Archive for the ‘Middle Eastern’ Category

ARIANA RESTAURANT

Monday, March 12th, 2007

ariana
We ended up at Ariana because we found ourselves quite hungry in Olde City on a Friday night, without reservations or boatloads of cash. After peeking into restaurant after restaurant, we glimsped some free tables at Ariana. Since neither Messy, Picky nor our dear friend LB, a restaurant aficionado, had ever had Afghani food, we were all happy to give it a try. Messy had been wanting to try Afghani food for many years – ever since she showed up to Hamid Karzai's brother's restaurant in San Francisco six years ago only to find it closed. [Apparently, the Karzai owns a string of restaurants, one of which is in Baltimore.] The rest of Messy's family ended up eating there without her on another trip and all Messy heard for a while was how delicious Afghani food was and what an amazing pumpkin dish someone had there.

The first thing we noticed was that Ariana has a very cozy atmosphere. The interior is small but not exactly cramped. There is a special no-shoes window table up front facing Chestnut Street, which appeared to seat six. The three of us had a cozy table in the back.

One of the best things about Ariana was the abudance of delicious free bread. We gobbled up so much of it neither one of us was able to completely finish our meal. We began with two different kinds of yummy sambosas, which was the highlight of the meal for Messy. When it came time to order our meals, Messy could hear her brother and sister's voices in her head raving about pumpkins, so she decided to try the pumpkin and yogurt sauce dish (Chalow Kadu, $12), even though she generally does not love anything in the squash family. The dish was tasty enough, but if you don't like pumpkins (and Messy can now confim — she doesn't) you won't particularly like this dish. It was a lot of pumpkin. Picky opted for the Lamb Corma – large cubes of lamb served with a heaping of basmati rice. All in all, this was a good hearty meal with hearty proportions. We don't know anything about Afghani food, but Ariana gave us a decent — if unspectacular — meal.

Messy ***
Picky ***

The final word: Hearty portions in a cozy atmosphere. A plus if you like pumpkins.

134 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19106-3009
(215) 922-1535

Posted in BYOB, Center City East, Middle Eastern, Olde City | 6 Comments »

ALYAN'S

Monday, January 16th, 2006

alyan's

We ended up at Alyan's due to lack of seating space at Maoz Vegetarian on South Street — and we're very glad we did! We dined with our two vegan friends and we're happy to report that all of our meals (three falafels and one shawarma, a lamb and turkey rotissere broil sandwich) were delicious. (Guess who had the shawarma?) The hummus and falafel sandwiches were hefty enough on their own, and they were served with mixed salads on the side. We can't imagine how big the 'platter' size, which costs $4 more, is in comparison. The schwarma was also a huge sandwich, overflowing out of the foil wrapper. It partially exploded over Picky's hand.

But the true highlight of the meal was the large side order of Alayn's Fries: French cut potatoes mixed with hot peppers and onions. They were perfect! Not too greasy. Not too spicy. Not too anything. Everyone liked them. They are more like homefries, with chunks of potato instead of thin strips or wedges.

It was semi-cramped at our table in the front room, but there is a larger back room as well as more seating upstairs; we didn't venture into either of those rooms so we can't verify how spacious they are.

The menu is quite extensive and the prices, not expensive. The total bill for four was under $25, a miracle in Center City! We were all quite full too– no room for baklava, the only dessert on the menu.

We went back to Alyan's a second time and found the service to be especially slow, but the food was just as good. Picky had the same sandwich and was not disappointed. Messy branched out and tried a "small" Greek salad, which was certainly big enough to share as a side and filling enough to be a meal on its own. She also tried the spinach and mushroom pie, a delicious, almost pastry-like concoction.

Messy ***
Picky ***1/2

The final word: Great, Middle Eastern eats at diner-like prices.

603 S. 4th St
215-922-3553
Sun – Thur: 11am – 11pm
Fri – Sat: 11am – Midnight

Posted in BYOB, Center City East, Middle Eastern, South St | 2 Comments »