The Casbah Cafe

For some reason, we haven't been to The Casbah Cafe in a while. I think I just burned myself out on it...but I'm back on it now! The Casbah is a Middle Eastern restaurant and is very different and unique. For starters, they have hookas and bellydancers. Ivan gets a little uncomfortable around the bellydancers because he doesn't know where to look (I don't really know either) and he feels like he should tip them but they will make you put it in their outfit, so he won't do it!

We pretty much get the same thing every time we visit, the Casbah Combo for 2. This includes 3 Mezze

(a la carte selections), 2 kabobs (your choice of meat), and rice or cous cous. We got Hummus, Meat Pies, and Falafel for our Mezze selections and Chicken Kabobs and half rice/cous cous for our main meal selection.

I always say that you can judge a place on their hummus. Well The Casbah has it mastered. It is not too garlicky and is nice and creamy. They give you a basket of pita bread with the hummus and it is always soft and warm. I am guilty of putting hummus in the bread and adding other random things to it like some of the chicken from my kabob and maybe some rice. It's like a little sandwich :)

The meat pies are just that, little pastries with ground beef inside. They also have pine nuts, onions, and tomatoes in there but there is more meat than anything. The pies are baked and that gives me enough reason to convince myself that they are a healthier option!

The Falafel is slowly working it's way into being one of my favorites. The first time we ate here, we did not like the falafel at all! I have no idea what changed our minds, but we love them now! If you don't know, it is  garbanzo bean patties mixed with parsley and spices, then deep fried. It is served with tahini sauce.

The Kabobs are served on a bed of cous cous or rice pilaf. Since we like both, we always get half and half. It's so funny when we are eating from different sides and meet in the middle. No one wants to eat the middle part because we don't want to encroach on the other's meal, so it sits there until somoeone tells the other one to eat it! The Kabobs are seasoned and are marinated before they are cooked. Sometimes chicken can be so plain, well not here. I don't know what they use, but it is delicious.

Verdict - Loved it! If you have never tried Middle Eastern food, don't be scared. You can always get a Mezze combo or the Casbah Combo for 2 (like we got) in order to try different things. Also, the menu has descriptions of everything so you don't have to worry about getting the wrong thing. Let me put it this way, we have never ordered anything we didn't like. Everything is wonderful and the servers are always really nice and helpful.