Al Basha (Northern NJ)

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

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Positive: The best Middle Eastern food joint in Paterson as per Zabihah.com.  The shawarma hummus platter is excellent.

Negative: Their specials finish very quickly. The meat quality is not great compared to other Middle Eastern restaurants.

Overall: Great place to go with family and friends to enjoy a delicious Middle Eastern meal but their ambiance and food taste has dwindled.

Revisit:  I will only revisit for the shawarma hummus platter when in the area.

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updated february 25, 2012

Al Basha restaurant has the most reviews on Zabihah.com for all the restaurants listed in Paterson, NJ.  I have tried it multiple times and had the chance to experience it again.  When I entered the restaurant, I noticed that that it has become more worn down over the years — they really need to do some renovations including painting the walls, cleaning the place, and fixing the carpet.  They should really put some work into it so that the ambiance lives up to the raving reviews.

On this visit I, again, enjoyed my most favorite dish there, the Shawarma Hummus platter.  It was fresh, delicious, and went great with their pita.  The mixed grill has declined in taste since my last visit.   The lamb meat was not soft and the texture was rubbery.  The other meat seemed somewhat overdone and the chicken was burnt.  I was extremely disappointed overall.  However, the service was great and the front house manager was very nice as usual. I am going to degrade their rating from four crescents to one crescent until some improvement is done to their food and place. It is not worth going to eat there just for the hummus. I would only get it if I was in Paterson.

from August 13, 2011

Can’t figure out which restaurant to eat at while visiting the arab hub of patTerson?  well look no further!

I had a chance to visit Al Basha restaurant in Patterson New Jersey on Main Street with various Middle Eastern restaurants and bakeries. It is situated in the heart of Main Street in Patterson and is a pretty happening restaurant in the area, besides the China Pagoda ofcourse.

This restaurant offers both Lebanese and Turkish cuisine. When you enter there are two sections that you can sit at which you can base on the type of people you’re with. The first section consists of seating booths and is more for the younger crowd. It is more suitable when you’re with friends and it can be loud. The other section has more of a family like, quiet atmosphere, unless ofcourse you have kids running around.

The service overall is excellent. The waiters gave us good tips on what to order and how much to order.  They’re also very helpful in trying to give us items on the house.  By the way, they also have specials of the day that usually run out early so make sure to request that as soon as you get in. When you first sit down the waiter brings you fresh olives, radish with vinegar, and their warm pita breads. The olives are actually imported from Palestine.  

I have been to this restaurant three times already and I find that the hummus with shawarma is excellent.  The shawarma has succulent and tender meat and is situated on top of smooth, tasty hummus that goes great with pita. I’ve also had the mixed family platter which I highly recommend when visiting this place. The mixed platter bascially has all their meat products in one dish, while are piled on top of a mountain of rice.  I enjoyed their sheesh kababs and chicken kababs the best.  The tender chicken kebabs are moist and soft from the inside. The meat was flavored well and was juicy.  I have also tried some of their sandwiches which are also equally great.  I haven’t tried their Thursday New York Strip Steak Special though.

 I think that this restaurant is a must to try when visiting Patterson or if you are in the mood for some tasty Arab cuisine.   And on top of that the waiters have cool Hats (and one of them reminds me of the guy from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom)!

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Al Basha Restaurant Website

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Burger.Org (Philadelphia)

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

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Positive: Good tasting kosher organic burgers.  There is also a large variety of other kosher meat entrees which include turkey, chicken, fish, and lamb.

Negative: Ordering time not optimal but food comes out quick.  

Overall: Great place to try great burgers if you are in the area or craving kosher meat!

Revisit:  I will definitely go again as there is no other place that offers good quality, tasty kosher burgers in Philadelphia.

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Looking for some good burgers in philly?

Burger.org is a Glatt Kosher restaurant located on South Street in Philadelphia. The setup you would expect at a burger joint is immediately apparent upon entering the restaurant.  There are multiple tables with bar stools and some with chairs. There are also chairs at  counter in the center of the store where you can order food and watch TV while eating.  You can tell that this is an authentically kosher restaurant as there are many pictures and relics reminiscent of the Jewish religion and culture, as well as the cook in his traditional garments. I also saw that one of the workers was praying on the side, making this a prayer friendly place although I did not ask to pray myself.

The menu is full of a variety of free range/grass fed organic meat (chicken, turkey, lamb, beef) for sandwiches and burgers as well as wild catch Fish dishes.  They also have a variety of vegetarian dishes ranging from Hummus to Salads and even veggie burgers.  Service is quick and the workers are very nice and friendly.

I had the chance to experience their popular El Mariachi Burger and Fried Chicken Sandwich.  The El Mariachi was delicious and included pico de gallo, guacamole, raw onion, tomato, lettuce, and chipotle sauce on a medium cooked patty.  The Fried Chicken sandwich consisted of a chicken cutlet and tasted fresh and was equally delicious.   The meat quality is good and you can tell that its organic as advertised.  I think the taste is great but it is not as good as Burger 7 located in Virgina.  Their sweet potato fries, however, were not good and may have been better if they were crispy.  I did not have a chance to try their regular fries.  I will visit again and try their other items, and will update this post accordingly.

I recommend coming here if you are in the mood for some good burgers and cannot find anything Halal in the area. Glatt kosher implies a stricter standard of cutting kosher meat as per about.com:  it must come from a kosher animal and be slaughtered in a kosher way. For meat to be glatt kosher, in addition to the two above conditions, the meat must also come from an animal with adhesion-free or smooth lungs. Overall I think this is a great place to go if you’re craving burgers and want to try something new.

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 Burger.org Website

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Bakhtar Halal Kababs (Queens)

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

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Positive: Best Chicken and Beef Kofta Kababs I’ve ever had at a reasonable price.  

Negative: Casual seating and environ. Can become very busy on weekend nights.

Overall: If you want to try the most excellent Afghani food, hands down, you have to eat here.  

Revisit:  YES!  I already visit this place every time I am in the area.

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Want high quality afghani food and don’t care about location or ambiance?

Go to Bakhtar Kabab in Fresh Meadows, NY. They have the best Chicken and Beef Kofta Kababs I have ever had, hands down. Even their rice and their white yogurt sauce are delicious. I don’t go to any other Afghan restaurant anymore because every time I have tried another place, they can never compare to Bakhtar. In addition, the price is a super deal - for $8.00 you get two skewers of kababs, rice, and salad. No place beats that!

In addiiton to these kababs, their lamb chops and burgers are decent as well. This is a great place to go to with family and friends if you want good food that is very reasonably priced in a casual environment. There is a lot of seating available and they have a few televisions that are hooked to Pakistani channels. The restaurant is located across from an Indian movie theater, so it is very busy on weekend nights but you can always find a seat as they have a lot of seating available. This restaurant is one of my favorite restaurants so definitely try it when you’re in the area.

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Related articles

• Kabab Paradise (Central & Northern NJ) (halalfoodcritic.wordpress.com)
• Philly Bistro (Philadelphia, PA) (halalfoodcritic.wordpress.com)
• Al Basha (Northern NJ) (halalfoodcritic.wordpress.com)

Di Fara Pizza (Brooklyn)

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

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Positive: The BEST PIZZA I HAVE EVER EATEN.

Negative: Small, hole in the wall place without adequate seating and VERY SLOW service

Overall: If you want to eat Excellent Pizza but don’t mind the wait or standing then this is the place to try.

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Are you a pizza junkie? Are you willing to go from place to place to find the best pizza in New York?

If yes then you’ll have to go to Brooklyn to try out Di Fara’s. You have to make sure that you get there atleast a hour before you plan on eating because all the details of making pizza are done right in front of you from scratch by Dom DeMarco himself. (and if you only want just a slice then just pray he has time to make an extra pie between all his other orders) The pizza is made with a special sauce which is absolutely delicious and very different from any other pizza sauce I have eaten. Another unique aspect of the way this pizza is made is that Dom puts freshly grated Romano cheese on it right after taking it out of the oven. He also adds olive oil and fresh cut Basil which he allows to sit and absorb before giving you it to eat. Besides the aroma of the pizza, just as i put the pizza slice in my mouth I knew that it would be one of the best pizza Ive ever eaten.

The taste of the sauce and the cheese combination with olive oil and basil was just perfect. I know that I would be back here every time I am in Brooklyn looking for great NY style pizza . You can tell from his various acolades at the store that he really is very highly rated in the New York. It is a bit on the pricy side; who really wants to give five dollars for slice of pizza when you can get one alot cheaper. Bit I think it’s definitely worth it. You can not compare every day pizza to this fresh and good tasting pizza. The place is definitely cramped for how popular this place is.  However its just like any typical pizza joint with some seating. Overall its definitely worth trying if you are a Pizza fan!

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 Di Fara’s Pizza Website

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