Kabob Emporium
After spending Sunday morning at the U getting some practical questions set up for the anatomy exam for this morning, I wanted to have some fun, so I gathered up the whole family and together we went briefly to visit my in-laws for a bit before heading out to a nearby town to try out a new Mediterranean restaurant I had heard about. My wife's parents are not particularly fond of ethnic foods nor of heavily spiced items so they were not interested in going with all of us.
After another 40 minutes of driving we found the place, and it was interesting to say the least. Inside, the restaurant was moderately clean and tidy, and sitting by a window seat, our view was pleasant and bright. As with many ethnic restaurants, there was a different flair to the look of the place.... that much we were expecting, but the WAY in which this restaurant was different was rather odd and humorous.
The most obvious feature in the whole place was a massive fish tank which very nearly divided the seating areas into two distinct halves. Inside the tank were roughly 9 large fish, six of the being very large, bull-dog-jawed piranhas! They swam solemnly around the tank, not bothering any of the other fish, nor doing much of anything. Across the top of the tank, and scattered all about any free counter space near the tank were about a dozen similar looking hubble-bubbles (narghile (Mediterranean tobacco water pipes)). That was not so odd to see at a Mediterranean restaurant, but what was so weird about them was that each hubble-bubble had a middle segment that was a small FISH BOWL containing two or three small neon fish! It was very strange.
Throughout the rest of the restaurant there were other ornamental hubble-bubbles (sans the fish) as well, and they were pretty to look at but were purely ornamental as were the fish bowl ones.
Sadly the food was not as wonderful (nor as exotic) as the decor. The humus and the baba ganoush were both pretty good (albeit VERY salty), and the tabbouleh was reasonably fresh and tasty. However, the main courses, both vegetarian (which I and the kids mostly ate) and the meat dishes (which my wife primarily ate) were not good at all. The overwhelming issues were that the items did not have a flavor of freshness... not the chicken, not the vegetable kabobs, not the felafel, not the lentils, not the wraps, and even worse, all of the main dishes were exceptionally oily and surprisingly LIMITED in spice!. It was most assuredly not the best Mediterranean food I have had. Everyone in my family felt similarly. But.... still it was just fun, enjoyable, and relaxing to spend the afternoon and early evening with them!!!
On the way out, I asked the waitress if the owner was planning/considering opening a true hubble-bubble style coffee-house where you could enjoy the narghile with a cup of coffee (again, all the ones in the restaurant were for ornamental purposes only). She said that was exactly what the owner was thinking for the room next door to the restaurant and was thinking of trying to get it open by the middle of fall. I said that would be very interesting and enjoyable, and she showed me a picture of the owner on the wall. He looks like a jolly sort of fellow with a big bushy, black-as-coal moustache and a broad grin and amused eyes that crinkle in the corners. Hopefully it will come to pass. I wish there would have been some comment cards about recommendations, for I would have suggested to increase the spice, and decrease the salt and oil in the food. Perhaps I will send them a letter suggesting that. It would be nice if the place did well.
On the way home, we stopped at an ice cream drive-through spot. My choice happened to be a cherry "squishy" which was basically a scoop of soft-serve vanilla ice cream with cherry slurpee poured over it and blended together. I am not sure why that sounded good to me yesterday, but it was something I had not had before.... and it was pretty damn good! I would have it again.
PipeTobacco
After spending Sunday morning at the U getting some practical questions set up for the anatomy exam for this morning, I wanted to have some fun, so I gathered up the whole family and together we went briefly to visit my in-laws for a bit before heading out to a nearby town to try out a new Mediterranean restaurant I had heard about. My wife's parents are not particularly fond of ethnic foods nor of heavily spiced items so they were not interested in going with all of us.
After another 40 minutes of driving we found the place, and it was interesting to say the least. Inside, the restaurant was moderately clean and tidy, and sitting by a window seat, our view was pleasant and bright. As with many ethnic restaurants, there was a different flair to the look of the place.... that much we were expecting, but the WAY in which this restaurant was different was rather odd and humorous.
The most obvious feature in the whole place was a massive fish tank which very nearly divided the seating areas into two distinct halves. Inside the tank were roughly 9 large fish, six of the being very large, bull-dog-jawed piranhas! They swam solemnly around the tank, not bothering any of the other fish, nor doing much of anything. Across the top of the tank, and scattered all about any free counter space near the tank were about a dozen similar looking hubble-bubbles (narghile (Mediterranean tobacco water pipes)). That was not so odd to see at a Mediterranean restaurant, but what was so weird about them was that each hubble-bubble had a middle segment that was a small FISH BOWL containing two or three small neon fish! It was very strange.
Throughout the rest of the restaurant there were other ornamental hubble-bubbles (sans the fish) as well, and they were pretty to look at but were purely ornamental as were the fish bowl ones.
Sadly the food was not as wonderful (nor as exotic) as the decor. The humus and the baba ganoush were both pretty good (albeit VERY salty), and the tabbouleh was reasonably fresh and tasty. However, the main courses, both vegetarian (which I and the kids mostly ate) and the meat dishes (which my wife primarily ate) were not good at all. The overwhelming issues were that the items did not have a flavor of freshness... not the chicken, not the vegetable kabobs, not the felafel, not the lentils, not the wraps, and even worse, all of the main dishes were exceptionally oily and surprisingly LIMITED in spice!. It was most assuredly not the best Mediterranean food I have had. Everyone in my family felt similarly. But.... still it was just fun, enjoyable, and relaxing to spend the afternoon and early evening with them!!!
On the way out, I asked the waitress if the owner was planning/considering opening a true hubble-bubble style coffee-house where you could enjoy the narghile with a cup of coffee (again, all the ones in the restaurant were for ornamental purposes only). She said that was exactly what the owner was thinking for the room next door to the restaurant and was thinking of trying to get it open by the middle of fall. I said that would be very interesting and enjoyable, and she showed me a picture of the owner on the wall. He looks like a jolly sort of fellow with a big bushy, black-as-coal moustache and a broad grin and amused eyes that crinkle in the corners. Hopefully it will come to pass. I wish there would have been some comment cards about recommendations, for I would have suggested to increase the spice, and decrease the salt and oil in the food. Perhaps I will send them a letter suggesting that. It would be nice if the place did well.
On the way home, we stopped at an ice cream drive-through spot. My choice happened to be a cherry "squishy" which was basically a scoop of soft-serve vanilla ice cream with cherry slurpee poured over it and blended together. I am not sure why that sounded good to me yesterday, but it was something I had not had before.... and it was pretty damn good! I would have it again.
PipeTobacco
3 Comments:
I'm not into spicy foods myself, and eat very few vegetable dishes but Terry made some very good minestrone soup the other day and I ate the whole bowl.
This weekend we're going fishing, it's free fishing weekend statewide.
That ice cream sounds good...I've had some dessert at lunch when I really shouldn't, or it'll show up in that sneaky A1C.
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