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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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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