by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
Just off the corner of St. Augustine Road and University in Lakewood is a shopping center filled with a variety of ethnic restaurants. There’s the Athens Café (Greek), Pepe’s (Mexican) and the newest restaurant, Palm Garden, which serves traditional Middle Eastern foods.
Before the entertainment started, I took the time to look around. A TV towards the back shows scenes from Middle Eastern music videos. There are a few tables situated outdoors, but most opt to sit inside, where the entertainment is. In one corner is a marble-topped bar next to a beaded curtain that leads to the bathrooms. Different colored streamers hang from the ceiling in front of the small stage. A mural of a sunset-silhouetted desert, with camel and riders pointed towards a palm-lined oasis, dominates the wall to the left of the stage.
The tables are set up so that a belly dancer working the room can be seen by all the patrons in the place, and there’s a small area by the stage for anyone who’d like to dance. On the Saturday night I went, there was plenty of dancing. Entertainment for the evening opened with a belly dancer. As she danced sinuously to the music, in a sequin studded outfit, the crowd clapped along with enthusiasm. Palm Garden also brings in Middle Eastern singers. During my visit there was a woman that sang and then many of the patrons began dancing.
There were also hookahs, for those who were inclined, but the place wasn’t hazy with hookah smoke and it was pleasant enough for the non-hookah smokers in the crowd. The hookah selections aren’t on the menu, so just ask your server.
Palm Garden is family-owned-and-operated. The family also owns the Middle Eastern grocery store next door, called GTA Imports. This gives the place the advantage of being able to use purely Middle Eastern ingredients, instead of replacing them with easy-to-find American substitutes. Many of the loyal customers from the grocery store also come to relax at the restaurant.
I began my meal with a Lebanese beer called Almaza, though there are other selections on the menu that intrigued me. They also carry Mango and Guava nectar, anise tea, bold Turkish coffee and a number of wines, besides the standard soda selections.
I opted for the more than reasonably priced $30 Saturday night special, which includes four appetizers and an entrée.
More adventurous eaters might want to give their Kibbeh Niyeh a taste. It’s not your standard, reassuring, football shaped, deep fried kibbeh. It’s raw. They mix lean beef with cracked wheat, ground onions and spices, and then use a form to lay it on the plate, so it’s easy to cut from, like a pie. They serve it with a little olive oil that you can pour over each section as you eat it. It’s served with pita bread, but I actually liked it better alone. Since I’m okay with sushi and steak tartar, I was more than willing to try it. As I spoke to Nancy Aweel, one of owners, she reminisced about how she used to eat this very dish as a child, piling the kibbeh onto slices of sweet onion. Of course, I immediately asked for sweet onion to try it this way, and it was fantastic. It didn’t do any favors for my breath, but the only romance I had in mind for that night was the romance I could find on my plate. If you’re less adventurous, opt for their regular kibbeh or their kibbeh rider.
Other appetizers I sampled included their Babba Ghannouj, hummus, tabouleh and labnee. The tabouleh wasn’t my favorite out of the set, and I would have liked warm pita bread to dip in my hummus and the other dips, but the rest of the appetizers were traditional Middle Eastern and dangerously delish. Their Babba Ghannouj might be enough to change anyone’s mind about eggplant, if they’re to opposed it. If you’re not familiar with Babba Ghannouj, it’s a dip made from puréed eggplant, sesame paste, lemon juice and garlic. The hummus ranks as some of the best (if not THE best) I’ve had in the area. Their Labnee is a Lebanese dip made from a special salted yogurt and mint. It’s a great intro dip, because it tastes a lot like a standard sour cream dip you’d find at an American party.
My entrée was a kind of combo of their chicken kabob and their kufta kabob. Each was tasty and packed with flavor, though I will be trying some of the less standard choices on the menu, such as the quail dinner.
For a genuinely Middle Eastern, entertainment-filled Saturday night of food and fun, Palm Garden is a great new choice.
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