Our lunch crowd at work went to Arabian Nights (the new Middle Eastern restaurant in Cheswick) this past Friday. Overall, we had a positive experience. For an appetizer, I had the taboulee, which I thought was quite good, if a little less tart than I had expected. For the main course, I had the stuffed grape leaves, which came with rice, a small salad, and pita bread; I thought it was all tasty. For desert, I had some sort of very sweet and dense wheat pastry; it was perhaps sweeter than I expected, but still good. I traded some of my taboulee for some of my coworker's hummus. He seemed happy with the taboulee, and I thought the hummus was good. The atmosphere could probably use a little work--one could arguably describe it as a little dumpy, methinks. Probably not the best place to take someone you're trying to impress. But the food was good, and in my book, that's the most important thing. The service was also good; the waitress seemed to care about making a good impression. I thought the portions could've been a little larger. (But then again, we were ordering off of the lunch menu, not the dinner menu.) Speaking of the menu, here's a brief run-down. I typed this up quickly, so there are probably typos. Appetizers falafel kabos (2) $1.75 spanakopeta (2) $2.25 olive/cheese plate $2.75 mazza platter (super sampler) $8.75 Dinner Menu shish kebab (lamb or beef) $10.95 Arabian Nights special (lamb or beef shish kebab + vegetables) $12.95 chicken kabob dinner $8.95 kefta dinner (ground lamb and spices) $8.95 baked kibbee (baked lamb + wheat) $8.95 lamb shank $8.95 lemon swordfish $10.95 stuffed grape leaves $8.95 spanakopeta $8.95 falafel dinner $7.95 Arabian Nights salad $6.50 Ala Carte (Cold Items) hummus $2.25 (small) $3.00 (large) baba ganouge $2.75 (small) $3.50 (large) artichoke salad $2.75 (small) $3.50 (large) taboulee $2.75 (small) $3.50 (large) m'taume $2.25 (small) $3.00 (large) middle eastern salad $2.25 (small) $3.00 (large) Ala Carte (Hot Items) mujaddara $2.25 (small) $3.00 (large) sleek $2.25 (small) $3.00 (large) loobee $2.75 (small) $3.50 (large) bazila $2.75 (small) $3.50 (large) rice $2.25 (small) $3.00 (large) stuffed grape leaves $2.75 (small) $3.50 (large)
Pittsburgh, PA