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Aladdin's Eatery (Second
Visit) |
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The interior has the same “a little too nice for a strip mall
interior” but seemed much more relaxed. Our server started out well
and stayed the course the entire time we were there. After a tannic
but floral and fresh hot mint tea we started with an appetizer of
kibbie. All meat all the time. The fried nuggets of beef and bulgur
wheat were studded with onion and pine nuts and served with cups of
tangy plain yogurt and a Lebanese salad (much like but Israeli
salad…but don’t want to start an international incident). Just
right, flavor, texture, contrasts, just right. We tried a couple of the plates from the specialty list, the flavor savor special and the hummus shawarma plate. The flavor savor had a foundation of seasoned brown rice and vermicelli, which could have used more seasoning. It tasted like it was probably close when they finished cooking it but serving it cold cost you taste. The greens were nice and nicely dressed, the falafel was as good as the kibbie and their hummus remains silky smooth and tasty but I would still prefer a splash of something added. |
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Meant to savor two flavors it’s all topped with beef kafta and
chicken mishwi. The kafta consists of grilled little sausage shaped
links of ground beef mixed with onions, parsley, herbs, and plenty
of spices. If you’ve ever had a burger fall apart on the grill, it
would amaze you how well these things hold together. There is
something in the texture that suggests there is a trick to their
integrity but if you don’t mind burping the spices up for the rest
of the day, they’re good. The mishwi was disappointing for me. In my
years at Kent I had a number of chicken mishwi salads from the
Continental Grill across from White Hall and loved the explosive and
unique flavors coming from every element of the dish. This was more
chicken sprinkled with some seasoning, fine but I was hoping for
something close. The hummus shawarma had a reservoir of their subtle
and smooth hummus, topped with strips of lightly seasoned beef,
roasted pine nuts, diced tomatoes, and parsley. We took a couple of
pieces of baklava home, also not quite as good as the stuff they buy
at the Continental Grill (all the pistachio makes a difference) but
still pretty good, as was our trip over all. Much better than the
previous. |
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| Change in Ranking | |||||
| Original Score | Which Way? | New Score | Why For? | ||
| D+ |
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C | Service And Food
Both Improved But Nothing Stands Out As Extraordinary |
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