Our First Trip to Little Arabia

Little Arabia Lebanese Bakery and Cuisine

638 S. Brookhurst St. 

Anaheim, CA 92804

It's been a grind at work lately. New manager, the holidays are fast approaching, and people are getting crankier as they have more to do. Around this time of year, it's easy to get in a rut after a long day at work and just want to stay at home, lock the front door behind you, and not have to have any interaction with people for the rest of the day. I have to realize that's not fair to Katie plus it's not good for this restaurant blog. The three pages of restaurants I want to try is never going to shrink if we stay home all the time. So we decided to head out on a Saturday night to cross another one off the list.

Our destination on this early fall evening was Little Arabia Bakery and Cuisine. I had heard some pretty good things about their shwarma, and I know Katie is crazy for that and the garlic sauce that is found in lots of Lebanese restaurants. For those that are not sure, like me, shwarma is a lot like gyro meat, as it's cooked on a slowly moving spit, which allows it to cooks in its own juices. Shwarma is spiced differently though and not served with tzatziki sauce like its cousin the gyro.

Little Arabia Lebanese Bakery and cuisine is situated in a corner of a shopping center anchored by an old-school Stater Bros. Market at the intersection of  Brookhurst and Orange Avenue, just north of Ball Road in Anaheim. We arrived at just before 5 on a recent Saturday evening. There was ample parking and we had our pick of tables when we walked in the restaurant. During our stay the booths filled up around us, but at no time would I say that they were busy.

There's a nice fenced patio out front, but we elected to eat inside. The interior of the restaurant was inviting, with a number of booths lining the far wall, and a good many tables in the center of the dining area. If you are getting food to go you order at the register, and for dining in guests you'll be directed to a table and a server will take your order. The menu at Little Arabia has all of your Mediterranean favorites. There's plenty of hot and cold appetizers, sandwiches, plates, and savory pies to choose from. They even offer pizza for those who are a little skittish about trying something new. I was going to forgo the pizza but still had a tough time making my meal decision. Let's see if Little Arabia was worth the drive up from South OC.

Starting things off for us were some of the baked goods that were featured prominently in the display case near the register. At $1.49 each these were a great way to start our meal. We got one each of the Mini Spinach Boat, Mini Cheese Boat, and a Mini Balabaki Square, which was filled with meat. My favorite of the three was the plain cheese, which had the tanginess of parmesan cheese, which mellowed into a smooth and creamy cheese. The spinach was nicely done, but the spinach could have been a little more prominent. The meat one missed the mark for me. It was spiced a little too much and did not let the meat shine. I really liked the dough that encased these, as it was soft and light and did not interfere with the contents of these baked goods. Worth a try for sure.

Katie had no problem deciding what to get at Little Arabia, as she eagerly anticipated this Chicken Shwarma Plate ($13.99). This massive pile of seasoned chicken really impressed, and that's coming from me, who is not really a big fan of chicken. It was tender, juicy, and seasoned well. Definitely the best chicken shwarma I have had, not that I have had a ton in my day. The garlic sauce was a tad too light with the garlic but did the trick. I knew there was no way Katie would be able to finish this all, so I had it for lunch the next day and it even held up then. Wonderfully done.

Whenever I'm in doubt about what to order, I always lean towards a combo meal, so I can at least get a good lay of the land if I'm going to end up visiting a restaurant again. At Little Arabia, I selected this Combo Plate ($17.99) as my meal on this evening. With this one you get either a beef or lamb skewer, I picked the lamb, a ground beef, and a chicken skewer. Not normally my thing, but the chicken one was my favorite of the three. It was seasoned like Katie's shwarma but in cubed form. It went nicely with the garlic paste. The lamb and the ground beef skewers were both slightly overcooked, but I still enjoyed them well enough. The rice was full of flavor and spiced with something I was not expecting but kind of warmed up to. It had a subtle sweetness to it. The hummus was silky smooth and I found myself using it to jazz up the ground beef and the lamb. I did not really get into the salad here, but it seemed fresh.

Both Katie and I enjoyed our time at Little Arabia. We have had slightly better Mediterranean food in OC, but this was a very solid visit and worth your time if you are in the area and craving some shwarma. It's definitely the thing to get here. Next time I'll try the beef. We felt very welcome during our stay, and the service was cordial, but they did seem to forget about us a bit when they got a little busier. Prices seemed fair when you consider the serving size of the food that you get with each meal. Glad I dragged myself out of the house to come here. Good food is what will definitely get me through this hectic holiday season.

Out of five briefcases, (because the first law school in the world was built in Lebanon, and all lawyers use briefcases), five being best to zero being worst, Little Arabia Lebanese Bakery and Cuisine gets 3 briefcases.

For more information about Little Arabia Lebanese Bakery and Cuisine, head to their website here: http://littlearabiarestaurant.yolasite.com/

Early Dinner at Cafe Matinee - CLOSED

Cafe Matinee

23532 El Tor Road

Lake Forest, CA 92630

It seems like we have been on a real Lebanese kick lately. It all started because Katie wanted to find a great garlic sauce, like the one she had at a Lebanese restaurant right by where she used to work in Ontario. She claims that the garlic sauce there had crazy medicinal powers that could cure anything from headaches to sinus infections. She has yet to find her OC counterpart to this garlic sauce and was hoping to find it at Cafe Matinee.

For those of you that know the area, Cafe Matinee is located in the same shopping center as El Toro Meats, Nina's Indian and British Grocery, and one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, Cocina de Ricardo. From what I have gathered online, this small restaurant has been here for a long while. It's a family restaurant with Owner and Head Chef, Gus Naddour in the kitchen, his wife, Suzane Naddour running the front of the house, and daughter Grace working here as an Assistant Manager.

This restaurant is not large, maybe 15 or so tables, with what I assume to be Lebanese music playing softly over the speakers. We were here on a recent Saturday night, and there was a steady stream of customers walking in the door, most of whom were known to the family. The menu here is not too large, with only seven entrees listed, a little more variety on the appetizer selections, and some salads offered. A pretty standard menu for Lebanese cuisine. We were ready to eat, so let's see what Cafe Matinee had in store for us.

When we first started looking at the menu, Katie zeroed in and ordered this cheese pie, which is known as Jibne ($5.99). The menu states that its fresh baked bread topped with tomatoes and a blend of cheeses. Not sure what the cheeses were, but it kind of had a jack cheese kind of taste to it, but was a little on the thicker side. the bread was soft but held up to the cheese. Not overly flavorful, but pretty filling.

Looking at the Yelp reviews for Cafe Matinee, everyone commented on how good their Hummus ($5.99) is, and for once, those Yelp people got it right. This was one of the best hummus appetizers we have had. Creamy garbanzo beans, lemon juice, tahini, garlic, which is topped with olive oil, made this dip a winner. This had big-time flavor, with almost a little too much oil on top, but it was still good. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the pita bread, which was nice and fresh. The appetizers here come with pickled turnips and olives. Katie took down a good number of the olives, while I munched on the turnips.

Entrees come with a side salad, which came at the same time as our appetizers. This simple salad was dressed in an oily, but subtle minty dressing. A little on the larger size for a side salad, the produce was very fresh here. Not a salad I would normally order, but it was good for what it was.

Katie always gets the same thing when we eat at a Lebanese restaurant, Chicken Shawarma ($14.99). The chicken is cut into bite-sized pieces, then cooked with onions and tomatoes, and served with a tahini sauce and rice. Even though they did not have garlic sauce here, Katie was very pleased with her dinner. The chicken was very tender and marinated well, and the tomatoes and onions really worked well here. She called this plate, "real good".

Whenever I can't make up my mind at a restaurant, I always order the thing on the menu that has the most stuff on it. At Matinee Cafe that was the Skewer Combo ($19.99). With this combo, you get a skewer each of kafta (ground lamb), filet mignon, and chicken. I was a little taken aback when they asked how I wanted my beef prepared here, I'd never been asked that at a Lebanese restaurant before. This came out just as I requested, a perfect medium-rare. The beef was of definite high quality, and very tasty. Even the chicken, which is almost always overcooked in restaurants, was tender and juicy. The ground lamb was spiced very well here. A real good plate of meat skewers. The rice was good and moist, and I liked using pieces of the grilled onion with bites of the meats.

Even without the presence of garlic sauce, Katie and I were very happy with our time at Cafe Matinee. Sure I thought they were a little on the high side with their prices, for the amount of food that you get. Also, the service was a little on the spotty side, but when we did see someone, they were very friendly but leisurely. Even with these minor gripes, we would definitely come back to Cafe Matinee and would recommend it to anyone that likes Lebanese food. The food was that good. Our search for a great garlic sauce continues, so if you know of a place, leave us a comment below, and let us know about it.

Out of five Scooby Snacks, (because Scooby's best friend Shaggy was voiced by the late Casey Kasem, who was born to Lebanese parents), five being best to zero being worst, Cafe Matinee gets 3.5 Scooby Snacks.

For more information about Cafe Matinee, go to their website here: http://cafematinee.net/index.html

Garlic Sauce Greatness at Zena's?

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/

Lebanese Food Night in the IE!

Alina's Lebanese Cuisine

2250 S. Archibald

Ontario, CA 91761

If Katie does not know how I feel about her after this, she never will. She managed to get me to agree to go with her to a work event, on my day off. That is no big deal, because I actually like the people that she works with. The big deal was that this event was all the way out in Rancho Cucamonga, in August, during a heat wave in the Inland Empire. It must be true love.

True love, or maybe it was the fact that she agreed to take me to one of her favorite restaurants in Ontario, Alina's. She might have learned my secret. Just bribe me with food, and I will do pretty much anything, even go out to Rancho Cucamonga. So we grabbed two of Katie's friends, Julie and Laura, and headed to their favorite lunch spot, Alina's.

Alina's is located in a small shopping center, in an industrial area. We arrived at about six on a Thursday night, and there was a steady stream of people picking up orders and eating in the ten table restaurant. The menu at Alina's was pretty good sized, but not too intimidating for a novice Lebanese eater like myself. Everything was  described well, so I felt comfortable in what I was ordering. Let's see how it came out.

I deferred to the girls when ordering the appetizer. They went with the Fatayer, which they lovingly described as a cheese hot pocket. The dough was very good, and the inside was not overly stuffed with cheese, so we did not need the extra plates that Julie had asked for. I would definitely get this appetizer again.

The girls really made writing this review easy for me, because all three of them ordered the same thing, the Chicken Kebab. They all really seemed to enjoy the chicken, and called it tender and flavorful. Laura described it this way, "the chicken was more chicken". Okay, not sure what that meant, but it added comedy to the meal, and I told her I would for sure make that part of my post. Your welcome Laura. The chicken was also served with humus, rice, fattoush, pita bread and garlic spread. They liked the rice, and used it more as a condiment, rather than on its own. Katie liked the tangy dressing used on the fattoush. They all seemed very pleased with their choice of entree.

So of course I did not just want to have a kebab, so I ordered the Beef Shawarma. The beef was not so tender here, but what made this dish was the garlic spread. You might be able to put that spread on an old tire and make it taste good. It really saved this dish from being average and elevating it up the flavor scale. I was also pretty impressed with the humus, very smooth with decent flavor. I was less impressed with the rice and fattoush. The rice was okay, but I was not a big fan of the fattoush. Unlike Katie, I did not find the tangy dressing to my liking.

This was a very good introduction to Lebanese food. The food was definitely fresh, the serving sizes were very generous, and the prices were not bad at all. Almost all of their items are under the $10 mark. The service here was good, and unobtrusive. Julie did want me to point out that they were all out of lemons for her iced tea, so take that for what it's worth. Man, some people are so hard to please. Eating here has made me want to find other Lebanese places that are closer to home, so if you know of any, please let me know of good ones.

Out of five cedar trees, (because that tree appears on the Lebanese flag, and is an emblem of Lebanon), five being best to zero being worst, Alina's Lebanese Cuisine gets 3 cedar trees.

For more information on Alina's, click here: http://www.alinaslebanesecuisine.com/default.html