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Category: Mediterranean
103 Bellevue Way NEMon-Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Mon-Sat. 4:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Sun. 4:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
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Tips for eating here:
1] Don't order appetizers. With the entree plates being so HUGE
you're wasting your money.
2] People are right, don't sit by the door unless you want people
waiting for a table lurking over you.
3] If you don't like garlic, this is not the place for you.
4] Don't make lunch plans for the following day.
You'll be eating the leftovers.
What could they do to make it a better experience? Move to a larger location. It feels cramped in there.
Wow.
So good.
Simple as that.
Huge portions of food. And this is coming from a foodie, I couldn't even finish my plates.
In 3 weeks, I've been here twice now.
It's definitely hidden, and I'm amazed that I've only recently heard about it! Located next to HairMasters on Bellevue Way, left side if going north, next to Orexi Greek.
I highly recommend the:
Spinakopita (excellent appetizer)
Chicken Shawarma
Beef Kabob
Iced Mint Tea
Dinner for two + bottle of wine: $75
Minus 1 star for decor. It's Bellevue, if you're going to charge $15.95 for a plate - granted the portions are very generous and you receive complimentary bread with their house garlic sauce, the decor needs updating, and a good cleaning.
Just be careful, you will REEK of garlic afterwards! My buddy and I wandered over to the 520 Grill for drinks and people commented. Ha!
Ordered:
Sweetened Iced Mint Tea
Hot Mint Tea
Best garlicy food ever! The daily soup is always served with your meal and its real good! We always get the farmers meal, lemon garlic chicken with rice and humus, sharable for two. The kibby appetizer is a favorite too, little lamb meat pockets served on top of garlic yogurt is ideal for dipping your pita. Getting one meal and sharing between two is always enough food but they sometimes charge a split plate fee, depending on how friendly your waiter is.
Note: if you get food to go they sometimes give you salad instead of soup with your meal and they will only give you one portion of soup/salad per entree, like one person is going to eat all that food?!
*Ring ring...ring ring*
"Hello?"
"Hi, Hot date? It's me, Grace. I know we were supposed to have a hot date tonight, with a high possibility of making out and debauchery, but you see, I ate at the Mediterranean Kitchen today and my body is seeping garlic. Perhaps we can reschedule? I will get drunk and make it up to you....."
These people are NOT lying on here when they say the garlic dip is GARLIC with a side of freakin GARLIC. Its delicious though, so please, don't let this forewarning keep you from running a train on it like I did.
I ordered the Lamb Shawarma and my lunch buddy ordered the Lamb Kabob. When they set the plate down, he said proudly, "I can eat all of this, watch me."
And so I did.
And so he consumed.
And I was in awe. Kind of like when you challenge someone to eat the 12lb burrito, or drink a whole gallon of milk in one sitting - AWE.
I'm sure everyone in the office hates me and my stank ass breath right now, but I don't care, this place is freakin delicious and I'm in love.
I moved from Midwest and once you've eaten at Lashish, the bar is raised quite high. The portions are big but bland. I'm still searching for good Mediterranean food, have tried Byblos Deli and IFC and found them better than this place.
Very Yummy, humongous portions food. Have dined here off and on for the last 10+ years, and have never had a bad meal. These guys are the best.
We no longer live in the state, but whenever we visit we will always try to make time to stop by for a meal.
I ventured into this place during the height of the lunchtime rush so it was packed, always a good sign. Immediately upon being seated I was presented wtih a nice bowl of lentil soup, warm pita with this garlicky dipping sauce. Very nice on a cold and rainy day! The portions here are almost garganutan even for me!! I saw several groups of three people sharing two entrees. My entree was the combo which featured chicken, lamb and Kefta over a freaking mountain of rice and a scoop of hummus. I will be eating my leftovers for at least two meals which makes the over price of the place very reasonable $12.95 for my entree. The service was very friendly and still attentive despite they were packed.
"Oh my god!"
That is what your FACE is going to say when they finally bring your order.
"We're gonna need a bigger stomach".
That's what your BODY is going to say once you start chowing down ;D
Heed my words. As you slip into food coma bliss, you'll hear me whispering "I told you so" :D
I'd give it a 5... yes I would if I could try more things and I wish the place was a little bigger.
This is a mediterranean/lebanese joint off to the side from Bellevue Square... a couple blocks down. Seating for 30?
We got the Lamb Shawarma and the Farmer's Dish. Let me tell you one thing: unless you can eat 4 bigmacs and 2 orders of fries, you will likely not finish an entree here. The portions are ginormous! The lentil soup and pita bread with garlic/olive oil/mystery dip were great.
Only problem is the place is busy and small, so therefore you will wait in line. The good thing is they take your cell # down and will call you when a table is available.
Overall, good food, generous portions and great value.
I have been going to this place for many years. Love the chicken shawarma and tabouli. the owner has also opened a place in Kirkland. The food is the same in the new location as well. The portions are good, I can never finish it.
The owner is very nice and really cares about what you think. I would recommend it.
I'm sorry I'm sorry. I know I said I would go back and try more dishes, but I didn't. :( They did have a different soup yesterday--red lentil, and I liked it (a little sweet--yum!). Otherwise, we got the same chicken dish. The dipping sauce for the bread is either better or my tastebuds now like it. But, I did like dipping the bread into the soup, too.
Still big portions, but this time when we split the dish, there was no charge, just a higher cost for the salads (we got 2). So, it worked out to the same price, but the bill looked different.
GREAT service last night. We went hoping for A/C, and there was some, but it was still warm (especially because of the hot food--silly choice on our part).
Yummy! I would like to go back and see about getting something else next time. My b/f has been… Read more »
Been going here for years. I love this place. Take note though, every dish is packed with garlic and then some more garlic. The dipping sauce they serve with pita bread is so unique and awesome. I always get the same thing Chicken, rice and hummus. There is a name for it I just don't know it. Lentil soup is really good on a cold day.
Gaaaaaarlic.
You get a lot of food here. It's a little pricier than Gyros2Go, for instance, but you get a lot of food and a bit better seating. So, a much better date/sometimes food location.
You do need to be careful, as it's really garlic-filled. Your whole fridge will stink of it afterwards.
As good as it was, I'd rather do Gyros2Go for an every day/carryout meal.
took my gf here while she gets her car fixed at the fancy shumancy Barrier Volvo, got a seat right away on a saturday afternoon (2ish) which is probably the best time to arrive for a table on a saturday...took a previous advice about not sitting near the door and was very glad.
I gotta be honest, the food was good (we got the first chicken item on the menu..forgot name)...and how awesome was the pita bread with garlic dipping sauce?! however, everything started tasting like lemon, garlic and cilantro near the end...next time I think i will ask for hummus on the side...and try the kabob instead of chicken
I was disappointed by this place after reading all the great Yelp reviews. My companion & I split the grape leaves and the chicken schwarma and found both dishes pretty bad. The grape leaves had obviously been nuked in the microwave (and for too long), leaving them piping hot but mushy. They were also so sour that neither of us could eat more than one. The chicken tasted better as it had a nice smoky grill flavor but it was also extremely dry.
Portions are ridiculously large and there was no way we could finish what we ordered. After the lackluster showing of the appetizer and entree, we had no desire to try their desserts. Won't be back!
Tonight I sent my husband out to get some dinner at Mediterranean Kitchen, chicken schwarma, stuffed grape leaves and hummus.
First, why does everything taste the same??
I did not know that stuffed grape leaves were supposed to be stuffed with Congee!?!? They were WAY overcooked and really bad!
The chicken schwarma had actual cores of cabbage in it. Does the prep cook not know how to core a cabbage??!?!?!
The hummus is good, but we paid 52.00 and it's the only thing I don't regret having tonight.
Eating the meal felt like eating at a Mediterranean Denny's, but bigger portions. No love.
I think this will be my last time going..
The service is always great and the portions are enough to feed 3. They usually serve a lentil soup and pita with garlic dip shortly after you're seated. I'm not usually a big fan of either one, but I have to say, my bf loves the garlic dip. Just be warned, the dip makes anyone instantly unkissable. The shawarma is the real reason to come here, or the lamb shanks...I'm getting hungry thinking about it.
This was our second visit and it wont be our last! The lentil soup and garlic dipping sauce that comes out before you have have a chance to take your jacket off is fantastic! Very attentive service - I love the small somewhat noisy atmosphere of this place. The Falafel is amazing, the sauces they use are so good and the hummus, well.....I did everything on my plate in it! Be prepared to leave with take home, the portions are huge. Also, be prepared to brush your teeth several times before bed, the garlic is thick and stays with you all night (but so worth it). Great Baklava too!
I have eaten here and in their Queen Anne restaurant for over 10 years. The food is amazing and the owners and staff are fantastic people. For my last meal on Earth, I would head here. The Dajaj Mishwi is amazing. In fact, I'm heading over this week. Their wine list is pretty good too.
Great Mediterranean comfort food but be warned the portions are huge!
Went there last night. Got the Algerian chicken. Result - throwing up all night long and having terrible stomack pain. I think the oil was old because the meal had very strong oily smell. don't think will go there anymore.
Delicious food! I'm flaberghasted at Susan H's comment that it's not authentic and to try Omar Al Khayyam. O.A.K is it pits! If that's what she thinks is authentic fine, she can have it but I will stick with scrumptious chicken shish tawook and my favorite salmon SAMAKI HARRAH from the most charming restauranteur Bassam, who coincidentally is from LEBANON so wouldn't that by default make his food authentic Lebanese? Sheesh.
Anyhow, as the more clear thinking reviewer have noted, the lentil soup is amazing as well as the hummus. I am sorry to trash O.A.K, but just wanted to offer perspective.
Lunch with Mr. and fantastic server Patrick.
Me: I get there 1st (I am the smarter driver, parker & finder of spot, OH, and orderer, I know my Mr. and order what he wants)
The good thing about getting there 1st is I GET TO SELECT THE APPETIZER!!
Starter/Appetizer: Zarah.. fried cauliflower with a beautiful garlic sauce and fresh sweet basil leaves and veggie garnish.
Mr: Farmers Dish: Wings, marinated and charbroiled with fab garlic sauce.
Me: Lamb Kabob.
You get warm pita bread and delcious garlic dipping sauce and warm red lentil soup.
ItWasSoWonderfulMyHusbandThatCallsMePegWantsToDriv eFromKentToBellevueANYTIMEwe HaveExtraCashToSpendToEaThereWeBothLovedIt!!!
Great lentil soup and pita bread with dip comes before every meal. As others have written, split your entree with your dinner partner. The food is more than enough for two people. And we wonder why Americans have an obesity problem...Seriously, the main entrees are HUGE! They charge $4.95 to split an entree, but that includes a huge salad to share. The sharwamas are really yummy. The seafood dish...meh...
We were seated outside and a car horn was going off--forever. (We didn't complain as what can a person do?) One of the waiters found the car and pulled the fuse. Now that's service.
Friends took me here for dinner. They did all the ordering. The food was incredible! Lentil soup & pitas and garlic dip, a vegetable platter appetizer with several scrumptious dipping sauces, and a HUGE plate of saffron rice (?) chicken, beef, and lamb. I have never liked lamb, but this was amazing! Dessert was yummy non-honey baklava and Turkish coffee (of which I had two!). This place is a dream, I can't wait to go back!
Plus the company I had was fantastic!
A brilliant place to get your Mediterranean fix.
The food was excellent, and the portions were huge. They use a few authentic vegetables in their salads. The falafel is easily some of the best I've had, and their beef kabob is tender, juicy and flavorful. The lentil soup is also hearty and a great compliment to their dinners.
Service is quick, friendly and very attentive. They don't allow your water to go unfilled for more than a couple of minutes, which is always the test of a good wait staff.
I sat outside for my first visit, as it was just dying hot inside. My only gripe is that they don't have air conditioning, so that's something to keep in mind when it's 85 degrees outside.
I'm definitely a fan and will come back.
Exceptional food, but a tad too garlicy.
Get the Combo Sharma platter if you are a first timer. Also, the combo salad appetizer is aweome. Califlower is delicious.
Hahahaha you jokers! Can't figure out why this place is SO popular? BECAUSE ITS BOMB.COM BABY!!! And I'm a t-o-t-a-l snob, Mediterranean food or otherwise, I am one hard woman to please.
Don't believe me? Show me a better place within a 20 mile radius of Seattle.
Met Kitchen, I love you forever!!!
I don't get the silly recent reviews.... you are far better than that!
OMG.
They are opening a location within 2 miles of my house.
If you don't hear from me in the next few…
Read more »
I try to be a tough grader. I think, "it could (always) be better." But then, let's be real. This is Lebanese food in a strip mall in Bellevue, WA. Could I want more from this? Not really. In fact, this is really, really good, and I WILL go back.
We stopped in based on all the Yelp raves after an errand at the Apple store down the block. It was 9:10 on a Wednesday, place closing in 20 minutes, and all seats full: probably a good sign. A table turned quickly, and we were presented with a complementary soup bursting with cumin-y goodness. We ordered a fatoush salad and a lamb shawarma. I'll admit that I was pretty skeptical -- ok, annoyed -- at thinking that anyone could charge ~$15 for a fatoush and ~$18 for a shawarma (~$18). Street food, people! What are you thinking?
Look, it's worth it. J is from Detroit, where Arabic food is as common as Tex-Mex in the rest of the country. She knows her Middle Eastern comfort food. This stuff represents. Tangy, garlic-y, creamy, rice; colorful radishes with lamb slices.. The salad was fresh and appropriately vinegary. We walked out with two full stomachs and two full takeout containers (which I ate today for lunch even though I knew I'd wind up feeling like exploding afterward - the things we do for love).
So, yeah, it's a five. Only complaint I can muster is the pricing, and if you look at this as two or three meals worth of food, which it is, then even that objection is overcome. Go there.
The dish portion is big and fair priced.
The dishes are tasty but the vinegar flavor a little bit too much for me. I have a "MSG after taste" after the meal.
The chicken dish was made with chicken breast and it is a bit dry. However, the beef dish is excellent (minute the after taste).
The complementary soup and hummus are great.
I will still revisit this restaurant some other days with new friends.
Always willing to hunt for good eats, based on the great reviews. Didn't know what to order so just read the newspaper reviews posted on the outside, so Chicken Shawarma away we go!
First off the portion was huge and more than enough for two.
The Chicken Shawarma itself was dry and tasted garlicky and vinegary.
The Flat Bread is the kind you buy from the grocery store, not made fresh.
The hummus itself was unlike any regular hummus, I thought it was balsamic vinegar or olive oil mixed with plastic tub hummus?
The lentil soup was very sour and couldn't eat more than a spoonful.
Wanted to try the Lamb Couscous, but the waiter recommended the Chicken Shawarma!
my favorite place on the east side. Anytime i have to take people out for lunch on the Eastside I take them to this place. I have experienced most items on the menu and have always been delightfully pleased.
Portions are huge so you can always split a dish.
I am glad they made some changes to the draperies here. New ones are dust and grime free. The food comes out hot good portions. Chicken is marinated and tender, kebabs are less sour than most other items on the menu. Hot cup of lentil type soup is served in the beginning. I am not a big fan of garlic lemon dip served with pita...garlic stayed longer than I wanted. The service is alright. The prices are reasonable, wish they had some fresh baked breads or veggies to go with the entrees since everything comes with a lot of rice.
Five stars all the way!
Gorge yourself on unlimited pitas (served pleasantly warm, of course). They will appear on your table almost immediately, along with a yummy garlic dip. Next comes a bowl of DELICIOUS lentil soup. Relax, as your water and pop glasses are compulsively refilled by roving wait staff. (Wonderful, especially after a day spent in the hot sun!)
Don't be TOO embarassed if you're already full when the main course arrives. The waiters are used to boxing-up peoples' food, especially since the portions are about TWICE AS LARGE as merely 'generous'.
I don't know about the food's authenticity and all that, but it is high quality and tasty. That's what counts to me, anyway. Dinner entrees range from $15-$20, including soup and pitas. Not a bad deal, for what you get.
But wait! Lunch prices are about five dollars lower, all for the same portions. UNBELIEVEABLE!
Get here for lunch on a weekday before about 12:15pm, when the business crowd arrives. You'll have the place almost to yourself with no parking worries. Come EARLY. Ditto for dinner. (Yeah. It's true that parking and waits can be a problem during peak mealtime hours. Believe me. It's worth the hassle.)
*Went back and gotta say, it's like I dropped a hit of food E and partied my mouth's ass of in Ibiza
*This place is the real deal
*I tried their triple threat kabob-age plate, booya!
*The garlic vinegar…
Read more »
4.5
Lamb shwerma dinner was magical, mmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!
By far not your atypical shwerma, this is a quaint Med spot with dishes that wake you up and then knock you out with a food coma. My new Bellevue spot, when i am forced to spend time in the Bell. Service is great and parking is easy.
Once again, Yelp hits it out of the park! Yeah baby, *THAT'S* what I'm talking about!
So, it's Saturday afternoon and we're thinking about dinner. Not dinner at any of our usual places, but something different. And good. So, we spark up the Apple, Firefox our way over to Yelp, and start looking. A few searches, sorts and screens later, we settled on trying Mediterranean Kitchen. After a brief phone call to secure a table and a delousing shower, we were off in eager anticipation of delicious Mediterranean fare.
First thing we noticed was that parking was at a premium. Fortunately for us, some recently sated diners were exiting, food cartons in-hand, leaving us a primo spot right in the front - a Good Sign. We entered MK and saw that it was less than half full. Our reservation was checked, and were were shown to a table for four in the corner, handed menus, and immediately presented with this lentil (and cinammon?) soup, with pitas and some garlic dipping sauce. Mmmmm.... Double Mmmmm... Good Stuff.
After this good start, we sat back to soak up the aura of the place. Travel posters of Lebanon. Fake wooden paneling. Some funky middle-eastern music. I liked it immediately. We looked around and noticed that each and every order coming out of the kitchen was huge - more food than a middle eastern family eats in a week...so we passed on the appetizers. Blushing Bride ordered the chicken shawarma, I ordered the lamb shwarma, and our guests split an order of lover's sydon prawns.
At this point, we noticed that the place was now full and there were several people milling about outside, waiting to enter - another Good Sign. We did notice that the clientele represented a greater variety of locations than your typical Bellevue eatery - ethnically diverse if you will, and nice to see on the Eastside. Perhaps if we had more/better places and fewer Red Cheesecake Robin Factories...
The food arrived and, as expected, was more than we could eat in several sittings. Some of the earlier reviewers commented about the fact that this food isn't authentic in their eyes - too much lemon, garlic and olive oil. Well, I don't care if they boil up Nutria and serve it up on a plate of cardboard - if it tasted this good, I'd be there at least once a month! My food was delicious, I liked it, and that's that. BB thought her chicken was a bit rich, but she normally exists on a near vegetarian light diet, so I can see how this would be a bit rich for her. Needless to say, we had plenty for lunch the next day. Our dining companions devoured their Sydon prawns, and commented on how delicious they were (they generously shared one, and it was that good).
Again, thanks to earlier Yelp reviewers, we ordered Turkish coffee and baklava. Excellent - and a wonderful end to a great dining experience. Total bill for four people, a bottle of some Australian Syrah, dinner, dessert and tip came to about a buck forty. Not too bad at all. Plus, lunch the next day!
Will we be back? Hell yes. And, I hope lots of you Yelpers read those negative reviews below and free up parking and tables for us.
I came here while visiting at the urging of a friend, who insisted that this place was the best in town. I guess he told half of the city the same thing too, cause this place was PACKED. We arrived at 7ish and ended up waiting about half an hour for a table.
The restaurant is fairly small, seating maybe 20 - 30 at most. I thought this was because they were new, but they have Zagat ratings for at least 5 or 6 years! I guess they keep the size small in order to make it seem like the place is packed and bustling. Good work MK.
Anyway, onto the important part - the food! They have a limited selection, but each item we ordered was scrumptious, savory and absolutely heaping in portion. I think a limited - yet - awesome menu is better than places that have 100 items including stuff that should NEVER be on their menu (a "kim chee" burger at a mexican restaurant that shall not be named comes to mind... seriously WTF?). I ordered the chef's special with beef and it was amazing. Even their rice is ridiculous - I don't know what they do to it, but just a forkful of rice is tasty enough to stand alone.
That night, it was cold and we were standing outside for most of the half-hour wait. Bonus points for having a heat lamp (that scalded my head.. geez that thing was strong), but I will refrain from 5 stars because the limited real estate there left me shivering in the freezing night.
A telltale sign to this place's legitimacy and popularity is the fact that directly across the street was a completely empty mediterranean restaurant that was twice this size. ha.
I would of given it another star if the waiter didn't front and tell me the rice was saffron rice- it clearly isn't-I know my saffron rice and that rice tasted like chicken broth and butter.
I'm sorry don't lie and call it saffron just cause it's yellow. It doesn't make it saffron guys!
Other than that, the food is good there, the lamb the bf got was really good, cooked well. I love the yogurt, nice and creamy-very good.
The chicken was really good also, very tender-even when I had left overs a few days later. I found that the rice tasted much better when its a few days older ( which is usually not the case with rice)-so I can't get too upset about the use of chicken stock and butter.
Funny thing is I'm quite sure I went to this place like 3 yrs ago with coworkers and had an awful meal- it was when I was a vegetarian, I'm very happy I came back because the food ( if this is the same place, and I'm thinking it is due to the decor & seats) is much much better than I remembered it to be.
I highly recommend this place, even though the rice was not saffron rice.
Many of the appetizers, the rice, the lentil soup and the fool are vegan and very tasty.
I especially love the zarrah (appetizer). you better bring your appetite, because they don't know what small portions are here.
if you love garlic, lemon, and tahini, this is the place for you. YUM!
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