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)
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• Doner Kebab – Turkey (beatcancer2010.wordpress.com)

Shawarma King (Brookline, MA)

Rating:

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

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Positive: The Shawarma is very well wrapped with the pita toasted to perfection.  Great reviews on Zabihah.com as well.

Negative: Meat quality is sub par and food taste cannot compare with places in New Jersey, New York, or Virginia.

Overall: If you are really craving meat and/or shawarma then give it a go.  Otherwise I’d look somewhere else.

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want to have some good shawarma in boston, don’t go to this king!

While visiting Boston for a few days I quickly realized that being on a vegetarian diet could make a meat eater go crazy.    So I looked up a Halal restaurant on Zabihah.com and saw that Shawarma King was rated high with the most reviews (which are the two things I would recommend looking for when using that website).  I did the obvious and headed over to Shawarma King, located in Brookline.  I was actually pretty excited to eat at the restaurant after reading many of the great reviews.

My family ended up getting a Chicken Shawarma, Spicy Chicken Shawarma, and Falafel.  First the nice thing, the food was wrapped very tightly, neatly, and the bread was toasted to perfection. It made a big difference when eating food that is normally pretty messy. However, that is where the good parts of the restaurant ended.  I was not very impressed with the food. The falafel was not freshly made and did not have any taste at all. The shawarma meat lacked flavor as well. The spicy shawarma was a bit better because of the added tabasco sauce.

Overall, the food was not anything special. Despite all the good reviews, I was very disappointed and wished that I had tried another halal restaurant instead.

(from sameerseats.com):

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Saad’s Halal Restaurant (Philadelphia)

REVIEW FROM 11/26/2010: 

Rating:

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

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Positive: High quality, flavor-full meals served the “maroosh way”.

Negative: The surrounding area may seem somewhat run down if you are not from Philly.  The owner is very busy and therefore may seem to be a bit unfriendly on some days.

Overall: Excellent, Flavorful Middle Eastern and American dishes for which you would want to come back every time  you visit Philly or go to school in the surrounding area.

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There is a reason why saad’s is highly rated!

After researching restaurants on Yelp I was surprised to find that Saad’s was one of the top restaurants in Philly, it being Halal and all.  First time I made it out there it was closed (since it was Sunday).  Second time I made it out there it was closed because it was Ramadhan.  The third time I made sure I verified the day, time, month and the restaurant’s timings before going.   Finally, third time was a charm and I got a chance to experience Saad’s food first hand.  The wait was definitely worth it!

Every time I have been to Saad’s it is fairly busy.   Sometimes you have to wait a good amount of time to find seating, and other times you just get lucky.  The owner, Saad, is very busy managing everything and does not pay attention to your questions or concerns.  I don’t blame him though, he’s a busy guy.

My family had the Chicken Falafel and various platters and sandwiches “the Maroosh way” (ie. with a soft roll rather than pita) when going to Saads.  The Chicken Falafel and Chicken Maroosh are unique and definitely worth having. I haven’t tried their american dishes but I have a feeling they will be equally excellent.  The food is very tasty and mouth-watering. It makes you happy that food like this is available for you to enjoy.

The surrounding area is somewhat run down if you turn into an adjacent street.  But that shouldn’t shy you away from visiting Saad’s.  The street on which Saad’s is located is well lit, close to University of Pennsylvania and Drexel, and usually has some sort of traffic.  Across from Saad’s is a Masjid as well.

I have gone to Saad’s a few times and plan on going every time I visit Philly (as long as the time is right, sun is aligned in the right direction, and Saad’s is actually open!).  Joking aside, its a great place and I don’t have to say anything for you to believe it.  Check out reviews on Yelp and eat for yourself.

UPDATED 8/20/2011:  (from sameerseats.com)

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Saad’s Halal Restaurant 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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