The Unvegan

Mantee, not Manatee

December 5th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Yes, I would like meat in my hummos.

When my buddy recommended heading to a place called Mantee in Studio City, I was really excited to eat a sea cow and hoped the manatees were farm-raised (because we all know they are endangered in the wild). But he quickly corrected me, saying that the restaurant was lacking that all-important second “a” and was actually Mediterranean. And one look at the menu showed this was not your typical Mediterranean. There were no schwarma wraps to be seen here and instead items like that were replaced by unique Lebanese, Turkish and Armenian delights. Continue Reading»

No Comments

Armenian, lebanese, Los Angeles, mantee cafe, Mediterranean, Middle-Eastern, restaurants, studio city, Turkish

Steak and Fries at Cayenne

April 26th, 2011 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Get those verts off of me.

On Friday night, I was lucky enough to be invited to an all-expenses-paid dinner courtesy of the Chulews. We headed to a place in a strange part of town that isn’t quite West Hollywood and isn’t quite Beverly Hills called Cayenne Cafe. Not to be confused with the pepper or vehicle, Cayenne was a sort of upscale Middle Eastern restaurant with a side of steakhouse. Being Passover, I was a little bit limited by the menu, because I couldn’t get anything with pita. Fortunately, there was that whole steakhouse thing going on and I could take advantage of that. Continue Reading»

5 Comments

Cayenne Cafe, Los Angeles, meat, Mediterranean, Middle-Eastern, restaurants, steak

Greek Tapas at Mediterraneo

December 23rd, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Hummus and tapas?

While wandering the Hermosa Pier in search for some sort of food to eat, the girlfriend and I discovered a place called Mediterraneo. It seemed like one of the few places on the pier that would be a better restaurant than a bar, so we decided to check it out. While the name implies Greek food, we were surprised to find that this wasn’t some simple gyro and pita place (although that wouldn’t necessarily have been a bad thing). Instead, we found that they were a tapas place that didn’t limit itself to the Spanish style. In addition to Spanish, there was also a nice Greek influence that could be found in menu items like hummus, beets and feta cheese. Continue Reading»

One Comment

Greek, hermosa beach, Los Angeles, Mediterranean, restaurants, spanish, tapas

Lacking Meat at Noosh Deli

September 8th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Three prongs of meat?

In North Hollywood there is a deli unlike any I had ever seen before. Rather than being filled with cold cuts, pastrami or Italian sandwiches, this deli has food with more of a Greek and Armenian flair. It is called Noosh Deli and although not the usual deli, I figured it had to be worth a try. Scanning the menu, I decided any Greek place had to have some good gyros, so I ordered their Beef Gyro Sandwich (with fries and a drink for 6.99). It came with lettuce, tomato, onion and yogurt sauce. I ordered without the veggies and waited 7 or 8 minutes until the sandwich was prepped and ready to go. Continue Reading»

No Comments

Armenian, Delis, Greek, gyros, Los Angeles, meat, Mediterranean, noosh deli, north hollywood, restaurants

Going Mediterranean at Mezza

June 10th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Who thought onions were a good idea?

Since my buddy wanted to eat something healthy (foolish, I know), we thought we would try out some Mediterranean food nearby. Since I’ve already hit up a few of the local places, we looked to Yelp to find something new and discovered a place called Mezza Grill in Culver City. We sat down inside and were greeted by a mildly friendly waitress with bells hanging by her waist that must have some Mediterranean significance. But considering she was blond and likely of some sort of Germanic or Scandinavian descent, the bell thingies came off as somewhat gimmicky. Oh well, gimmick or not, I was ready to eat. Continue Reading»

No Comments

Chicken, Culver City, Los Angeles, Mediterranean, Middle-Eastern, restaurants, schwarma

Further Fusion at Kabob Express

January 25th, 2010 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Not flashy

Joining the flashy and stylish trucks at the Haiti Fundraiser was an old-fashioned looking truck called Kabob Express. Fusion is a pretty big part of these trucks and Kabob Express has embraced that with their Mexi-Terranean fusion. Mexican and Mediterranean food is kind of a fusion match made in food heaven. Schwarma is awesome and that succulent meat can be thrown in pretty much anything to make it taste better. Kabob Express knew that and took advantage of it by offering schwarma in tacos and burritos. Hoping to save room for more food, I ordered myself a Mexi-Terranean taco. Continue Reading»

No Comments

food trucks, fundraiser, haiti earthquake, meat, Mediterranean, mexi-terranean, Mexican, t-lofts, tacos, West LA

Turkish to go at Sofra Kabab Express

December 11th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

No veggies in this doner.

About a year ago, a new Turkish restaurant opened down the street from me in Palms. I was overjoyed at this and especially happy when I saw that they were open late on weekends. Unfortunately, I went pretty soon after they opened and was kind of disappointed with the results. Lucky for them, this was before I started a meat blog, so when I finally got around to paying them another visit recently, it was my first chance to give them an unvegan review. The restaurant is called Sofra Kabab Express and although “express” is typically applied to fast food restaurants in airports, this is nothing like one of those, even encouraging people to hang around and smoke hookah (nargile in Turkish). Continue Reading»

No Comments

Chicken, doner, kabab, Los Angeles, meat, Mediterranean, Middle-Eastern, Palms, restaurants, sandwich, shawarma, Turkish

Road Tripping to the Mad Greek Cafe

November 30th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Maddeningly Greek.

My usual drive to Las Vegas involves getting there as fast as possible to gamble and returning as fast as possible to cry into my pillowcase after losing copious amounts of money. This trip, however, was a bit different. Rather than a rush back home, we took our time and stopped for lunch.

Anyone who has made the drive between Los Angeles and Las Vegas knows of the Mad Greek Cafe. Billboards seem to advertise the “Best Gyro” every few miles, so for our little road trip lunch, we thought a trip to Baker, California and a stop at the Mad Greek Cafe would be worth our while. Continue Reading»

One Comment

Baker, California, Greek, gyros, Las Vegas, Mediterranean, restaurants, road trip, Travel

Not Quite the Best of Mediterranean

November 18th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Get that green stuff out of here.

It was a night for delivery and looking through LAbite, we found a good-looking Mediterranean place to order from it was called Best of Mediterranean (BOM), which is quite a boast to be put in a name, even for a place in West Hollywood. Obviously a place by that name had to be checked out. I was too hungry for a schwarma sandwich, so I ordered the chicken schwarma dinner plate. This came with hummos, tabouli, rice and garlic sauce. Knowing that tabouli is some strange mix of greens, I tried to order without it, but the website wouldn’t allow me. This was a big fail on the part of both LAbite and BOM, because many other restaurants allow you to customize dishes. Unfortunately, I knew that vegetables would be dying for my sake that night and wouldn’t even have the pleasure of being digested. Continue Reading»

3 Comments

Best of Mediterranean, BOM, California, Delivery, labite, Los Angeles, meat, Mediterranean, Middle-Eastern, restaurants, schwarma, west hollywood

The Hummus Factory

February 17th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Nothing compliments a sandwich quite like fries.

Situated just off the main stretch of downtown El Segundo is The Hummus Factory. The name is really false advertising because it certainly is not a factory and also makes a lot more than just hummus. To be precise, they should have named it The Middle-Eastern Restaurant.

When it came time to order, I chose the Chicken Kabob Sandwich, which I assumed would be like schwarma. The only things that stood in my path to an unvegan lunch were cabbage and pickles, which I made sure to order without. The sandwich also came with salad or fries and I (surprisingly) opted for the fries. To top it off, I got a side of hummus in the expectation that the rest of my food would not quench my unvegan hunger. That proved to be a wise choice. Continue Reading»

One Comment

food, hummus, Los Angeles, meat, Mediterranean, Middle-Eastern, restaurants

Rants and Raves

Do Burgers, Not Drugs

August 3rd, 2011

Crime doesn't pay. Except in burgers.

I don’t do drugs, but if I did I wonder how upset I would be if I were Timethy Delarrance Morrison. Morrison recently attempted to buy some pot, but when he opened his bag of contraband he instead found a bunch of hamburger meat. Maybe the dealer accidentally swapped his bag of munchies with pot, but Morrison was not amused.

Beer Me Some Breckenridge Agave Wheat

The taste of skiing?

Colorado is definitely a beer state, and not just because Coors comes from the Rocky Mountain State. No, it is also home to New Belgium (of Fat Tire fame) and seemingly countless other micro and craft breweries. While in Breckenridge for a ski weekend, I decided I had to at least try one of these, and because it turned out to be the only one available at dinner, my choice happened to come from the creatively named Breckenridge Brewery. The brewery, by the way, is actually no longer in Breckenridge, having expanded and moved to Denver in 1992.

‘Mediterranean’

Mantee, not Manatee

Steak and Fries at Cayenne

Greek Tapas at Mediterraneo

Lacking Meat at Noosh Deli

Going Mediterranean at Mezza

Further Fusion at Kabob Express

Turkish to go at Sofra Kabab Express

Road Tripping to the Mad Greek Cafe

Not Quite the Best of Mediterranean

The Hummus Factory

Rants and Raves

Do Burgers, Not Drugs

Beer Me Some Breckenridge Agave Wheat

What is this?»

Unvegan Friends