Monday, November 24, 2008

What else is there?

This post will be dedicated primarily to food, because really, in the season of thanks what else is there?

This Saturday I had the most delicious Lebanese food I've ever had. Really, I couldn't stop raving through the entire meal and then two the waitress who said "Oh, you haven't been here before? This is the best Lebanese food in the city." And, she is right.

Semiramis

Now, you might take a look at the menu and think it looks basic, and let me affirm that it is. There is nothing off kilter or necessarily special about this restaurant, other than the nearly perfect execution of the food. Basically I found this restaurant by doing some Yelp research for a place that was BYOB, off the browline, vegetarian friendly and nice, but inexpensive.

Ryan and I got to the restaurant at about 8pm on Saturday evening only to find quite a wait... which I wasn't thrilled with, but willing to endure after all that research. While we waited, the host opened our bottle of wine, gave us some glasses and poured us a glass. They also brought out a generous amount of complimentary sumac fries, which were a sign of the delicious things to come. After about a 45 minute wait, we were seated and waited on right away. The waitress immediately brought out more fries with the garlic mousse. Then shortly followed our entrees, the Vegetarian Platter as well as the Lentils and Rice with Carmelize Onions and House Salad. This all seems very basic, but I have to tell you that not a single bite of it was. Each part of the dish was better than the previous, with dolmas that literally melted in your mouth. The hummus was fresh, the tabbouleh flavorfully moist, and the falafel was perfectly crunchy on the outside while soft and tasty on the inside.

This was all followed by a dessert of arabic coffees and baklava, one of my favorite desserts.

And by far and away the best part, was the bill... which was not at all reflective of how pleasently stuffed I was.

Two thumbs up!

No comments: