Press

03/26/09

Aladdin's Conjures Mideast Taste Treats

"While driving around the Cedar Fairmount area recently, I noticed the Fairmount Grill had gone quietly out of business and was replaced by Aladdin's Eatery. I thought the name sounded familiar and a quick check with some friends on the Westside indicated that this was the same operation that had opened a successful spot on Detroit Avenue.... To begin a meal, the restaurant offers a whole host of appetizing soups and chili. Aladdin's homemade vegetable soup, dubbed V-9, is hearty and filling and a bargain. The vegetable chili, chock full of red kidney beans and a variety of other fresh vegetables, including chunks of tomatoes, is a deliciously, mildly spicy variety. A new addition is a chicken chili which, is an amazing meal in and of itself. The appetizer list contains a whole host of wonderful Mideastern Dishes... Particularly excellent is the restaurant's hummos whre fresh chick peas are pureed and combined with tahini and lemon topped with fresh herbs. What is particularly nice about Aladdin's hummos is that it is not swimming in olive oil. Another Mideaster favorite done well at Aladdin's is the tabouli, a mixture of parsley, cracked wheat and tomatoes, seasoned wtih olive oil, lemon and herbs. My personal favorite is the babahanough where fresh charbroilled eggplant is pureed with tahini and lemon topped with fresh herbs and olive oil. The hummos, tabouli, and baba are all served with loads of fresh pita bread for dipping. Another interesting appetizer is the fatayer where spinach and feta cheese are stuffed into pita bread, topped with crumbled feta cheese and scallions. The restaurant's version of dawali stuffs rice, tomatoes, parsley, and feta cheese into grape leaves. Somehow the restaurant has managed to prepare the grape leaves so they do not have the bitter aftertaste often associated with the dish. Probably my personal favorite appetizer is the sfiha where a combination of ground beef, tomatoes, onions and pine nuts are stuffed into a pita and topped with cheddar cheese and scallions. Again on the ligther side, Aladdin's offers nearly a dozen salads, ranging from the delicious, but more mundane chicken salad and tuna salad and a couple of Mideast versions of chef's salad or a nice Lebanese Salata which features fresh tomatoes, green peppers, and parsley tossed in a very light olive oil, lemon and herb dressing. The feature at the restaurant is a large selection of pita pockets or pita rolls. Diners should be aware that the pitas are huge, despite their reasonable price. There are Americanized selections such as tukey as well. The one not to miss is the falafel pocket where a mildly spiced chick pea and fava bean concoction is formed into patties and fried in peanut oil, then weaved into a pocket with mixed greens and tomatoes and served with a light yogurt dressing. The rolled pitas feature the dawali, a chicken dijjon and a shishkebab which features charbroilled lean beef pieces rolled in fresh patties with feta cheese, tomatoes and onions, served with Aladdin's dressing. Another excellent rolled variety combines the delicious falaffel patties coated in hummos. For those a bit hungrier, the restaurant offers half a dozen plates which combine a number of offerings and all for under $6. Two other treats at the restaurant are a variety of fresh squeezed juices including the best apple juice I have ever tasted. Finally, a variety of fine homemade deserts, including fresh baklava, provide a fitting end to dinner. Dress is extremely casual as one might expect. Service is youthful and exuberant. Reservations are not accepted and the Restaurant is always crowded during weekdays and weekends at peak hours. While Walt Disney had made the Aladdin's name famous again, the original Aladdin could conjure up all kinds of delicacies with a mere rub of his magic lamp. The owners of this restaurant can conjure up many of the same delicacies, but with a lot more hard work"