Amena Mediterranean Café & Bakery
Lamb and Beef Gyro with Yogurt Sauce
Veggie Combo – Falafel, Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Tabbuleh, Dolmades, Greek Salad
House Made Warm Pita
Kunaffe with Cheese
Baklava
Date Cookie
Walnut Cookie
Chocolate Quickers
Tucked away in a shopping plaza on South Decatur Boulevard, Amena Mediterranean Café & Bakery focuses on Mediterranean Food “cooked with love,” and although the restaurant, bakery and specialty goods store may not appear to be much from the outside those venturing through the doors are in for something quite special served by a team that really does seem to pour a lot of passion into what they do.
Owned and operated by Amer Hamed, the native Nazarene originally looking to fill a niche based on the foods of his homeland and a focus on Halal Meats and dietary traditions, entrance to Amena Café is much like many other similar styled eateries with a counter to the right and tables spread leftward, patrons eyes diverted to a pictorial menu board hanging overhead without prices while both laminated and carryout menus tell the full story with costs very affordable.
Just under a quarter filled during the early lunch hour, many of those present speaking in Hebrew clearly regulars, it was with warm greetings from one of two women that patrons were greeted and after a quick perusal of the options the decision to invest in the “Veggie Combo” and Gyro proved a great way to take a wide look at the options with six styles of Mezze plus the Sandwich and warm Pita making for a fairly substantial meal.
Offering take-out and catering, in addition to table service, it was with the kitchen slightly backed up by a few large orders that perhaps a dozen minutes passed listening to the ethnic music above, and although the warm water with Lemon had a slightly ‘off’ taste in desperate need of softening the food itself showed no signs of compromise, first bites of the Chickpea Croquettes showing a golden shell give way to pillowy insides nicely tinged with Salt, the tiny Dolmades amongst the very best of the genre without overwhelming bitterness from the Grape Leaf while Salads were merely decent, though Tabbuleh has admittedly never been a dish that I’ve enjoyed much.
Spreading both the creamy Hummus and smoky Eggplant puree on warm Pita and briefly pondering whether better versions of either can be found in Sin City, first bites of the Gyro showed signs of a kitchen willing to let the richness of Lamb shine despite the addition of Cucumbers, Tomatoes and tangy Yogurt dressing, the $8.99 pocket probably big enough to be shared by most diners, though it also holds up well for leftovers to be enjoyed later.
A bit more spendy on sweets than savories, cookies and baklava ranging $2.00-3.50 each with all pleasant enough, though none prone to wow when compared to others in the city, a better investment is found in the $9.99 Kunaffe with Cheese, a Honey soaked take on Palestinian Kanafah with soft white Cheese cooked stretchy beneath crumbled Pistachios and Semolina threads that is as rich as it is delicious and also still great when reheated.
THREE AND A HALF STARS: Obviously investing a lot of time and effort into the concept while carving out a niche that has been widely embraced by descendants of Israel and other nearby lands, Amena Mediterranean Café & Bakery is a great place for lunch where one can eat as healthy or heavily as they choose to, some items better than others but all-in-all certainly a good choice for the genre and area.
RECOMMENDED: Falafel, Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Pita, Kunaffe.
AVOID: Water, Walnut Cookies, Tabbuleh.
TIP: Kunaffe is available in several sizes, call to inquire about this and catering options which seemed quite popular.
WHAT THE STARS MEAN: 5 World Class, 4 Excellent, 3 Good, 2 Fair, 1 Poor.
http://www.amenacafe.com/
