(a late post from last month!)
welcome to the USA! land of large serving sizes and a curious mixture of food. I was in Pasadena for about 3 days and this was the first restaurant I went to, albeit chosen for its affordability to students.
it was a curious mix of food as I shall soon explain, and though everything tasted
relatively decent and more than edible, I was so confused by the endless stream of dishes coming out. what’s more, this was a set that was planned for our party by the restaurant which really should have paved the way for more coherence, but didn’t.
we started the meal with a mixture of hummus, tabbouleh and raitas with pita bread, all very tasty, especially since the bread was warm. soon after came a heavily dressing-doused greek-style salad with hard cheese and olives – so doused that you could see a layer of dressing on the bottom of the plate.
mains followed, starting with an italian vegetable lasagne that was cheesy and sloppy (but in a good way) as well as a middle-eastern chicken kebab dish. the chicken was very good though oily, and had lovely charred parts. it was served on a pita bread that I think was meant to soak up the oil but really the surface of pitas aren’t conducive to that kind of responsibility so it was oily enough to blot on a napkin.
we were then served a potato dish that no one at the table touched. it was basically sitting in a centimetre of oil – yuck. the rice pilau that followed – very persian – was also very oily though apparently rather flavourful; I didn’t touch it myself.
our last main course was another pasta – this time a creamy salmon mushroom carbonara. this was tasty but by this time we were all stuffed, and could only a few pieces of salmon.
I think through this meal we traversed quite a bit of europe and the middle east, and it has been one of the most confusing meals I’ve had in a while. there was enough food leftover to pack 4 large trays to bring back, and that is typical of the other meals I had here. I’m not sure I would come back, but I’m told that this place is good for value in the area and good for students and so perhaps it might suit your needs.
andmorefood 