Mediterranean Grill
1152 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC

In Vancouver, we have seen some cuisines/styles spread like wildfire. In the last two years or so, for example, we have seen several izakaya open: Kingyo, Toratatsu, Kakurenbo, et al, came along to challenge long time established Guu and then recently opened Zakkushi and Hapa Izakaya. A cuisine that has silently crept around Vancouver’s Downtown and West End is Lebanese/Middle Eastern. At one time, in the couple of blocks around English Bay, there were easily over 6 of these shops and, as mentioned in a previous post, Falafel King was my personal favourite. But, rather than blog about a place I have visited previously, instead, I chose to visit a place that went through renovations and recently re-opened.

Talk about creep, to the right is supposed to be Babylon Cafe location #3!

Mediterranean Grill is located a block away from Falafel King and a block and a block and a half away from English Bay. Being already a convert then of Falafel King, I went to Mediterranean Grill to give it a try and see how different it would be. And different it was, unfortunately, not in a good way. Sure, it had more variety but the flavours did not wow me. Would this time be any different? To be fair, I ordered their shawarma plate:

Visually it looks great. Unfortunately, that was about it. The rice looked better than the parboiled one usually served on other places like this but flavour-wise, I did not find it any different. The salad and tomato was bland, without any hint of seasoning at all. The chicken tasted like chicken? That was even with the sauces added on top. The best part of the meal was the tsatsiki – it was really thick with a decent hint of herbs.

As for the remodeling, the layout did not change much but the tables, stools and chairs were/seemed “new”. However, they should have gotten some new cutlery. When I grabbed mine… Well, let’s just say it is better for me not to continue.

Overall, I was able rekindle with some old memories, including the reason why I went to Falafel King rather than here. Though they survived and stayed opened, unlike the other Lebanese/Middle Eastern that has closed in the last year or so, I am not sure how they can keep their momentum, specially because Babylon Cafe (which, for comparison purposes, I think is better than Mediterranean Grill) will be opening anytime now next door.

As a side note, in this post, I mentioned English Bay in a couple of instances. Below is a picture of English Bay on a winter-y, sunny, day. Enjoy!

Semiramis Restaurant
4639 N Kedzie Ave
Chicago, IL 60625

Sun-Tzu said “keep your friends close, and your enemies closer”. Using a similar logic, you usually have friends and then you have FRIENDS. These friends are those that will not hesitate to tell the blunt truth, knowingly that although it will hurt you, in the end, it is for your own good. On those lines, I have a really dear friend, FYZ. In fact, if I need a reality check, I can rely on her.

Unfortunately, we have not seen each other for close to a decade – until a couple of months that is, when she was travelling to Seattle and we agreed to meet each other. Now, don’t get me wrong, we did send/receive emails once in a while but still, that is not the same. She is currently living in Chicago and, since it was on my way from/to Merrillville, I knew we had to meet each other. Of course, since she lives in the area, it was up to her to choose the place… And here is where we went, Semiramis Restaurant.

Sorry for the fuzzy picture, it was COLD!

Now, in reality, FYZ (and her BF, WS) asked what I wanted to try. My initial reaction was “anything local/representative”. Oh, boy, that was a big mistake, as I soon found out Chicago is culturally diverse, probably more than Vancouver. Anyway, back to the food…

The first appetizers. The green one is obviously green olives; however, we were debating what was the red thing. It was tart and crunchy so we hypothesized it might be turnip or radish (marinated in a brine which gave that reddish colour). I was about to ask the waitress but, in the end, to keep the mystery, we decided not to, hehehehehe.

We had tabouleh. It was quite good, as it had an interesting balance of oily yet not too acidic. Also, it was not too watery, compared to others I have had.

We also had hummus. It was quite good; however, I wish it had a little bit of tahini (sesame paste).

As for the food…

Chicken Shawarma Special. I had a piece of this and I must say it was quite good! If I compare it to the one in Falafel King, this one is a lot better. It had red cabbage which gave it a crunchy texture. Also, the tahini gave it a really different, interesting twist (again, compared to the ones I have had here). We also ordered the Falafel special but, somehow, I do not have a picture of that one!

Mixed grill – beef and chicken kabob, lamb and beef kafta with rice and grilled vegetables. the different meats were quite well seasoned; unfortunately, I found the rice a bit too salty and the grilled vegetable… Well, just OK.

If I have to compare to other Middle Eastern/Lebanese restaurants here in Vancouver, this place is really good! Now, I must admit I have not visited that many Middle Eastern/Lebanese eateries here, so my comparison might be unfair. Having said that, if somebody has a suggestion of a good one, let me know and will update this entry accordingly!