Authentic Lebanese at Afrah Mediterranean Restaurant

Recently craving mediterranean food, Sara and I decided to head to Afrah, which serves up authentic lebanese food and pastries. I first heard about Afrah when it was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and since have been told great things about this small Richardson restaurant. We headed to Afrah for dinner and were surprised how packed the place was. The patio was filled with people enjoying hookah, singing birthday songs, and enjoying food and dessert. 

I ordered the chicken kabob "shish tawook" with hummus and baba ghannouj. The marinade of the chicken was delicious and the chicken was super juicy and tender. The kebab also included garlic cloves, which were tasty as well. The hummus was good, but definitely nothing out of the ordinary. The baba ghannouj was definitely one of the better versions I have had in the area.

Sara ordered the schwarma plate, that included both beef and chicken schwarma. Sara ordered a side of hummus and basmati rice as her sides. Unfortunately, for a place famous for their schwarma, Sara received a pretty dry version of the dish. Both meats were a bit bland, and the basmati rice was not a standout. Sara agreed my dish was much better, but maybe it was just an off day for the schwarma.

We ordered pistachio baklava for dessert. The portion was small, but it was very rich. It definitely tasted different than other baklavas that I have tasted, but it was delicious. Overall, there were a few hits and misses in our meal. We enjoyed dinner, but we decided that unless we were nearby we probably wouldn't go out of our way to try it again.

Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives

Afrah

Lunch outing to Off-Site Kitchen

We were introduced to Off-Site Kitchen by a co-worker whose husband is from North Carolina and is constantly on the hunt for authentic Carolina BBQ and slaw. We took a lunch outing to Off-Site at about noon on a Thursday and the line was out the door, well into the parking lot. Some might give up at the thought of waiting in line for a simple lunch, but to the Taste Buds, a line just means that the food has to be worth the wait. We overheard a woman in line say that the line is always long, but moves fast and the food comes out quick, which turned out to be exactly right.

Once, we made it in the tiny building, we pulled our glass bottle sodas out of the self-serve coolers and stared in mild disbelief/awe at the self-serve fountain drinks in flavors such as lime Gatorade, tang, purple Kool-Aid and sweet tea. It seems to us that BBQ and burgers mixed with Kool-Aid automatically equals a certain amount of street credit, so that made us a little more excited to taste the food. Haley ordered the Murph-Style Burger with roasted jalapeño and smoked bacon relish, a slice of American cheese and secret sauce and I ordered the Pork Shoulder Roast Sandwich. We split fries since we still had to be productive the rest of the day (can’t risk a complete food coma on a work day).

Haley’s burger was delicious. All the ingredients combined to make a really flavorful, unique and memorable burger, but yet it still felt like a classic and old-school burger. After some careful consideration on Haley’s part, she felt confident enough to say this burger was probably the best burger she has had in Dallas. Granted, we have not tried every “best” burger in Dallas, but out of what we HAVE tried this made the top of the list!

My BBQ pulled pork sandwich with Carolina-style slaw came with onion and pickles – just the way I like it. The BBQ sauce was slightly spicy which was nicely balanced by the slightly sweet slaw. I didn’t eat the bun, but there was enough inside the sandwich to fill me up completely. The fries were also awesome. I think they were some of my favorite plain fries I’ve had. Not too crunchy, not too soft, simply seasoned with salt. They tasted like something out of the 50’s when (in my head) food was simple and tasted like real ingredients.  Also, just to throw this in, my Abita root beer was delicious too!

Haley and I both agreed that if Off-Site was in a more convenient location to our jobs or apartments, we would definitely go weekly. Unfortunately, it’s a bit of a trek for us unless we happened to already be in the area. Fingers crossed for second location!

http://offsitekitchen.org/