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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S&H Kebab House (Philadelphia)

Rating:

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

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Positive: Excellent Black Angus Steak with excellent ambiance in a great location.  Turkish tea and Baklava are delicious.

Negative:  Turkish food is average in quality and they serve grocery store quality pita bread rather than fresh Turkish bread.

Overall: Great place to go with family and friends, especially if you like steaks and appreciate great service and ambiance. 

Revisit:  Will definitely revisit them, especially when family and friends come to the Philadelphia area.

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Looking for halal steaks in philly?

I have had the chance to visit S&H Kabab house a number of times for dinner and lunch.  It is located on Pasayunk Road close to the busy South Street area by Penns Landing in Philadelphia.  This is a nicely decorated Turkish restaurant with great ambiance and good quality food. Not to mention their great service from kind staff.  They have black Angus steaks which are unheard of in the Halal food realm.  The steaks offered include New York strip steak, Filet Mignon, and the T bone steak.  I get them medium rare and find them to be very succulent and delicious every time I eat there. They are probably one of the best steaks I have ever eaten; I have yet to try Cairo Steakhouse on Steinway street in Queens, NY though.

The Turkish food is also good in quality but not as good as other Turkish restaurants I have eaten at in New York City.  It is probably somewhat better than Sahara Restaurant and Efes in New Brunswick, NJ. Their doner kebab and chicken sheesh kabab (which is very tender unlike what you find at other restaurants) are probably the best Turkish dishes they offer, but you can try their mixed platter which gives a huge helping of all their Turkish meats. Their portion sizes are good but the amount of rice they give is usually not enough for me.  I also tried their Turkish tea as I saw most customers drinking it and although I find Turkish tea to be too strong for me, I enjoyed their tea. Their home-made baklava is very delicious as well and tastes very fresh.  One problem is that their Pita bread is the frozen ones you can find at grocery stores.  However, their hummus makes up for it and is a great appetizer.

In addition to the restaurant decor, service, and high quality food, the owner is very friendly and came to check on us while we ate.  He also allowed me to pray at their restaurant in the back where they usually have their Hookah Lounge.  Another time I went, though, the owner was not there and the workers did not allow me to pray in the restaurant as it was raining and the Hookah Lounge is located outside in the back.
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S&H KEBAB HOUSE WEBSITE

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Related articles

• Al Basha (Northern NJ) (halalfoodcritic.wordpress.com)
• Bakhtar Halal Kababs (Queens) (halalfoodcritic.wordpress.com)
• Doner Kebab – Turkey (beatcancer2010.wordpress.com)

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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Istanbul Kebab House (Levittown, Pennsylvania)

Rating: 

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

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Positive: Great price for good quality turkish cuisine.

Negative: The environment and location is less than ideal.

Overall: Good quality Turkish food at an affordable price especially if you live in this area where halal food restaurants are relatively scarce.

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A Turkish restaurant with good quality food at an affordable price?  un-heard of!?  not anymore

The Istanbul Kebab House is located on route 13 in Levittown,
Pennsylvania in a very small strip mall.  The outside of this restaurant is mediocre and typical of what you would see at most strip malls. Upon entering we saw that there were multiple round tables with comfortable seating and mirrors along the walls with a slight rundown feel. There was a Turkish channel being played on a large screen TV and there was a makeshift desk with a cash register on it towards the back of the store. There was also a door in the back of the store which led to two bathrooms which were very clean.  Overall the restaurant was clean and the waitress seemed nice and helped answer questions when asked.

The menu was typical of what you would find at a Turkish restaurant including the well-known doner and adana kababs as well as hummus and their various appetizers and tavaku dishes. They have a very good lunch special which included two appetizers and a half entree which was more than enough to fill one person and take home for another meal. Their soup was mediocre.  Their cheese filled appetizer tasted unique and good. Their bread was tasty although not the typical Turkish bread you find at these restaurants. The hummus was cold but tasted pretty good. The Adana kabab tasted delicious and had all the right mix of spices and herbs. The Doner kabab had a subtle lamb taste and was not marinated well.  I think this place is one of only a few halal restaurants in this city  and probably average in terms of its quality of food and restaurant makeup. I recommend going to this restaurant for lunch when you are in the mood for Turkish cuisine at the right price.

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Istanbul Kebab House Website

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