Cafe Elena

Cafe Elena fulfills its duties as a workday lunch spot - Review - San Francisco - The Infatuation

"Cafe Elena inside the Plates food court near the Embarcadero is a fine lunch option for Downtown workers. The Mediterranean food stall serves dishes that are as memorable as your Clipper card balance, but when it comes to a workday lunch—especially one that’s served quickly and with friendly service—it gets the job done and is an easy add to the weekly rotation. Stick to the plates over the wraps, which tend to be dry. And if you see the maklouba and watermelon juice listed as the day’s specials, they supersede everything else. Before finding your seat (there are always plenty), quickly scour the pastry case and grab one of their housemade Dubai chocolate bars. Food Rundown Maklouba Our favorite dish, and thankfully a special that seems to make a regular appearance on the menu. The chunks of chicken are moist and sit on a huge mound of rice and potato medallions that are happy to soak up the generous scoop of tzatziki. photo credit: Patrick Wong Falafel Wrap The falafel is dry, and the lavash requires a few sips of water to go down. We’d skip this. photo credit: Patrick Wong Shawarma Plate If the maklouba isn’t available, this is our fall-back. The tahini is the focal point of the plate. We like to add it in with the hummus and slick each piece of chicken with the mixture before wrapping it in a bit of the accompanying pita. photo credit: Patrick Wong Mudjaddarah Plate Decent. Like the wraps, it’s dry, but the side of Mediterranean salad adds some much-needed moisture. Dubai Chocolate Bar We love this rendition of this viral candy because it’s a lot less sweet than many others we’ve had in the city. We also appreciate that the bar is about 80% pistachio cream-laden knafeh. photo credit: Patrick Wong" - Patrick Wong