G I N.
Yelp
2018-04-28 Lebanese Grill, Troy
I've been to the location in Shelby Twp and remember having a monster sized tabbouleh salad that was absolutely delish! We were driving through Troy and were feeling hungry when I spotted the place. Giving into hunger pangs from the kids, I turned in.
A stand alone building with a private parking lot, the place looked much older than the one in Shelby and could definitely use a facelift. Inside, the decor and layout reminded me of La Saj; booths along the perimeter and tables in the center. There is a separate banquet/private party room as well. The place is a decent size, probably appropriate for the amount of traffic they get. The main dining area seats about 70. The banquet room had a private party happening so I don't know that capacity. Dark wooden tables and pleather chairs complete the furniture.
Before I begin, I'd like to note that the Middle East is a vast expanse. Flavours will vary depending on the regional recipe which is subject to availability of spices and ingredients. With Lebanese in the name of their restaurant, you'd expect traditional recipes by which all Middle Eastern dishes are compared, the benchmark so to speak. While seeds are not uncommon, Lebanese flavours typically include olive oil; lemon; garlic; fresh herbs like wild thyme, mint, and parsley; and local spices of sumac, zaatar, and baharat (a "middle east curry" combination of cumin, pepper, paprika, cloves, coriander seeds and cinnamon).
After we were seated they brought us two kinds of pitas; the fresh meatier one, and the thin crispier one. The breads were the store bought type and not fresh baked in house. A huge disappointment for me. 1 star.
The starch was served with spiced oil, but nothing stood out with this infusion (2 stars).
Since we were hungry, we ordered the platter for two with a lentil soup and side salad. The platter for 2 comes with kabobs, Kaftas, and shawarma, both in chicken and beef, atop a bed of rice and dressed with pickled vegetables on the edges.
Salad. Better than most places. 4 stars.
Lentil Soup. IMO they could have cooked the lentils down some more. 2 stars.
Kabobs. We received one each of Chicken and Beef. The flame grill is superior to any other place I've eaten. Superbly charred but not burnt. The chicken is tender and juicy. While there usually not much in terms of flavour, the flavour of the flame grill was good enough for me! it was excellent with the toum and/or tahini. 4 stars. The Beef was slightly on the tough side, but wasn't dried out. Again the flame grill was superior. 3,5 stars.
Shawarma. This also came in both Chicken and Beef. Similar to the kabobs, the chicken was very tender. Spices were used here but the flavours were light. 3 stars. The beef was slightly drier, but I expected this due to the spices used. Like the chicken, the flavours were light. 2,5 stars.
Kafta. Yup, you guessed it, the house combo for two comes with both a beef/lamp kafta and a chicken kafta. The kaftas were both on the smaller side than those of the kafta meals. The kaftas were not as nicely flame grilled as the kabobs, but the beef/lamb kafta was seasoned nicely, and were not dried out. 3,5 stars. The chicken kafta is often a disappointment for me no matter where I have it. Most places use some kind of veggie filler that just doesn't dance well with the ground chicken. With chicken being a much leaner meat, you would think spices are definitely in order to kick it up a notch, but that's usually wishful thinking. While spices were extremely light, they at least didn't laden it with peas or carrots. Better than most places, but still nothing to write home about. 2,5 stars.
Toum. Simply whipped garlic with EVOO and lemon juice, this is something that needs to be made fresh as it will not hold it's consistency and flavour over time, even if kept in a refrigerator. The toum here was pretty good. Not spicy, and the garlic taste was present without being overly dominant. A sign of a good recipe... 4 stars.
Tahini. A condiment made from toasted ground hulled sesame, it's the common condiment to go with grilled meats like kabobs and kaftas. Because it's sesame based, it often finishes with a dryness on the palette. While I'm typically not that big on tahini, I was impressed here. The texture was creamy and they added olives to the mix putting a nice spin on the otherwise typically dry flavour. With the olive (or brine), it did turn the dish a tad salty, but still the best I've had compared to other places. 5 stars from me.
Overall, it was a good experience for me. Would I return? Sure would. The superior flamed grilled flavour and the tahini stand out and are definitely enough to keep me coming back for their kabobs! A solid 3,5 stars overall for the food, rounded down to 3 as their prices are a tad on the high side with most other places.
If you would like to experience more, come dine-with-me.yelp.com I'd love to have your company... Bon Appétit!