Lebanese Kitchen in North Pasadena is the stop for day 114 of 365 Things To Do. Ellie Viray, our newest addition to our real estate team, recommended that we have Lebanese for lunch for our brain storming meeting with Raphael Guerin of NELA Los Angeles.
If you haven’t had Lebanese food, you are in for a treat. Lebanese cuisine combines exotic ingredients from the Far East. The Lebanese diet focuses on herbs, spices, and fresh ingredients (the Lebanese rarely eat leftovers), relying less on heavy sauces. Mint, parsley, oregano, garlic, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon are the most common seasonings.
Bread, a staple food in Lebanon, is served with almost every meal, most often as a flat bread, or pita. It is so crucial to the Lebanese diet that some Arabic dialects refer to it as esh , meaning “life.”
Fruit, vegetables, rice, and bread out-weigh the amount of meat eaten in the average Lebanese meal. However, the most commonly eaten meats, poultry and lamb, make up some of the country’s most popular dishes.
READ MORE: Foods of the Lebanese
Lebanese Kitchen is a small, family run restaurant. The restaurant is very simple, but the service and food are superb! When we sat down, a basket of Pita bread accompanied by Hummus and Tabbouleh salad were immediately placed on the table.
Hummus was perfectly prepared and was perfect with Pita. My favorite was the Tabbouleh salad – a concoction of fresh parsley, mint, onions, tomatoes, spices and oils. It was absolutely amazing.
I’ve had Khash Khash Kebab – a different version of Lule Kebab – ground beef and lamb with spices and garlic. It was juicy and flavorful and was served with rice and broiled tomato. Definitely worth coming back for.
Raphael tried the Chicken Kebab. It was flavorful, soft and juicy. Also served with rice and tomato. And, Ellie had the Beef Kebab. The beef was a bit too specific for me, spice wise (and… yes… I tried both chicken and beef – we shared!), but might be an acquired taste.
Give Lebanese Kitchen a try and let us know what you think.
Location:
1384 E Washington Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91104
(626) 296-9010
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