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Yasmen Restaurant and Lounge
Rating Details »
Category: Middle Eastern [Edit]
Neighborhood: Southwest Portland8635 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy
Beaverton, OR 97225
(503) 203-1101
- Hours:
Wed-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 2:30 a.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
9 reviews for Yasmen Restaurant and Lounge
Jesuit High School has long been a bastion of catholic fundamentalism on Beaverton Hillsdale hwy, and if you've ever lived or worked in this culturally backwards community you would not wonder why the school calls itself 'the Crusaders.' One can only imagine how a school associated with a church fraught with child abuse issues has the gall to flaunt another shameful event of its dubious past: namely, the expulsion of Christian mercenaries from the Holy Land.
Enter the beacon of light that is Yasmen, standing defiantly and haughtily across the street from the sterile, junior college wannabe JHS. Walk into this massive space and be transported to a Bedouin camp furnished with carpets, drapery, pillows and hookas. A very congenial young man greeted us and led us to the buffet area where we proceeded to rape and pillage the fancy catering trays. It has been years since we last had a middle eastern buffet to sack--Sinbad located across the street from PCC Sylvania closed years ago and before that another restaurant of similar ilk had been driven from hwy 43 in Lake Oswego. We are happy to report that Yasmen slays them both in quality, $8.75 buffet on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and $9.75 on Friday and Saturdays.
The only downside was having to leave this desert oasis and being forced to look at the eyesore across the street.
Great traditional Middle-eastern atmosphere. We actually sat on pillows around a small table when we went for dinner there. The service was wonderful... the food was Super tasty....and the portions were big.
A little pricy, but worth it.
A really good lunch spot. I went here for the lunch buffet. They had 16 different entrees to choose from and a fairly large salad bar. The entrees were mostly meat but there were some veggie dishes too. I liked the eggplant and also the broccoli potato dishes. The food was all good and the service was great. The cost was 8.75 but you have a lot to choose from. The atmosphere was also good. I'll go back again.
What a delightful surprise! This restaurant may not look like much from the outside, but the inside is filled with charm, ambiance and incredible middle eastern food! The lunch buffet is incredibly diverse and perfectly affordable for a break from the work day. The staff is attentive, and I can't wait to see what the place is like for dinner!
FIVE stars for the BUFFET. they have it at lunch time. . i think 11-2 or so. It was insane. I have been to the restaurant for dinner and would give it three or four stars mostly because it is a little bit expensive for the amount of food you get. BUT, the buffet is worth it AND delicious. If you like middle eastern food you will not be disappointed. for under ten dollars they have more food choices than you can imagine. here is a list of stuff I remember:
hummus, tabouli, cucumber salad, greek style salad, baba ganouche, filafel, fresh pita, rice, some meat/curry dishes, some hot veggie dishes, a soup, roasted chicken, lamb (kafka I think), and more lamb and more chicken and some sort of meat stuffed bread (so good). After i was stuffed to the gills they brought out some fresh fruit:
watermelon, cantelope, madarin oranges, honeydew and some sort of pastry thing (i was too full to try it!).
buffets are often small, and full of low quality food, but this one is not! i am trying to spread the word so that they can keep it going. it is a hidden gem!
also the inside is MUCH nicer than the outside makes it seem.
bring a friend or two and give it a try!!
In search of something new in Beaverton, we decided to give the new Yasmen Restaurant & Lounge a try. The outside of the restaurant is deceiving compared to it's interior...possibly due to the large LOUNGE sign hanging on the outside.
We ordered falafel which tasted like it was warmed in the microwave after being frozen (they told us it was fresh). We then ordered one of their chicken dishes which was way overpriced for the quality- overcooked.
The quality of the food was unimpressive, but the environment is nice. I hear that the weekends here are active- they have belly dancers, hookah services, etc. This would be a good place to go on the weekend with a large group of friends for a night of drinks, hookah and entertainment outside of Portland. But I would not necessarily recommend it if your looking for a nice quality dinner.
I guess I'll be the stick in the mud when it comes to Yasmen.
Yes, the space is really cool looking. It takes up this entire building which used to have a mini-strip mall in it. But the design of the actual restaurant itself is really weird. First, there is a front desk area which, in all my times I have resorted to eating here, I have never seen anyone manning. You have to walk into the restaurant part to get a server to notice you. Then you are seated, but not in this area at all. They take you to the third, further back compartment where there are a ton of plush couches to sit on. The couches are comfortable and nice, yes, but I'm puzzled about why they dedicate half the restaurant to something other than general seating. I've never seen anyone sitting at the black tables except employees on their break. Oh, also in the bar/staff lounge if you use the hookah you can sit in one of these little compartments that have couches as well.
There are flat screen TVs in every room that play arabic language pop videos loudly while you eat. I feel like I'm in some Middle Eastern person's living room, except they've adopted the American tradition of vegging out on the couch watching TV during dinner. The food is painfully average. They are really conservative about the filling of their sandwiches, I'm talking two lettuce leaves maybe 3-4 shreds of shawarma and a LOT of tahini on a huge piece of flatbread. Meh. I've had the aforementioned roasted chicken dish twice and somehow both the chicken and rice inside were dry. The mansaf is better, but it is not served correctly as a communal dish on flatbread and once when my dining partner got it she was confused and thought the yogurt was a standalone soup. Yikes. The meze platter is average as well; it just includes the usual suspects tasting as they usually do. Nothing here tastes better than at other general Mid. Eastern places in Portland.
Another tip, despite the vastness of the space non-smokers will have a hard time when there are a lot of hookahs going, even from across the restaurant.
My husband and I live in SW Portland. You can drive for miles out here and not find a good, cool place to eat. We finally went to Yasmen last night. It's in the spot that used to be Biscuits plus the space next door.
We were blown away. I really felt like we weren't in SW Portland any more. This place is sexy. The first room is the smoking, bar area with a stage and big screen and tables to eat at. There was a beautiful belly dancer dancing. We later found out she was really nice too. We went to the non-smoking section. They have these rather large eating areas with really comfy couches. The decor really makes you feel like you're in the Middle East. I had the drink special which was OK. It was really strong. I had one of the specials, the meza platter (a sampling of 5 appetizers). They really should put a meza platter on the menu. This is what I usually get at Middle Eastern places. They were all good. My husband had the kefta. The kefta was OK. My husband really liked it. I think I may already be addicted to their rice. The hummus is the best I've ever had also. It was very tasty and the best texture of any hummus I've had. The veggies that came with the kefta were amazing. The service was really good. The prices were good. I think this is my new favorite place and it's so close to home. Ooopps I forgot to mention the home made pita. This is a big deal to me. They had good, fresh, hot pita.
I would love to try the flavored tobacco in a hookah but I quit smoking 8 months ago so I'm scared. I have a feeling this place is going to get very popular.
Why this place is not packed every minute of the day is a complete mystery to me!?! I am terrified if I don't get the word out, Yasmin will go out of business like all other restaurants that have occupied this space. The restaurant is huge and the decor has every bit of gorgeous authenticity that one could imagine. We walked in during a weekend day afternoon, purely out of curiosity. I immediately felt terrible that we had two small children in tow. We sat at our low raised table just staring in awe at the decor while the waitress flirted tirelessly with our children. Our toddler ran excitedly around the table, absolutely thrilled he could stand and eat at the table.
The food was unbelievable and even our super picky 3 year old loved the roasted chicken.
My husband and I kept talking about how we must come back but as an adult only date. I can not wait! I want to come back and really let loose with the food ordering, not having to worry about what the kids will eat.
