Skaf's Lebanese Cuisine

-
If you've been keeping up with my entries, you know that I've been obsessing over hummus lately. Not just ANY hummus, but the kind that usually has other shizz on it. I'm not about the plain hummus - whatever, I can make that at home. When I go out and pay for hummus, I want them to be worth my money. That usually means I want some meat with it. When I first discovered the hommos kawarma at Sunnins Lebanese Cafe in Westwood, I had hope that this might be something that is served elsewhere. After the last trip to Sunnin, I told myself I needed to find myself a better Lebanese place preferably closer to me, that is more spacious and has better service.

I yelped about this and of course within an hour, someone messages me and tells me to check out Skaf's Lebanese Cuisine. I actually heard of this place before but I had thought it was in N. Hollywood. Apparently, a second location opened up in Glendale. YES! That's like, off my uncrowded freeway on my way home! This is a sign from above that I'm supposed to continue my hummus-on-steroids quest.

So I decide to swing by and pick up dinner for my brother and I to share. I have a feeling the portions are going to be hella big so I just order the skewer combo and then I look at the appetizer to see if they have some glamorous hummus and lo and behold, they have hummus with shawarma. I choose beef so I can compare it to Sunnin's. I wait until I get home to take pictures of it since I don't want to ruin the presentation by sticking my finger in the hummus and smearing it on my face.


The spread, from top to bottom:
The Hummus with Beef Shawarma, onions, pickled radish, jalepeno, tomato,
a side of garlic paste
The beef, chicken, ground beef skewers with a side of salad, hummus, and pita

The quality of the meat was just eons above other places.

The hummus with beef shawarma

The mountain of beef hit the bottom of this plate.
Beef to hummus ratio is about 3:2.

I snagged myself a take out menu so I can call in my orders from now on. I have a feeling I'm going to be a regular at this clean, spacious, and friendly place. I ended up talking to the woman there for a bit about Lebanese cuisine. They're friends with Sunnin so I couldn't talk too much shizz but anyway, this place has way better quality food, and it's a nicer place to eat at. The biggest bonus is that it's so close to me.

The skewers were as delicious as the hummus. The beef skewer was my favorite. It reminded me of the pacumutos in Bolivia. Very clean grilled taste. The meat was pretty tender and not fatty. The salad that came with it is surprisingly refreshing and the hummus on the side was really creamy. The ground beef skewer was a bit tougher than what I'm used to but it was more densely packed so if you like a lot of meat, you will like this version.

My brother and I devoured as much food as we could but there was still a lot left. I decided to go work out, and come back to eat some more. Oy... never work out right after you eat Lebanese food. I was burping it up everywhere and people were looking at me funny. Interestingly, the burps made me hungry for it again so I got home and ate some more hummus.

This place makes you do disgusting things like that.

::burp::

Skaf's Lebanese Cuisine
Neighborhood: Glendale
367 N Chevy Chase #A
Glendale, CA 91206
(818) 551-5540

Comments

mattatouille said…
this place is down the street from where i live. it used to be much better...
November 19, 2008 at 11:19 AM
mattatouille said…
nice review though! perhaps i should go back...
November 19, 2008 at 11:25 AM
sdfafsadf said…
you don't say! it was still pretty tasty. i wonder how much better it was. i guess i'll never know..
November 19, 2008 at 11:33 AM
Authentic Lebanese Cuisine said…
It's fun to pick a cuisine and say I'm going to research Lebanese food, and see what it's all about. You find that there are a lot of similarities in cuisines from around the world and a lot of similar flavors
September 3, 2013 at 6:55 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Black Sesame - the food trend I love

-
Image
Black sesame ice cream, black sesame cake, black sesame creme brulee, black sesame mochi, black sesame mochi ice cream, black sesame sauce, black sesame paste, black sesame soup, black sesame dim sum, black sesame gelato.... Is it just me or is this the new trend in desserts? Especially among Asian (or Asian-inspired) restaurants, the black sesame could be the new red bean! According to Betty Hall from LA Times , not only is the black sesame taking America by storm, it's wildly popular in Europe as well. Growing up, I've always had black sesame in my food. Many Korean dishes call for it, but never had I had it in a delicious dessert until I tried the Sesame Bean Sensation ($7.50) at Royal/T cafe , located in Culver City, CA. It was a layered cake with gray sesame cream filling. The nutty and sophisticated taste of the black sesame with the girly sweetness of the fruity cake got me hooked. Ever since then, I've been on the look out for black sesame anything. When I went to L...
Read more

Cuñape

-
Image
"Cuñape" is the best cheeseballs in the world, and it’s from Santa Cruz, Bolivia. These gooey and addictive cheese balls are similar to the Brazilian "pão de queijo" or the French "gougères" or the Colombian "pandebono" but all of these are different from each other as well. Gougères are lighter and more airy while the Brazilian ones are chewier but drier on the outside. I would say the pandebonos are closest in taste and texture to the Bolivian cuñape but it is slight more bready. In Bolivia, we use mennonite cheese (farmer's cheese) for this recipe and honestly without that cheese it will never be exactly like the original but you do what you can. I've been hunting down a similar cheese in the U.S. for ages but the closest I can get to it is to use the queso blanco or fresco and add some more salt (or even mix some feta into it). The history of the cuñape is very interesting. It is a Guaraní word that means "a woman's b...
Read more

Making Mocochinchi

-
Image
I get really excited when I can think of a food or drink that is solely Bolivian. I admit there isn't too many Bolivian dishes that are not influenced by the many countries that it borders. Even the Saltena, Bolivia's most famous empanada looking pastry comes from a woman who came from Salta, Argentina, to Tarija, Bolivia.  So when I'm researching Mocochinchi, my favorite childhood and now adulthood drink, made from dehydrated whole peaches, sugar, and cinnamon, and I find that it's a "Bolivian"drink , I get really really excited. Bolivia Bella  goes on to describe regional favorites.  In Santa Cruz, you can buy the dehydrated peaches in the open markets. I snag a pound of dehydrated peaches because you really can't find these in the U.S. except maybe in Miami or Virginia, where there is a huge population of Bolivians. Using sliced dehydrated peaches don't really work for this particular drink because the fun is eating the reconstituted pe...
Read more