shops. Coincidentally, I would receive an email later that evening from FOY KennethB, who also mentioned Main Street. So over the last couple of weeks, the Missus and I have been driving East to El Cajon to kinda just look around and eat a bit.

On one of our drives we noticed a small shop doing some pretty good business, and I added it to my "list". It was called "Village Grill".

On this day, we decided just to take a drive down to El Cajon and make our decision when we arrived. Little did we know that today was also the day when the annual Mother Goose Parade was held. We decided to park, and head out on foot, and just stop by somewhere……

I've got to say that walking down Main Street past places called Babylon Market, while passing marching bands, and clowns, and cowboys, and walking into Village Grill, the scent of meat grilling on the vertical spits permeating the air was somewhat surreal. The interior of Village Grill is spartan, with just a few simple tables and chairs. We looked over the one page menu, ordered and sat down at our table watching the parade go by.

One thing about these restaurants….. I don't think you'll ever leave hungry, and you'll soon see why.

First to arrive was the Baba Ghanouj (small – $3.99).

Along with one of my new favorite things in the world, the wonderful flatbread I was told is called "Khubz". The Missus thought the Baba Ghanouj had too much tahini in it. I thought it lacked that wonderful, smokey eggplant flavor. The bread was fine, but served barely warm, and wasn't quite as good as the version at Ali Baba (a post is forthcoming) up the street.

A large plate of "Turshi", various "mezze" also arrived.

I expected the usual pickled turnips, but here it was replaced with a pickled turnip and cabbage flavored with tumeric and other spices, giving it a bracing sour-curry flavor. I really enjoyed it, the Missus did not.

Knowing what I had ordered, the Missus went with one of the "Rice & Stews"; the Okra based "Bamia", this one had beef as the meat.

The stew came with a large plate of rice. We both thought the broth was excellent, rich and tangy, with large chunks of flavorful beef, that looked tough, but was fairly tender. The okra was plentiful, and this would be quite a filling meal. I really loved the whole cloves of tender garlic in the soup, sweet and pungent, it was wonderful.

Of course, this is when my order started arriving. I had ordered the "Village Grill", the mixed meat plate. At $12.99, it was one of the more expensive items on the menu. Things started with a good sized salad.

The Missus loved the salad, which She called "refreshing"….good amounts of citrus and olive oil made this very tasty.

And then my huge plate of meat arrived. This was enough for two people at the least.

The Missus's favorite was the Shawarma Beef, also called "Gus".

This was very moist, with a nice beef flavor, that the Missus said was almost "beef jerky-ish".

Most beef kabobs in these type of restaurants tend toward the tough side, and are sometimes a bit short on flavor. This one was moist with good flavor, and if a bit on the chewy side, I wouldn't call it tough, not by a longshot. It was my favorite meat item.

Of course, that's not to snub the Tekka Beef, which was very moist.

It was also quite tender, and had a decent beef flavor. The rice on the bottom really benefited from the meat drippings.

The only item that I didn't care much for was the Hummus, which again had too much tahini, and not enough lemon, nor any other flavor to carry the day.

This was quite a meal, we left with tons of leftovers, and a full belly. The young lady who works the front of house was very sweet and nice. The prices are very reasonable, and the ingredients, except for the rice are of good quality. We'll be back without a doubt. And because I know folks like RONW love menus, here's a photo of the simple menu at Village Grill:

Ooops, wrong side! (Click to enlarge)

I really think the Mixed Platter for three would probably feed 4-5. And you could always order the Kousi – a 33 pound roasted lamb stuffed with rice.

The best deal here right now is a buy one sandwich, get one free deal.

Village Grill
550 East Main St
El Cajon, CA 92020

El Cajon sure has been full of surprises for us……

Spinners- real fresh and real fast Mediterranean food

November 13, 2009 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the name of the blog. A few of us write about what we ate. You read and get to enjoy, or get inspired. Today, it’s Cathy being enjoyable and/or inspirational.

The Mister and I happened to be in the Rancho San Diego area last week and drove past the newly remodeled Ralphs and in that same parking lot, saw this place on a corner..and..you know… stopped.

We ordered, paid, got our beverages, sat down and our food was brought out very quickly.

The menu is simple- chose a “Spinner- Steak (it’s schawarma), Chicken (schawarma again),
Gyros or Falafel.

Then a way of serving it- in a pita, as a sub, on a salad, as a lettuce wrap or on a plate.

This is the gyros salad. A very healthy size serving of Gyros meat, moist and with excellent flavor, served on lettuce with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, green pepper and dressing and sauce. $6.49 and we took home leftovers.

The steak plate ($7.99). A very large serving of the Schawarma, pita, hummus (fresh made and wonderful), pickled turnips and sauce. Again, we took home leftovers.

Here is a photo of the full plate not covered by the pita.

Of course we went back, less than a week later, so we could try other items…and satisfy my craving.

Below is the “Lettuce Wrap” with falafel and couscous(I could have had tabbouleh or couscous with the wrap) ($6.49).

The falafel are very good and substantial with a lightly fried crust and the insides are flavorful chickpeas and fava beans and parsley, as well as some spices.

The couscous was fresh, nicely chilled and had red and green peppers as well as a lot (at least eight) olives as part of the mix.

Bonus!!! The yellow sauce on top of the turnips is a *very* traditional falafel sauce, amba, made with mango chutney- pickled/vinegary with definite mango flavor and pieces. It is perfect with the falafel.

I have rarely seen amba served with falafel.

If you noticed the poster in the first photo- the kebab burger $5.95- this is it. A *really* flavorful piece of marinated kebab meat on a toasted sesame bun with lettuce, tomato, onion and large side of fries. Kebab is not listed as one of the “Spinners” because it is cooked on a grill when you order.

The fries were pretty standard, there looks to be a flavor coating but salt was all we tasted other than potatoes but a lot of people were ordering the “Spinner Fries” ($7.49), the other poster in the window in that first photo. A lot of fries topped with whatever meat you choose and feta, hummus (there is a jalapeno cilantro hummus offered), tomatoes and onions …pretty much one of the plates with fries instead of pita. It seemed to be the popular choice, but The Mister and I just don’t eat fires fries and left a lot of these.

Anyhow, if you are in the Rancho San Diego area and are hungry, this is a very good choice. Very fast and very fresh.

Spinners 2654 Jamacha El Cajon, 92019 (West of the Ralphs in the Kohls Center) open daily 11-9

website

The Kebab Shop – Mira Mesa

October 15, 2009 mmm-yoso Mediterranean Restaurants, Turkish Food

Because we were never able to make it to the Kebab Shop in the Gaslamp, the opening of a branch in Mira Mesa seemed like a golden opportunity for us.

The restaurant is located in the same strip mall as In-N-Out and Ralph's, and the shop is big, with a ton of open space.

I was particularly interested in the Kebab Shop because according to sources, it specializes in the European-Middle Eastern style Doner Kebabs. Doner Kebab is "the fast food item" in Germany, and is so popular that it outsells Burgers and sausages…. probably even in Hamburg! I've read that even that the Doner Kebab was brought to Germany by Turkish immigrants and workers, and it took over the fast food scene…. now German "Doners" are exported from Germany, back into Turkey!

The menu is small and simple with thirteen "mains" and eleven "sides", and prices are reasonable. everything is under nine dollars. The guy who works the front counter is very friendly, and seems to be eager to explain and serve.

The Missus loves Falafel, so we started with a side order ($2.25):

These weren't very large, but there were ten falafel on the styrfoam plate. The falafel were good, cirsp on the outside, with that excellent paradoxic falafel interior….. to us, it is both creamy and gritty at the same time. The falafel was served with a mild, and kinda runny yogurt based sauce, which didn't do anything for the falafel.

I of course, had a Lamb Doner Kebab($6.25). Right away, you can tell that there's a difference from a Gyro, the Doner Kebab comes wrapped in a flat bread instead of a pita, and was as long as my forearm. Instead of the usual iceberg lettuce and tomato, this Doner has romaine lettuce, purple cabbage, and shredded carrots. In fact, at first glance all I could see was "veg", and I wondered where the meat was.

But after one bite, it was quite obvious that there was a good quantity of "lamb loaf". The meat had a decent amount of seasoning which didn't overwhelm the lamb flavor. In other words, you knew that lamb was being consumed. Under these circumstances the yogurt based sauce did well to compliment the lamb, as did the vegetables. This was pretty filling, and even though the Missus poached a good amount of the Doner Kebab, I was pretty full. At $6.25, we think this is very reasonably priced.

The reason the Missus made off with much of my Doner Kebab, is that She didn't care for the Iskender Kebab($8.25):

Though She enjoyed the roasted Anaheim Chili, it was the combination of the tangy tomato based sauce, the yogurt, and the savory seasoned meat turned Her off. She didn't care for the combination of flavors, nor the bread on the bottom which was soggy by the time She got to it.

Still, the Missus really enjoyed my Doner Kebab, and loved the Falafel…. enough so, that we returned a few days later.

This time, the Missus got the Lamb Plate($8.25). You get one hot side and one salad to accompany your lamb, and the Missus chose the falafel (duh!) and the Algerian Eggplant as Her sides.

The Eggplant salad was nice, with a good nutty-smokey grilled flavor. This time, the falafel looked like it had been burnt. Lucky for us, it was not, I guess maybe the frying oil was just a bit "dark". The texture and flavor was as before, except that this time the it was way too salty…. and this coming from a pair of salt-lovers. Talk about thirst inducing! The lamb strips were as before, mildly seasoned, with a good lamb flavor.

This time I got a Lamb Shawarma ($6.25). I guess the rules go, if it's wrapped in a flat bread it's a Doner, if it's in a bun it's a Shawarma? The whole thing was placed in a paper sleeve, with the tentacles of meat calling to me like some Chthonic creature luring me to my doom.

It was messy, but in a good way. It also came with the same set of veggies as the Doner Kebab, and there was that yogurt sauce, which was much thicker this time, and really did seem like Labneh Yogurt. I think, I prefer this to the Doner Kebab, mainly because the roll was nice and crusty.

As with the Doner Kebab, the Missus preferred what I ordered to what She had gotten. Again, this was well worth the $6.25.

I'm sure we'll be back to the Kebab Shop, though we'll stick with the Doner Kebabs and Shawarma. And though it was lamb all the way for us, there's a Chicken Doner as well. The prices seem right, and on both visits we didn't leave hungry.

The Kebab Shop
9450 Mira Mesa Blvd #E
San Diego, CA 92126

One last interesting item…..

The Missus asked me what kind of kebab this was, and I replied Turkish via Germany. She responded by saying, "Turkey, that makes sense…" And pointed to my receipt:

Would that be how the Turks spell "Kirk"????? It kinda does rhyme doesn't it????

Mystic Grill and Bakery-Mediterranean Cuisine

September 29, 2009 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog which Kirk, ed (from Yuma), Cathy and a few others write about food they eat. Today, Cathy ate.

I have had occasion to drive past this corner- University and 70th- on the border of La Mesa, oh about 20 times since last December. I saw the old Auto Parts place turn into Mystic Grill and never took the time to turn into the parking lot. I wish I had stopped here sooner.

020

It is pretty large inside, about 14 tables. Clean.

The food is Halal. Made from scratch.

The falafel appetizer ($3.95), six of *the best* garbanzo vegetable deep fried delights- made with *fresh* garbanzo beans, not that powdered stuff and served with *fresh* made hummus, is absolutely a wonderful, filling starter.

They advertise a $5 pizza (includes two items) on the sign out front, it is only for "to go" unless you order other items, then you can eat the pizza inside at the tables. (I suppose they don't want a bunch of kids taking up table space with one $5 pizza…) We had it one day, cheese only- thin, tasty, chewy crust, light sauce. Very good.

The spinach pie appetizer ($1.95) is in the display case up front and is made with fresh baby spinach, olive oil, lemon and sauteed onion in a light dough crust. Served with lemon wedges. I could eat three of these as my meal.

The grilled salmon plate ($8.95) is fresh salmon served with a lemon/garlic sauce, not too heavy in flavor, with pita, rice and salad with chunks of cucumbers. Very filling and fresh tasting. That is sumac on the edge of the plate- give a nice citrusy/salty 'zing' to the other flavors.

On one visit, The Mister wanted gyros and also wanted pasta. It's there on the menu- $8.95. You have a choice of penne or spaghetti. You can see what He chose. I doubt it's healthier than pita bread, but it satisfied his cravings. The pasta had a light alfredo sauce. The Mister really liked it.

Of course, they serve Shawarma ($4.95). This one is carved fresh off the spit chicken with lettuce, tomato, onion and a pickle with fresh tahina sauce wrapped in warm fresh flatbread. It is served with a small salad (and very large tomato half…)

All the food here is high end fresh made, quality and served with a smile. Stop by if you are in the neighborhood.

Mystic Grill and Bakery Mediterranean Cuisine

6990 University (70th and University) La Mesa 94941 (619)461-1985

Website

Pastalini- good food. Interesting concept.

September 1, 2009 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, Pizza, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! The Blog. About food. Written by some friends, mostly Kirk, sometimes ed (from Yuma) and sometime Cathy. Yet another sometime day.

Hi. I was driving along Miramar Road and saw a sign at the Taco Bell/KFC parking lot and drove to the back.

So I stopped, walked in, ordered and paid. The Mister met me for dinner.

Neat, clean, efficient. You choose a type of pasta ( 6 shapes, or whole wheat for $1 more or tortellini for $1.50 more), a sauce( alfredo, pesto, marinara, vodka, mushroom tomato, sundried tomato, tequila lime cream or Romescu), a meat (chicken, shrimp, fish or meatball) and 2 veggie toppings (mushrooms, zucchini, tri colored bell peppers, broccoli, corn, peas, garlic, jalapeño, tomato, onion,spinach, beets or carrot). Then all is mixed and heated through. Standard price is $5.95. There are also pizzas and salads (also $5.95, with the larger pizza being $10.95). The pizza and salads are pretty much combinations of the above ingredients, with the addition of blackened tofu and various cheeses…there are a variety of salad dressings.

The website shows this is the only location, but seems it is trying to franchise out. I like the concept. Three televisions, each on a different channel, free wifi. www.pastalini.net

I ordered a small side salad ($1.99), which comes with mixed spring greens, tomatoes and onions and a vinaigrette, but I asked for no onions and was told I could get any other topping, so I chose olives. This was quite a large, filling salad. Of course, I ate all the olives, since The Mister won't. But I would have eaten all of the onions also, and I know he would have mentioned the onion juice residue on the lettuce…

Oh. The salad came with these nifty, fresh baked, garlicy bread knots.

The Mister and I used to eat baked pastas all the time. When I saw it was offered, I *had to* order it. ($6.49)

Al dente rigatoni with a fresh marinara, topped with ricotta and mozzarella and baked. *Really* good.

We shared this. All the pastas come in this size pan with a variety of sauces, meats, salmon or pomegranate meatballs or blackened tofu. Quite enough food.

Really. We finished it.

But, you know, I also ordered a small (10 inch) goat cheese and olive pizza ($5.95)…

Fresh, thin crust. Mozzarella. Goat Cheese. Olives. Olive oil. Wonderful.

We will go back to try the other items on the menu.

PASTALINI 7190 Miramar Road San Diego 92121

Across from the West gate Entrance to MCAS Miramar. Behind the Taco Bell/KFC

website

Sultan Schawarma-Excellent Eating Downtown

May 14, 2008 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog, written by Kirk and a few friends. Today, Cathy has a post about a great place she found downtown.

Greetings and I hope all of you are having a nice day.

One day late last year I was walking on Market Street downtown and decided to go South on Fourth Avenue, to see if anything new had shown up. I saw this:

Literally a hole in the wall in the middle of a bunch of many (and more expensive) restaurants… It looks like this through the front window. When it is open, the spits on your right are filled with cones of layers of beef and chicken schawarma, which were marinated overnight in yogurt, lemon juice and garlic (along with salt, pepper and I believe some sort of red pepper or pepper sauce) topped with a large whole onion and tomato… As you can see, the menu is short, simple and straightforward. Oh, the food here is great. Always fresh. I come here kind of regularly and so took some surreptitious photos of a few items. There are three tables out front and seating for 14 inside. People rearrange the tables in the back to suit the situation.

The beef schawarma sandwich. ($5.95-as are all of the sandwiches)(the side of fries is $1.95). Juicy, tender deeply flavored, thinly sliced beef that was cooked on the spit in front a direct heat source (in other countries, the meat is cooked on the spit in front of an open flame. San Diego has all sorts of ‘laws’ disallowing such craziness inside of buildings) for hours. Served simply on freshly warmed flat bread, with lettuce, raw onion and tomato… and all the sandwiches are served with the optional add-ins of sliced pickle, banana pepper, pickled turnip and two olives. I have particular cravings for the chicken schawarma as of late. The chicken is always plentiful and very juicy and has just the right spices for my taste. The kefta kabob is sometimes on my craving list also and is a delightful mix of ground beef and spices (parsley, cilantro,onion, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper). If you get the kebab later in the day, though, sometimes it is dry…so I ask for a side of hummus (1.95-fresh made and comes with flat bread) to complete this sandwich…(and instead of fries, of course). I must say the sandwiches here do not *need* any sauce added- when the meat is sliced off the spit, it falls into the juices that were rendered and that flavor, along with the tenderness the juice gives to the meat, is perfect.

If you happen to come here when the soup of the Day is lentil, get it. It is *absolutely* the most wonderful homemade soup *ever*…it does cost $3.50 and is worth it. Oh, and get the hot tea ($1.25) as your beverage- ask for it to be made strong-the flavor absolutely matches the food…the only other beverages offered are in cans and bottles.

The place is owned and run by a very nice Iraqi family, who seem a bit guarded in keeping things private- in that , they bring you the food and then don’t ask you “how are you doing?” and stuff like that. If you need something, you do have to ask. Just know they are willing to accommodate you and are very nice. If you are just walking on the sidewalk, you might miss it. Here is what it looks like up close.

The hours on the door state they are open until 3 a.m., but that is usually when there is an event downtown, or the Padres are playing…I have seen it closed at 10 p.m….and since I believe the Padres are mathematically eliminated, the Fair Weather Fans who usually would hang around late are not hanging around downtown. Come here early in the day. You will like it.

Sultan Schawarma 543 Fourth Avenue San Diego 92101 Ph (619)231-1824 Fax (619) 231-1859 Open 7 days 11 a.m.- 9 p.m. at least…sometimes later.

Ali Baba Kebab House Family Restaurant- in El Cajon

April 6, 2008 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog, with the main role of Blogger played by Kirk, however while He and His Missus are on vacation, the part of Kirk will be played by Cathy.

Hi. Cathy again. I wanted to share this wonderful restaurant with you. On the corner of Main and Avocado in El Cajon, near the Courthouse, for about three years now, Ali Baba has been in business.

It used to be Top Sirloin, which had great food, but a very, very tacky ‘decor’. The interior has been transformed to look like the interior of an Arabian King’s tent. Fabric on the ceiling and walls. Rich, deep colors.

Then there is the food. Wonderful and fresh.

We started this meal with hot tea ($1) and "Ali Baba Blood Juice" ($1.50) , because, you know, we had to. The ‘blood juice’ is a sweet (corn syrup added) iced tea fruit (maybe pomegranate?) blend mix. It is refreshing in the summer especially. I like the minty hot tea myself. We started out with the small Hommus appetizer ($5), served with two pieces of *large* (about 10 inches in diameter- this perception view is slightly askew) fresh, hot baked bread. The hommus is made fresh and the portion size is quite large (the plate is deep). The large size ($8) is served on a platter and is a wonderful portion to share.

We also got the small Ali Baba salad($5), which came out looking like this,

with the chickpeas, olives and tomatoes

on top, along with the lemon (vinegar and olive oil was on the table)

But as you can see, the rest of the salad was Persian cucumbers, which are seen more in this photo, on the bottom of the plate. It is very refreshing and is more like the salads I grew up eating-no lettuce.

I ordered a shawarma sandwich ($6). This photo doesn’t do the size of it justice- I could only finish half. As wide as a soda pop can and much larger than one with the sandwich uncut. Those are pickled turnips on the side and inside the sandwich. The beef is *excellent*, moist and fully flavored. The bread is, again, fresh made.

The Mister ordered a lamb kebab plate ($9.95) ground lamb mixed with onions and spices and grilled over charcoal. It is served with tomatoes, parsley, pickled turnips, onions and fresh baked bread. More than enough food. Wonderful, fresh food!

All the prices are $1 less if you get the food "to go" instead of eating inside. The service is friendly and helpful and there are always large family groups eating inside.

If you live in or are near the East County, you should try it. You will like it.

Ali Baba Kabab House 421 East Main Street El Cajon, CA 92020 (619)442-3622 website

Pat and Oscar’s-and what Cathy always orders

April 5, 2008 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Chains, Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Pat and Oscar's has closed most of their locations. They will be missed.

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog about food. Today, Cathy is back with a short post.

Hello once more. I'm still here blogging and Kirk and His Missus are still enjoying their adventures in Vietnam. I did get an email from him when he was going to be away from the internet for a few days. They are enjoying their vacation immensely and you'll get to see all about it in due time. SO ANYHOW…There is a local "chain" here in San Diego, called "Pat and Oscars". It is semi self serve in that you order, pay, grab plates/silverware/napkins, seat yourself and then have the food delivered to your table. You can put together a bunch of tables for a large gathering and the prices are reasonable, especially for groups. You can see their menu on line at www.Breadstick.com. They make a variety of items, yet after trying everything from the menu over the years, The Mister and I end up ordering the same thing. Always.

The chicken meal for two ($16.99). It includes a choice of a Cesar or Greek salad. I always choose Greek. You can see it has onions, beets, green pepper slices, feta and olives. I really crave this salad.

The meal also includes an order of 12 breadsticks- fresh made, topped with olive oil and a touch of garlic flavor. {The website address is breadstick.com: Pat and Oscar's are *known* for their breadsticks. Sometimes if the line to order is long, they are passing out samples to those waiting: sometimes they had out breadsticks to people in front of the restaurant…it is *the* reason a lot of people eat here. }

Of course, included is a whole rotissiere cooked chicken- either Lemon or BBQ.

Always the Lemon.

The items are always good, fresh, hot and taste great.

You can see The Mister makes open faced sandwiches with his breadsticks and chicken and I eat my salad with breadsticks and enjoy the chicken by itself.

Seriously, we have tried the pizza, ribs, sandwiches, pasta, soups and the BBQ chicken and they are not as tasty as this particular combination. {If the pizza dough were made from the breadstick dough, then *maybe* I would like the pizza here. It isn't}

When you go to the website, sign up for the promotional emails and you occasionally get a coupon for $5 off of $15, and this meal fits in that category.

Hope you all have a nice, uneventful weekend.

Babylon Cafe

March 3, 2008 mmm-yoso Greek Food, Mediterranean Restaurants

*** Babylon Cafe has closed.

Got home late tonight, so just a quick post…….

When I saw the sign for Babylon Cafe on one of my trips to Ba Ren, I was intrigued.

Just what would be served at this little restaurant. I was pretty sure it would be Middle Eastern, but just what, exactly….would it be Babylonian-Assyrian inspired food? So a few months ago, I decided to check it out.

As I walked up to the door the Kronos Gyros poster gave it away. Babylon Cafe, was a neighborhood Kabob Shop. The menu a simple mix of the standards: Gyros, Kabobs, Greek Salads, and the like.

Trying to hide my slight disappointment, I quickly took in the positives, the restaurant was well lit, clean, and the folks very nice. The prices, especially for the "sandwiches" weren't bad at all….all under 5 bucks. Unfortunately, there was no lamb on the menu…..

So I just decided to have the Beef Gyros Sandwich($4.59):

The meat was cut fresh from the spit, and was moist, the amount was on the generous side. I'm thinking that this is decent pre-fab Kronos meat. Some tomato and onion finished up the sandwich, and no lettuce filler. The pita was nice and warm.

One thing I didn't care for was the Tzatziki, it is runny, and lacks flavor. Hummus, which was on the pasty-bland side, and even more pita was provided to complete the meal.

This is pretty much the equivalent to "casual-fast" food, think Daphne's. The Gyros Sandwich is easily worth the $4.59, and provides some variety in the area. As mentioned earlier, the folks running the place seemed very nice, and I think they are related to the folks running the liquor store next door. Entrees run from $8.59-$10.99, Sandwiches $4.59-$4.99, salads come in 2 sizes, small($3.99 – $5.59 for a chicken salad), and large ($5.99 -$7.59). Probably not worth going out of your way for, but if you're in the area and need something quick and cheap, that's not chain fast food, or a taco shop…….

Babylon Cafe
4937 Diane Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

Al Salam Halal Meat and Restaurant

June 16, 2007 Cathy Mediterranean Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

Al Salam has closed.

Hi. Its a Saturday night and mmm-yoso is tired. This is a short post on a favorite place Cathy and The Mister like to go to when they want something healthy and tasty. Kirk isn't posting anything tonight anyhow.

Hi. This will be short; I don't have a photo of the menu- it is one piece of paper kept at the cash register. Also, the camera died…well, the batteries did, anyhow.

Joseph E. asked me about my favorite place or two when I responded to a question about Mediterranean foods on a Forum earlier today. I pretty much have kept this one to myself for a very long time. They have good business mostly from the same local families and walk ins. There are many Mediterranean places in El Cajon, due to the large Chaldean population (when Iraq was having elections, one of the four places in the USA to vote was right down the street from this restaurant on Main Street in El Cajon). There were a lot more places on Main Street, seemingly one on top of another, but they have now spread out over the City of El Cajon. Nonetheless there are many small markets that are very ethnic and I saw a few that are both Arabic and Mexican in inventory on Main Street. (Main Produce Market as 1255 East Main, near Second has a "Coming Soon" sign and writing in Arabic and Spanish).

So, this little place…Most people come in here and get food to go, or just buy some Halal meats from the one refrigerator case, filled with Halal meats (I think the easiest way to describe Halal is "Muslim Kosher".) The menu is mostly written in Arabic with two columns for prices- it is less expensive to get something to go than to 'have service' as the owner says. Nevertheless, we are willing to pay the extra dollar or two per item and sit down at one of the 8 tables.

The building used to be a Doctor's office.

If the lady is working, she speaks good English, if it is all men in there (as it was on Saturday night), be patient. They speak broken English but they cook very well. They have a hard time explaining things if you ask a question-(we tried asking about the ingredients in the salads)- so order something simple (hummus appetizer, lamb kabob, Greek salad) or point and say "yes, I want that". It will be good.

It is clean inside, no air conditioning. They will bring you a pitcher of ice water.

The menu has appetizers, salads, main courses and kabob sandwiches.

We ordered the Shawarma (lamb/beef cooked on a spit with spices, shredded . The taste and texture is a little different than Gyros) and a Greek salad and one hot tea. The hot tea is served in a small glass and there is no refill; it is nice mint flavor and goes well with the food.

You get this GIANT piece of bread- round and hollow like pita, whole grain in texture. A good 12 inches plus in diameter, toasty warm and cooked on one side and folded into a basket.

The condiments on the table are salt, pepper, sugar, olive oil and sumac. (Sumac is a powdered spice, kind of lemony/tart in flavor so it sort of also substitutes for salt). You know my camera died, don't you?

Here is the photo of the Shawarma plate. $8. A good pound of shredded, cooked, nicely flavored and still lightly game-y tasting lamb/beef served with sliced raw onion, tomato, parsley and pickled turnips.

The Greek salad was $6- chopped tomatoes, sweet Persian cucumbers, lettuce and a good amount of a very nice salty, fresh Feta cheese. The dressing is a red vinaigrette. Nice and thick, but not too much; you can toss it more so it spreads over the ingredients. I sprinkled sumac on everything- the salad, my pieces of bread…

The Mister gave me a lot of his lamb to put onto the salad, made himself lots of little bites on top of pieces of the torn bread and I had a lot of the bread also and there was still some leftover. Total bill was $15.70

The men were all there tonight and did not interfere with our meal, even to ask how it was going. When we were leaving, all of them asked us how we liked it and when were we coming back…so, don't be offended if you go and they seem to be staring at you. They are more used to the 'to go' orders, and having the lady working there.

Down the same block two stores West is the El Cajon International Foods Market. They sell cooked kabobs inside the store. You could get a kabob at Al Salam and then one at the Market to compare…

Al Salam Halal Meat and Restaurant 550 East Main Street El Cajon 92021 (619)585-5374