Habibi Restaurant

For some odd reasons, I am having craving for Middle Eastern cuisine recently. This time the destination was Habibi Restaurant @ SoHo. (My camera lens got all fogged up so the front door picture was not so clear. I will try to go take another one later. ) The decor was very traditional while the ambiance was dim and soft with some Middle Eastern music was playing in the background. During the weekend, there are dance shows but i could not wait that long to have some middle eastern food. Usually at this point of the review, I would go on and talk about the food items and etc, but this time I can't control myself but to talk about the service. First of all, services was not bad or un-caring, it was the fact that during the 3 hours we were there, different staff came over and asked us "is this dish finished?" for more than 6 times. Basically whenever we put down our forks and knifes to talk or to wipe our mouths, someone would come over and ask that question even though there were plenty of food left in the dish and have already informed them repeatedly that we were still eating. If there were a long line up then I would understand the rush but that was not the case. I can only say that the staff were over-caring and over attentive to the point of being a little annoying and unprofessional.



(1) Hummos Harissa
(chickpeas!!) A must order for those into chickpeas. It was tasty and rich in flavor with various herbs flavors which I am still learning to identify. It came with three different kinds pita breads and I was so tempted to order extra pita bread to make sure none of the hummos would go to waste! Due to my love for hummos, my review on this would be biased for sure so I will leave it at that and let you try it for yourself. If you only want hummos, you can try getting that at Habibi Cafe next door which is more of a casual hangout joint.



(2) Wara Inab
(Vine leaves stuffed with an aromatic mix of rice) It looked very different from the pictures on the menu but isn't that true for many things as well? The tomato sauce was very good but the actual item was rather interesting. Somehow I felt that I was eating stuffed lotus leaves and not really knowing what was inside. It was very "herb-y" with strong herb flavors but I was not sure where were the aromatic mix of rice. I simply could not identify or feel with my tongue the texture of rice within the stuffed vine leaves. There were something slightly crisp inside but due to the dim environment, I really could not tell.



(3) Falafel
(Crispy fried cakes of broad beans and fresh herbs) This dish I liked very much. It was rich in herb flavors and the sauce that came with it was a terrific match. Apparently this is a very common and popular dish. It can be prepared in different shapes such as sphere like a ball or in a checker shape. I liked it and certainly a thumbs up in my opinion.



(4) Firahk Zaatar
(marinated whole chicken marinated and grilled) When it was served, I asked myself: where was the rest of the WHOLE chicken? The menu did not mention anything about the chicken being a baby chicken or another other words that translate to "small" or "tiny", but the serving does not look like a WHOLE chicken even when de-boned. Anyhow, it tasted just like any other roasted chicken you find at other places in my opinion, the only difference was that it came in with some extra herbs on the surface. It was a bit dry as well. A disappointing dish indeed. Got tricked by the little cute "Chef's Hat" printed beside the name of the dish on the menu.



(5) Samak Sayadiyi
(Fresh Sea bass with tomato, bell peppers and red onion) My friend insisted to order this seafood dish and I was glad that she did because it was very tasty indeed. The tomato sauce was again very good and the fish itself well prepared. I tasted even better when you eat the fish together with spoonful of tomato sauce.



(6) Kosa Mahshiya
(Zucchini stuffed with seasoned minced beef and pine nuts in yogurt sauce) One of the best dishes we ordered. The yogurt sauce was great and not only did I mixed them with the rice, I basically cleared all the sauce like drinking soup. The flavors of the minced beef and pine nuts went extremely well with the zucchini. The same applied to the texture as well because the ingredients were all stuffed inside and one can enjoy the combined textures in every single bite. Did I mention the yogurt sauce was great !? Thumbs up !

Likes:

• decor and ambiance
• Kosa Mahshiya - Wonderful sauce and stuffed zucchini
• Falafel

Dislikes:

• Slightly annoying service (frequent and repeated asking of whether we were done)
• Firahk Zaatar - too dry and tasted just like any roasted chicken you can find everywhere.

Avg Spending: HKD 200 - 300 per person

Habibi Restaurant
Shop B & D, G/F,
112-114 Wellington Street, Central
Tel: 2544 6198

Olive, Greek & Middle Eastern @ Elements

Although a tropical storm was fast approaching, there was plenty of sunlight all around. Ignoring the weather forecast, I took my friend to somewhere we can relax and enjoy our lunch under some natural sunlight. I picked Olive, Greek & Middle Eastern at Elements because I know it is located on the open podium level (Civic Square) whereby there are some outdoors seating available. Although it was a sunny afternoon without any rain, it was rather windy, so we decided to move indoors. Honestly, I was glad that we ended up eating indoors because I found the atmosphere and ambiance very nice indeed. The main dining area is on the second floor with a very soft and mild earthy color tone. Vast windows are installed on the left, letting plenty of natural sunlight to absorb the whole area. We got the window seats overlooking the podium.

The decor of this place is of modern Mediterranean, with an earthy tone to it. The natural sunlight along with the brown and green color scheme provided me with a relax sensation. I rarely spend so much space describing the atmosphere of a restaurant but I do like the environment here (on an early afternoon during the weekend with less people obviously). Ambiance is great but the seat itself is not that comfortable because it seems rather too soft and too low relative to the height of the tables. Apparently they only offer set lunches of either 2 or 3 courses. Although there were many selections to choice form, we both found something we wanted to try.



(1) Chicken threads with walnuts, French beans, coriander, Egyptian fried egg
When I first saw the name of the dish, the first thing that I noticed was the reference to Egyptian fried egg. What exact is a Egyptian fried egg? Turned out it was just a normal egg with some special sauce. For some seasons, I was not sure how it was being fried because it seemed to be it was just being boiled. Nonetheless, it was interesting to have such presentation for a salad and I actually enjoyed it very much. The sauce was not too strong and not too creamy either, a refreshing summer starter. More diced tomatoes would give the dish more colors and maybe a more refreshing sensation.



(2) Moroccan chickpea soup, sauteed school prawns, harissa oil
My friend order this soup and according to her, it was pretty good. When we first ordered, I wondered what exact does "school" prawns mean and from the prawns in the soup when served, it means "tiny" prawns. It is actually a type or category of prawns averaging 10g and 9cm in length. Something new to learn everyday!



(3) Cabbage leaves stuffed with jewelled cracked wheat on honey-ginger tomato sauce and goat cheese cream
A long name for a dish indeed. I really liked its presentation with all the ingredient wrapped inside the cabbage leaves dome. (note: the cabbage leaves were rather elastic and required some skills to cut through it with the provided knife). In terms of taste, I could not really identify the honey-ginger tomato sauce that was supposed to be mixed together with the cracked wheat. Maybe it was supposed that subtle. The sauce which I recognized was more like Porcini mushroom than honey-ginger tomato sauce. If it was indeed Porcini mushroom sauce, it was a good combination with the jewelled cracked wheat which tasted like Italian risotto. I am not an expert in Greek and Middle Eastern cuisine but I am pretty sure it was a fusion dish which I did enjoy, maybe because I like to try new things all the time. Humm ... I wonder of what origin this dish derived from ... Greek? Turkish?



(4) Lamb and Vegetable moussaka with a tomato mint and feta salad
I had to check up what moussaka means because I had no idea and the way it was served was not of our expectation. According to wikipeida: "In the Arab world, moussaka is a cooked salad made up primarily of tomatoes and eggplant, similar to Italian caponata and is usually served cold as a mezze dish." Apparently it wasn't served cold. So I continued my research. It turns out "Turkish moussaka, unlike the Greek version, is not layered. Instead, it is prepared with sautéed eggplants, green peppers, tomatoes, onions, and minced meat." Now we are talking! The moussaka that was served contained plenty of minced lamb which was very tasty. I wasn't sure if there was any eggplant because I only got a small portion from my friend to try but I liked it. Again, I have no idea how this dish is suppose to taste like in the traditional way but all I know is that I liked it and I think it can be a great comfort food!



(5) Rich Chocolate tart with Turkish delight
There was no particular surprise from the chocolate tart but the buttery cream on top was interesting and rather refreshing. It contained herb taste commonly used in middle eastern dishes. I could not name the flavor but the cream certainly did not taste like normal cream. The Turkish delight was very sweet as it should be but not really my cup of tea. Presentation was pretty nice in my opinion. On a negative note, the dessert was served when I was still having my main course!! Those junior staff require more training indeed. The manager did come to apologize soon after but I was very surprised that the junior staff who delivered the dessert attempted to shove the plate onto the table even when my existing plate took most of the table space already.



(6) Turkish Coffee
I consider the Turkish coffee one of the highlights of the day. The staff informed us that the coffee would be very strong and his warning only made me want the coffee even more. The way it was served was rather interesting as well. The coffee was heated / brewed in a copper pot and poured into a tiny transparent Turkish style glass right at the table. The coffee flavor was strong and it contained traces of sweetness to it. I think a bit of sugar was added to the boiling / brewing process. Overall a very nice and smoothing coffee to be enjoyed after a relaxing meal. Not sure if it was prepared in the traditional way but the sweetness somehow lowered the intensity of the flavor in my opinion. Not as strong as I expected it.

Like:

• Wonderful decor with natural sunlight
• Turkish version of Lamb Moussaka was good, something new to me
• Turkish coffee (stronger would be better)
  

Dislikes:

• height of the seats relative to the table
• Inexperienced junior staff (the word junior some what describe the inexperience aspect of the staff but not with such basic rules) - Manager was quick to apologize and that was good.

Avg Spending: HKD 200 - 300 per person

Olive, Greek & Middle Eastern (Closed) 
Shop R008, Elements,
1 Austin Road West, TST
Tel: 2810 8585