Byblos Cafe-Closed

Byblos Cafe
129 W Chapman Ave
Orange
714-538-7180

Byblos Cafe is in the Orange Circle. The New Diner has been to a restaurant on the east part of the Orange Circle; Watson Drug & Soda Fountain, one on the north part; Beach Pit BBQ, and one on the south part; Felix Continental Cafe so it made sense to review a restaurant on the east side of the Orange Circle. So Byblos was my choice.

Walking around the Orange Circle I almost feel as though I will see Biff saying "Hello McFly, anybody home?" The city Orange tries to go back to the future, and bring that old time feel into today's hustle and bustle world.

The lentil soup-with celery, swiss chard, and lentils, comes with an order of kebobs. I don't eat much soup, and this may have been my first experience eating lentil soup. I was impressed with the soup, though it had a tangy sour taste, which comes from the Swiss chard. The broth was thin, I always thought lentil soup broth was a bit thicker, and the lentils were cooked perfectly. I would have liked this better if there wasn't the tangy sour taste.

Sirloin beef kebob with hummus, $10.99, with lentil soup. The first thing I noticed was the small portion! I know this was lunch, but the amount of beef was pretty small. The beef was perfectly cooked and very tender. They say it's sirloin and I'm sure it was, but this was more tender and flavorful than other Middle Eastern restaurants that called their kebobs, filet mignon.

The rice pilaf was nothing to write home about. It was there, it wasn't memorable, it added some carbs to the meal.

The hummus was wonderful. Most hummus is too tangy for me. This hummus was much more mild. It was very smooth, no lumps, and had the right consistency. It was made better by the warm pita bread. I hate going to Middle Eastern restaurants that serve cold pita bread.

Service was very good. I believe the owner was serving us. She was nice, friendly and informative. She was the only server and kept the 15 or so diners happy.

Overall I did enjoy my meal at Byblos Cafe, but I didn't think it's a good value. The portions are small and while the quality of the beef is very good, it's not worth making a trip back.

Pita Pockets

Pita Pockets
9127 Reseda Blvd
Northridge
818-709-4444

I've had kebobs sandwiches before, where the "bread" is a just a plain pita bread. But, I heard about the laffa at Pita Pockets, that are freshly made and I wanted to give them a try.




Lemon chicken laffa, $7.75, lettuce, onions, garlic sauce, and onions. The laffa is basically a thicker pita bread. There is a difference in texture than pita bread; softer and lighter than pita bread, though a bit more chewy. The laffa are freshly made and come out warm.

The lettuce, onions and tomatoes were very fresh. The garlic sauce was mild, you know it's there but it doesn't overwhelm you.

The difference between a lemon chicken and regular chicken kebob, is that they put a lemon sauce on the chicken. The chicken itself was a bit dry and tough. The portion size, could have been a bit larger too. The lemon sauce is good, with a nice tangy flavor but nothing overpowering.

The laffa may look big, but there isn't a lot of chicken inside. I don't think it's worth the $7.75 price.

Service is good. Nice, friendly people taking the orders and making the laffa.

If I'm in the area, I may go back to Pita Pockets, but I wouldn't rush back. Overall the laffa is pretty good, but not a good value.

Alina's Lebanese Cuisine

Alina's Lebanese Cuisine
2250 S Archibald Ave
Suite B
Ontario
909-947-2070

I am amazed to find Middle Eastern cuisine in the eastern part of the Inland Empire. I heard about Alina's Lebanese Cuisine, a few months ago and decided to give them a try.

I finally got a chance to try Alina's Lebanese Cuisine and overall, I was impressed.



Beef kebob, $10.99, with salad, rice and hummus. The salad was romaine lettuce topped with some pita chips. The lettuce was very fresh and was topped with a citrus dressing.

The rice is a rice pilaf, that had a nice flavor, though they could have made the portion size just a bit bigger.

The hummus was exactly how I like hummus, smooth texture and a mild, not tangy or sour taste.

The beef kebobs, were a bit dry, tough and lacked flavor and seasoning. The beef was select grade beef, it was tough and lacked flavor. The only good thing about the beef is the portion size, about half a pound of beef.



Chicken kebob, $8.99, also included the hummus and salad. But, what the beef lacked in flavor and seasoning, the chicken had it and more!! The chicken, about half a pound of white meat chicken, was cooked perfectly, so tender and quickly. And what flavor- good middle eastern seasonings, topped with lemon juicy.

Service was very good. The owner is nice and helpful.

I would go back to Alina's Lebanese Cuisine. While I didn't care for the beef kebobs, overall, I was impressed with quality of chicken kebobs and portion size.

Raffi's Place Restaurant

Raffi's Place Restaurant
211 E Broadway
Glendale
818-240-7411

I have been to three Middle Eastern restaurants in Glendale; Shirazz, Carousel, and Elena's. I heard about Raffi's and decided to see it compares to the other three restuarants.

Raffi's is really in the patio area of two buildings. A nice setting for lunch. There is free 90 minute parking, just a few yards away.




I ordered the barg kebob, $17.99, then pieces of filet mignon. The first thing I noticed was the huge portions. The server brought what looked like a battleship sized, plate to our table. The piece of barg kebob was only about the size of half a cow!! I cut a piece off, with my fork and I knew it was going to be good; it was like a hot knife cutting butter. The beef was so tender and moist. The flavor wasn't as bold as the other restaurants, but it still had plenty of flavor.

But the rice was just great. So fluffy and flavorful. They use basmati rice and it was so good. Other restaurants use other type of rice or use a lesser quality basmati rice but this basmati rice was so good. Not greasy or oily, just full of flavor.

Service was friendly but a bit slow. The servers were nice but they took awhile to get our drinks and to refill our drinks. It wasn't bad but it wasn't the greatest either.

Raffi's is now my favorite Middle Eastern restaurant in Glendale. I love the quality of meat and the large portions.

Giuseppe's Pizza

Giuseppe's Pizza
2433 N Euclid Ave
Ste C
Upland
909-946-5979

For some reason, I've been craving kebobs, this weekend. I wanted to try a new place, and then I remembered David Allen's Review of Giuseppe's Pizza, and decided to go there.

Yes, a place called Giuseppe's, does serve kebobs. The owners are Iranians, who bought Giuseppe's Pizza and added Middle Eastern dishes.



Giuseppe's has a great view of the mountains, a wonderful setting for dinner.




Chicken kebob, $14.99, dinners come with grilled tomato, basmati rice, and pita bread but sadly no hummus. The chicken breast was grilled but lacked seasoning, very bland and worse it was dry.

I also didn't like the portion size. I thought for price, the portions were a bit small.

But the rice was awesome. Flavored with butter and maybe cooked in chicken stock, this was so fluffy and flavorful. Just great.



Beef shish kebob, $16.99, again with tomato, basmati rice and pita bread. The rice was the same great rice.

The beef was pretty good, grilled just right and had much more seasoning and flavor than the chicken. Pretty tender, I would say a tri tip cut.

I also liked the portion size, for the beef, much better than the portion size for the chicken. But overall I thought this was a bit pricey for the portion.

Service, for a to go order, was very good. A man, who I believe is the owner, took my order and was nice. A woman, who I believe is the owner's wife, gave me my order and was very nice.

I would like to go back to Giuseppe's Pizza and try the pizza and the lasagna, which looked great!! But I thought the Middle Eastern dishes were a bit overpriced.

Zankou Chicken- Pasadena

Zankou Chicken
1296 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena
626-405-1502

The first time I tried Zankou in Montebello, I did not know about the infighting between the owners of Zankou. A LA Times story gave a brief history about the infighting. I'm not going to bore everybody with the story. But, the Montebello location was opened by a family member who is bickering with another family member. It is not listed on Zankou's website.

So I decided I wanted to try a Zankou, that is listed on their website. So I visited the Pasadena location. I went on Sunday, April 25th. This Zankou still had a sign on their door, informing customers they would be closed on Sat, April 24th, to remember the Armenian Genocide.

While I knew how important, April 24th is to Armenians, others may not. So Zankou should have put something on their website about closing on April 24th. I did not see any mention of them closing on April 24th, on their website, and I checked on Fri April 23rd.



I got the combination kebobs, tri tip beef and chicken, $10.96, that came with basmati rice, pickled turnips, hummus and pita bread.

The tri tip was pretty flavorful, the spices were different than the spices used at the Montebello location. The Montebello location also didn't use tri tip, which is a sirloin cut.

The chicken was a combination of white and dark meat. The dark meat was tender,flavorful and moist. But the white meat was dry. But a nice idea putting both white and dark meat. I liked the spices in the chicken. There are the same spices as the Montebello location.

I like the hummus, very mild flavor, smooth, and fresh. I'm not a fan of tangy, sour hummus.

But the rice was too watery. They either put to much water in the rice or they took the rice out of the pit before it was fully cooked.

I finally found out what those purple veggies are; pickled turnips. I hate turnips, so I didn't touch them, but I never knew what kind of veggies they were until today.

Service is pretty good. They have two cashiers, one for all transactions and another one, just cash only. Some people have said Zankou is cash only, they just misunderstood the sign.

Overall there are only minor differences between the Zankou in Pasadena, which is a part of the Zankou company, and the Montebello location, which is owner by another family member.

I would come back to this Zankou location to try their roasted chicken.

I saw David Allen, just as I was leaving. We got a chance to talk for a little bit.

Baba Ghanouj

Baba Ghanouj
4276 Atlantic Ave
Long Beach
562-424-4567

Every since I went to E J Malloy's, I wanted to try Baba Ghanouj, which is three to four stores down from EJ Malloy's.

Long Beach isn't a great city for Middle Eastern food. I have tried four other Middle Eastern restaurants in Long Beach; Open Seasame, Open Seasame on the Corner, Sunnin, and Magic Lamp. I wanted to see how Baba Ghanouj compared to those four restaurant.



I got the shish taouk, chicken breast skewers with hummus, garlic sauce, basmati rice and seasoned onions, $14.95. Let me let you about the hummus. Very smooth, thick paste like but not sour at all. I loved it. Too many places put too much lemon juice and turns the hummus sour. This hummus had a nice mild flavor. The best hummus I've ever had. The garlic sauce was addictive. Very bold flavor, I put the garlic sauce and hummus on pita bread, very good!!!

What didn't rank up, was the chicken. I would say the portion was average sized, not as big as it could be and not worth the $14.95 price. The chicken was dry and while flavorful, it wasn't that great.

The rice was also off. It is suppose to be basmati and it didn't look like basmati rice. Then they put a ton of different spices, including cinnamon or nutmeg, maybe both. Cinnamon and nutmeg has it's purpose and it doesn't belong on rice. And the portion was very small.

Service was good. Our server was nice and friendly and helpful.

I would put Baba Ghanouj at the bottom of all the Middle Eastern restaurants I've tried in Long Beach. I wouldn't go back.

King Wrap-Closed

King Wrap
373 W Bonita Ave
Claremont
909-447-6815

I read about King Wrap on David Allen's blog. I was looking forward to another Middle Eastern restaurant in the area. But I found this to be more of a sandwich/wrap restaurant. But what I found was more of a sandwich shop that serves Middle Eastern items like gyros, shawarma, hummus, and falafel.

I got the falafel sandwich, $4.99, falafel tahini sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, on pita bread. There were some nice pieces of falafel on the pita bread. It would be nice if the pita bread was toasted and not just out of the package. The falafel was ok but not cooked to order. I've had better. The lettuce, tomato, and tahini sauce was very fresh.

Service is good. A very nice couple owns King Wrap and are very nice and friendly to everybody.

I was hoping for kebobs and while they do have kebobs, it is only the ground beef kebobs. I hate ground beef kebobs. The sandwiches are fresh and priced right but this isn't anything special. Solid? yes.

I wouldn't rush back to King Wrap. This is certainly better and has more options than a Subway or other chain sandwich shopw. But don't expect much in terms of Middle Eastern food.

Zankou Chicken- Montebello

Zankou Chicken
125 N Montebello Blvd
Montebello
323-722-7200

I know that Zankou Chicken has been around forever and there are many locations in the LA area. But I have not been to any Zankou Chicken. I have heard the way to go is their rotisserie chicken but when I found out they had kebobs I wanted to try both.

So I got a combo kebob plate, beef and chicken, $9.95, and a whole rotisserie chicken, $8.99.

The combo plate comes with hummus, salad, onions and rice. First the chicken kebobs. Very good among the best chicken kebobs I have had. Nice flavor, moist, tender, flavorful. It was great.

The beef kebob was tender, well seasoned, and flavorful, but dry, very dry. If the beef was cooked to medium it would have been very good.

The hummus was very, nice texture and not a ton of garlic or tangy as other hummus I had. I liked the rice but there just wasn't enough rice.

When I placed the order, asked that the rotisserie chicken be packed to go. But I opened it up and took a couple bites while I was there. I wasn't impressed. The chicken was a bit small and very dry, not moist at all. I do think it is full of flavor, smells great but it was on the rotisserie too long. For a few bucks less I can get a bigger chicken that is moist from Costco.

Service was very good. The young lady who took my order was nice and friendly. She ask there wouldn't be any problem packing up the rotisserie chicken to go and just let her know when I wanted the chicken packed. She brought my order to my table. She worked hard and did her job really well.

I wouldn't come back to Zankou for their rotisserie chicken but I think their chicken kebob and hummus is great!!! They deserve a second chance on the beef kebob but not the rotisserie chicken. That is their signature item and they missed.

Aladdin Jr-Closed

Aladdin Jr
296 W 2nd St
Pomona
909-623-4333

Aladdin Jr. has opened a second location in Pomona, in the Antique District. The only other Middle Eastern restaurant in the area is Grapevine. Some interesting history about this location.  This used to be a fine dining restaurant called Lela's.  Lela's was featured on the first season of Kitchen Nightmares-the Gordon Ramsey reality TV show, that tries to fix restaurants that are doing badly. David Allen wrote a story about Lela's being on Kitchen Nightmares.  They closed before the episode was aired.  If you search You Tube, sometimes the episode is there until it's deleted for violating their terms of service.

I went for lunch and ordered the beef shish kebob, $9.99. The manager was really trying to push their lunch buffet, $9.99, if you ordered a drink. But I'm not a fan of the kafta kebobs, which is a ground beef, kebobs and I wanted to try their shish kebob. For about $10, there were a lot of meat. I was impressed with the shish kebob, cooked about medium rare, fairly tender filet mignon, with some good seasoning and flavor.

The rice was nicely seasoned and fluffy. I didn't like the salad because they had balsamic vinegar as a dressing and I hate balsamic vinegar.

Service was pretty good. Nothing outstanding and nothing bad.

I came away impressed with Aladdin Jr. but I wasn't overwhelmed, like this is the best Middle Eastern restaurant I have been to. But it is the best Middle Eastern Restaurant in the area but that is like being the tallest midget.

Grand Chicken-Closed

Grand Chicken
150 S Grand Ave
Glendora
626-914-1977

I'm not sure why but I've been craving Mediterranean food all day. So I decided to go try Grand Chicken. I know, it's a chicken place so I try the beef dish. :)

I got the Beef Filet Shish Kabob, $7.99, with salad, rice, and grilled tomato. After placing the order, I see two skewers of ground beef kabob in the grill and I asked the guy I want the beef filet shish kabob. He assured me that I would get that. So I sat down and waited. Well the order came up and I got the ground beef kabob. I told the guy I asked for the beef filet. So I wait again and I finally get the beef filet kabob. The beef was very good, tender, juicy and flavorful. A decent portion with a good price. The rice was terrible. Tasted like two day old rice. Not good. I didn't touch anything else since the salad had a ton of onions.

I also got the chicken shish kabob, $7.99, and the half chicken plate, $7.99 to go. The chicken shish kabob was very dry. Terrible. Not much flavor and not worth the price.

The rotisserie chicken ithat I got was very good, tender, juicy, and flavorful. But my buddy had the chicken and it was so dry, he needed water to wash it down. Not sure why a place named Grand Chicken has such dry chicken. I would not order the chicken again, even though my was juicy because it shouldn't be that inconsitent. But the hummus is very good, not tangy at all.

Service was OK. They did mess up my order, even after I told him twice what I wanted. But it was fixed. They were nice about.

I think Grand Chicken is a great value and has good food. I would go back but I would not order their rotisserie chicken or the chicken shish kabob again.

Taza Fresh-Closed

Taza Fresh
1220 S Diamond Bar Blvd
Diamond Bar
909-861-3601

Diamond Bar lacks any Mediterranean restaurants. But about a year ago, Taza Fresh opened up, so Diamond Bar has a restaurant that serves kebobs. I should have gone much sooner but after read Mother May I, a really good food blog, I finally made it to Taza Fresh.

I ordered the chicken and ground beef kebob, $8.79, each and the top sirloin shawerma wrap, $4.49. The ground beef kebob was not good at all. Very dry, no flavor or seasoning and just bad. I wasn't happy, especially since they don't have regular beef kebobs.

But that quickly changed when I had the chicken kebob. The chicken was so fresh, so tender and so moist. A wonderful example of how kebobs should be. As the picture shows the kebobs are huge!!!! A great value, no a steal at the $8.79 price.

I thought the hummus was very good. Not sour/tangy like so many other places. But what I didn't like was the rice. There was no flavor and they use a cheaper long grain rice, instead of basmati rice.

Another steal is the top sirloin shawerma wrap, $4.49. I have never had shawerma because I thought it was ground meat. But much to my surprise this shawerma was wonderful. A ton of beef cut up into small pieces, with hummus, lettuce, tomatoes, and a garlic sauce. Just a wonderful combination of flavors. Better than a burrito.

Service was good. The lady was very nice and friendly, answering all my questions.

I would go back to Taza Fresh anytime. I went around 7pm on Thursday and there wasn't one person there. But there were a ton of people at the El Pollo Loco next door and a few people at the Round Table Pizza a few doors down. TERRIBLE. Wake up Diamond Bar, you have a great place that serves great food, at great prices. Why not support the local businesses and not the coporate chains.

Sasoon Chicken-Closed

Sasoon Chicken
3440 E Chapman Ave
Orange
714-516-9600

Sasoon Chicken was right behind Pacific Coast Hot Dogs, so I put that on my to go list. So I went back and I was fairly impressed with the food.

I ordered a shish kabob and a shish tavouk kabob, which is chicken, $11.99. The shish kebob was small pieces of beef, fairly tender and flavorful. They spices here aren't that tangy, more mild. Which I like.

The shish tavouk, was tender pieces of chicken, mostly white meat. They were also flavorful but not tangy. I enjoyed the chicken and would order it again.

What I didn't like was the rice. They just cooked a new batch and it was watery. Not good. The hummus, which is ground chick peas and tahini, which is seasame seed paste, was very nice and mild. Not that tangy flavor I get from most Middle Eastern places.

Service was pretty good. Sasoon is the type of restaurant you order and pick up at the counter. But I waited a long time for the food to be ready. The reason was they needed to cook another batch of rice. Which is fine, but no need to rush. Make the food right. I would much rather wait a few minutes longer for good food, than have some half cooked, watery rice.

I would go back to Sasoon Chicken. I like the mild seasonings to their meats but I would stick with the chicken kabobs.

Zena's Lebanese Restaurant

Zena's
2094 N Tustin St
Ste C2
Orange
714-279-9511

Zenas is an expensive Lebanese restaurant. I noticed Zenas when I had lunch with a friend at the Subway next door. I should have walked in and looked at their menu.

I ordered the three skewer combo, $25.95, this had a chicken breast, kafta-ground beef, and beef skewer. All three skewers were good size and The chicken breast was very tangy and a bit on the dry side. I didn't care for this too much. the kafta skewer was overcooked on the outside and a bit dry on the inside but the quality of the ground beef was good. The beef skewer had three huge pieces of top sirloin. These were my favorite, very tender, cooked to about medium, and full of flavor. Among the best beef kebobs I've had.

The salad picture was given to me by the owner/server, either because he felt his service was slow, it was, or somebody canceled that salad. The salad was very tangy, too tangy for my taste, I only took a few bites. This is a theme at Zenas because the hummus was also too tangy for my tastes.

Service was below average. After I was seated, I could hear the server/owner talking to another guy a few tables from me. I turned and he was sitting at another table, as if there were no other customers. So it took at least five minutes before I could place my order. I didn't think it took any longer for my order to come but the server didn't come around often. He was too busy doing whatever. It took awhile for my drinks to get refilled, from them to clear the table, and get a box to go. There were maybe six other people in the dining room and a few more outside on the patio. So it wasn't busy by any means.

I would not go back to Zenas because the food isn't worth the very high prices. I will say the beef skewers are among the best I've had but $21? I could get a top sirloin steak for that price.

Open Sesame on the Corner

Open Sesame on the Corner
5201 E 2nd St.
Long Beach
562-621-1698

If Open Sesame sounds familiar, it should. I reviewed Open Sesame a few months back. Since that time Open Sesame build a new restaurant about four stores west of their old location. They have a full kitchen and staff at the new location.

Since I have already been to Open Sesame, I knew I didn't want their more expensive entree plates. I just went with their a la carte items. I ordered the eight piece, filet mignon skewer, $14.99 on top of a side of rice, $2.49. I asked for the filet to be cooked medium rare and I got medium to medium well. That's fine. I just don't like well done beef. But it was pretty bland, not much spice or flavor at all. Filet mignon is suppose to be very tender but this filet wasn't that tender. I might be the lowest grade of filet mignon. I didn't think the portion was that big either. Not for the $14.99 price.

The basmati rice was actually pretty good, light and fluffy. But the portion was very small, especially for the $2.49 price.

Our server was pretty good. He was nice and attentive. But I do have some issues with Open Sesame's reservations and the hostess. I called twice, once to make the reservation and another time when I missed their call to confirm a reservation. Both times that I called, I was put on hold for at least five minutes!!!! What they were doing, I have no idea. I hung up both times and called back. I don't need to be on hold to make or confirm reservations. It's not that difficult. The hostess said if my entire party wasn't there on time, they would give the tables away. Well with a party of 12, we had 9 people there, 2 others who were trying to find parking (both of who came about five minutes later) and one person who was stuck in traffic. Is any business going to turn away 11 paying, hungry customers? We were seated but I just didn't like the way they handled this situation.

Open Sesame is just OK in my book. While it's the best of the three Middle Eastern Places, Magic Lamp and Sunnin, on 2nd St, that's like being the tallest midget.

Olive Branch

Olive Branch
3658 Foothill Blvd
La Crescenta
818-248-9876

Very good food and terrible service is the way to describe Olive Branch. I found Olive Branch online about four years ago and put it on my list of places to try. Well I finally went to Olive Branch and enjoyed the food but thought the service was terrible, one of the worst I've ever had.

I ordered the Tender Filet Kebab or Barg Kebab with rice, $15.95 with salad and your choice of rice, garden salad or bbq veggies. This is suppose to be filet mignon but it's either the lowest grade of filet or another cut of meat that they pound and make tender. But either way, it was fairly tender. Nothing like melt in your mouth tender. But you didn't need a knife to cut the meat. The seasonings were perfect and this is among the best barg kebab I've ever had. Almost as good as Shiraz.

What wasn't good was the service. I walk in and the hostess/server asks will there be five people? I was alone and wondered how she got that figure. I said, No just one, please. She then said another server will seat me. The other server put me at a table that was basically sectioned off, which was fine. But she just threw the menu down on the table and basically said sit there. Nice first impression. When the hostess/server came to take my order she never smiled and was just really unfriendly. After taking my order, they only came back to drop off my food and when I asked for the check. After dropping off the food, they never bothered to ask how the food was, never refilled drinks, and never smiled.

The only good thing the two server did was when taking my order, she said would you like soup or salad, which is included with your dinner!!! Not many places make it clear what is included and what costs extra.

Again, the food is great at Olive Branch. I loved the barg kebab, big portion, pretty tender and well seasoned. But the service is TERRIBLE. If I do go back to Olive Branch it will be for take out only.