Zena's Lebanese Cuisine
2094 N. Tustin Rd.
Orange, CA 92865
Katie used to work in Ontario, and although the one-and-a-half-hour drive was killing her, she did find one benefit to the drive. Near her office was a Lebanese restaurant she and her coworkers frequented. Katie claimed that the garlic sauce they had there was medicinal and could cure anything that ailed her. Now that her company has moved back to OC, she has been searching for an OC equivalent to that garlic sauce. She was hoping it would be found at Zena's Lebanese Cuisine.
We went out with our friends Alex and Jaszlyn. Alex is not a fan of Mediterranean food, but I know his fiance is, so I searched for a place we could meet, and Zena's came up as highly rated. Many of the reviewers mention their love of this family-run business and how they treat you like family. We did not receive that kind of welcome, probably because we were with Alex, but everyone was still amicable when we walked in just after 6 on a recent Wednesday night.
Zena's has been in business for over 30 years and is located just across the street from Orange Mall and in the same shopping center as Staples and French's Bakery. The restaurant is bigger than it appears from the outside, with about thirty or so tables. There was some light, what I assumed to be Lebanese music playing over the speakers. The restaurant was not too crowded during our visit, but there was a slow trickle of customers making their way inside during our two-hour stay there.
The menu at Zena's is pretty extensive but very easy to follow for novice Lebanese eaters such as me. The menu does an excellent job of explaining the dishes, and if you're embarrassed about messing up the name of the item you want to order, you can order by number. I butchered the name of my entree, but at least I tried. Let's see if Katie has found her ultimate garlic sauce here at Zena's.
Of course, before we got to the garlic sauce, we had to try the Humus Bettheen ($9.95). Humus is pretty mainstream, but for those who are not sure what it is, it's mashed-up garbanzo beans mixed with tahini, garlic, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, and other assorted spices. This version was pretty good texture-wise but kind of bland regarding flavor. Not bad, but I expected a little more from the humus. The pita this came with was fresh and a suitable vessel for the hummus.
As I was reading reviews before coming to Zena's, one thing people kept talking about was the Arnabeet ($10.95). This fried cauliflower was worth all the praise that it gets. Think of this as Lebanese fair food. The cauliflower was fried but not dripping in grease, with a nice crunchy texture to it. It was served with a tahini sauce, which could have been a little thicker, but it still did a good job coating the cauliflower. Don't skip this appetizer.
Alex sure did eat this Beef Kabob ($22.95) pretty quickly for someone not really into Mediterranean cuisine. This plate contained two skewers of marinated top sirloin, rice, and hummus. Alex is a man of few words, but he did mention that the meat here was pretty tender, and the rice was okay.
Just like her husband-to-be, Jaszlyn went with a kabob plate as well. She selected the ever-popular Chicken Kabob ($21.95). This plate also came with two skewers featuring boneless chicken breast, rice, and hummus. She liked this plate but has had better chicken kabobs at other places.
Katie is pretty predictable when eating in Lebanese restaurants, so it was no surprise that she had the Shawarma ($19.95). Shawarma is a marinated rotisserie beef sliced and served alongside onions, tomatoes, mint, hummus, and tahini sauce. Katie also wanted garlic sauce to go along with this naturally. She liked the flavor of the beef, which had a tanginess. All the items on the plate interacted so nicely together that Katie could not see herself getting anything else on future visits to Zena's. Unfortunately, the garlic sauce served here did not live up to the one she had near her work in Ontario. This one was a little thinner, and the garlic was not as pronounced. So the great garlic sauce search continues.
This night, I went a little out of my comfort zone when I ordered Kafta B'Seneyee ($20.95). This dish was definitely new to me, but it got my attention from their menu's description immediately. It's lean ground beef mixed with parsley, onions, and other spices to create a Lebanese meatloaf. It's then baked with tomatoes, potatoes, and a tomato sauce and served with rice. This was a pretty hearty meal. The potatoes were fork tender, while the meat had a dense meatball feel. The tomato sauce was surprisingly light, which came out of the kitchen scalding hot. I would get this again, but maybe when the weather is cooler. I imagine this would be great on those cooler nights in OC when the temperatures get down into the low 60s.
None of the four of us really had any big-time issues with the food we ordered this night. It was all pretty good, but it did not really blow any of us away. I would not classify this as destination dining, but if we were in the area again and wanted to have Lebanese, we would not hesitate to come back here. We all did think that the prices were a little on the high side here, though, maybe by as much as five dollars a plate. The service was pretty good on this night. They were not totally busy, so our waiter was around enough to keep tabs on anything that we may have needed. Glad we got a chance to catch up with our friends Alex and Jaszlyn, and we look forward to continuing our search for OC's greatest garlic sauce.
Out of five chairlifts (because I recently found out that Lebanon lays claim to six ski resorts in the country, so it's possible to ski in the morning and swim at the beach in the afternoon), five being best to zero being worst, Zena's Lebanese Cuisine gets 3 chairlifts.
For more information about Zena's Lebanese Cuisine, head to their website by clicking here: https://zenaslebanese.com/
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