Rannoosh

*** Rannoosh has closed

It's seems like the Hillcrest area restaurant scene has gone through quite a flurry of changes recently, with everything from plate lunches(an L&L opened recently) to Vietnamese eateries opening in the area. Even the long standing Jimmy Wong's Golden Dragon is now Golden Dragon Asian Bistro, featuring Asian influenced dishes. Rannoosh is one of those recently opened restaurants featuring Lebanese and Mediterranean cuisine.

The interior of Rannoosh has been done up with rich looking fabrics and drapes adorning the plush but dark interior. If you look carefully you can see the Hookah Pipes on the counter.

You get a little bowl of what I was told were pickled beets and olives delivered to your table. As JS clarified in the comments these are actually turnips, with beets added for color. I'd seen these at North Park Produce sold in jars, and the label said they were turnips, but the Young Lady insisted that they were beets. The pickles were on the bitter and sour end of the flavor spectrum:

There are a few olives hidden under those pickles.

On a recent lunchtime visit the Missus ordered the Lamb Kabob Sandwich($8.95):

The sandwich comes with your choice of green or potato salad. Here's a better look at the sandwich.

There were only four small cubes of lamb in the sandwich, along with a mild garlic spread, pickles, lettuce, and tomatoes. The lamb was very mild in flavor, and was completely obscured by everything else. The green salad had a simple vinaigrette, dotted with sumac and other herbs. The pita is unremarkable, seemed to be store-bought.

I ordered the Chicken Shawarma Sandwich($6.95):

There was a large portion of moist and tender dark meat chicken, though somewhat mild in flavor, was still quite good. I swear I tasted fenulgreek, but can't be sure. This was a very nice and satisfying sandwich, though one couldn't help but compare it to the Garlic Chicken sandwich at Mama's. If I were to do a comparison, I'd say the flavors(especially the Garlic Paste) at Mama's are much stronger, but I'd rather have the Chicken at Rannoosh. I wish something along the line of the bread at Mama's(made to order on the Sajj) were used at Rannoosh. If you order a sandwich for lunch I'd say that the creamy and tasty potato salad is the way to go.

Needing to get out of the office on a recent lunch hour I walked over to Rannoosh for lunch. This time around I ordered The Basterma (cured, air dried beef) Sandwich($6.95):

The First time I ordered this, the Young Lady wanted to make sure that I knew that the beef is not cooked, just air dried. The slices of cured beef; think between pastrami and beef jerky, is placed in a pita, with tomatoes, lettuce, and cucumber. I've had the Armenian version of Basterma, which seemed to be cut alot thinner. This version was cut maybe a bit too thick. On each bite you risked pulling the entire slice of beef out of the sandwich.

If you enjoy the salty, more intense flavor of cured meat you may enjoy this, though the meat can be tough. I asked what the beef was cured with and was told, mainly salt and paprika, and a few other seasonings. You can even see the "cure-ring" on the slices of meat:

Last but not least an appetizer portion of Falafel($5.95). Because these are formed and made to order, they always arrive after my sandwich, but let me tell you, they are worth it:

Having had Falafel ranging from teeth cracking hard, to so gritty and dry it felt like you were eating a handful of sand, let me just say these were Delici-yoso!!! The exterior were a perfect crunchy, and the interior of the Falafel were, dare I say, almost creamy with just a touch of "grit". The Falafel had a perfect amount of "zing", though the tahini based dip was very weak. Who cares, I didn't need it anyway. I could eat these often. In fact the Lady working noticed how much I was enjoying these and told me to try the "Stuffed" (with onions and pine nuts) Falafel next time around.

I'll be back to Rannoosh, maybe for dinner, definitely for falafel. Entrees range from $9.95 to 25.95. Rannoosh seems to do more dinner business then lunch, and the turn around for lunch may be on the long side, so plan accordingly.

Rannoosh
3890 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

Comments

[Reynila]

Hi Kirk,
This is a restaurant my husband and I were curious to try. What is that pinkish red vegetable stick in the fourth photo?

On another note, have you been to Kyoto food and gifts in National City? It's a tiny Japanese food store next to Da 'Kines...

[Kirk]

Hi Reynila - I was told they were pickled beets - I've included a photo of the little plate of them that is delivered to your table - they were sour, bitter, and a bit on the "puckery" side. I've been to Kyoto once, after a lunch a Da' Kines, thought it was quite a cute little place with a little old lady working the register.

[Kirk]

Hi JS - Thanks, I've seen them sold in bottles at North Park Produce, and they said they were turnips. But the young Lady, insisted they were beets. Probably a communication breakdown.

[JS]

Those are pickled turnips, not beets. Typically in the pickling process a beet will be added for color.

Just an FYI.

[mizducky]

Oh yum! I love Mediterranean food, and I've been on a quest to find good felafel. I'll be sure to give this joint a try.

[dietchilicheesefries]

Falafel!!!!!!

i think i could live off falafel and water for the rest of my life... that one looks pretty decent bro..

when's the last time you had Zankou?

[Kirk]

Hi mizducky - Try out the Falafel here, they're not cheap, but I really like 'em.

Hi DCCF - Funny, in my previous "life", one of clients was over in Hollywood, so on my home on the commute from hell, I would stop at Zankou. Funny, we thought the food is good, but not awesomely great like everyone makes it sound. We had a nice nostalgic moment driving past that very same location of Zankou last Sunday.

[amanda]

Kirk, Tyler and I have been wanting a good Lebanese restaurant in S.D. and a reader of ours suggested this place. Then another reader said it was over priced and not very good. Be our swing vote! What do you think. Should we try it?

[dave]

$6 falafel!? what the....!?!

[Lynnea]

Hi Kirk,

My husband and I tried out Rannoosh about a month ago and weren't really impressed with their sandwiches. I tried the lamb kabob sandwich which was way too flavorless and the tomatoes were primarily green with just a touch of red, but we didn't try anything else out. All the appetizers looked amazing so maybe we'll have to go back for those and for some Falafel.

we were wondering if they were trying to tone down the flavors in their food for people who aren't used to middle eastern spices and flavors.

[Kirk]

Hi Amanda - We enjoy the flavors at Mama's alot more. I think you get a good bang for the buck there. I'd try there first(if you haven't yet), before Rannoosh.

Hi Dave - I was shocked at first, but these were very good Falafel. I've had some terrible Falafel in San Diego.

Hi Lynnea - I agree about the kabobs, except for the Falafel I felt most everything else was very mild in terms of spice and flavor. This is what I'm going to do in the future, since a few people I work with want to go here - I'll have the Stuffed Falafel Sandwich with Potato Salad - $6.95. I haven't tried the Makanek or the Soujok yet.

[Jen]

Hi Kirk
I wanted to weigh in on Ranoosh--we went there about two months ago and I thought the Chicken Schwarma sandwich was terrible! It was so flavorless and the pieces were really fatty and not pleasant to chew. My husband had the falafel ( I think--its hard to remember) and pronounced it "good" but I have got to say that Mama's Lebanese is by far the better choice. We also like Khyber Pass (Afghani restaurant about a block from Ranoosh) for great kabobs and lamb dishes.

[Kirk]

Hi Jen - I thought the Chicken Schwarma sandwich was pretty good, though mild in flavor. The chicken, though dark meat, wasn't too fatty, and was moist and soft. I thought the falafel was very good. The falafel at Mama's, though huge, can tend to be on the dry side. Nothing beats the garlic chicken sandwich at Mama's though.

[Reid]

Hi Kirk,

I've never tried those pickled radishes, but they look interesting enough. You're lucky to have such a nice variety of ethnic cuisines to sample. Most of the food here is Asian...*sigh* Not that I don't like it, but I'd like to try different things too.

[Lynnea]

Jen,

You are right. Khyber Pass is great for lamb kabob dishes! All their food is fantastic.

[KirkKirk]

Hi Lynnea - We've always enjoyed Khyber Pass, though we haven't been there in about 2 years - and not only the Kabobs - try the lamb stew.

[Kirk]

Hi Reid - There is a good variety of Middle Eastern food in San Diego.

[Keith]

Another Lebanese place to try: Chef Tony at 6311 El Cajon Blvd (619)582-0212. Tony makes almost everything especially the falafel from scratch, unlike Mama's who takes much of their stuff (including garbonzo and fava beans) out of a can.

[Kirk]

Hi Keith - Thanks for the comments and the rec. You're the second person to recommend Chef Tony's to me. "Christina" recommended Chef Tony's waaaay back in August of last year, so I guess I really must make an extra effort to get there. Thanks again.

[Ahmad]

This has the best hummus and falafel in town. Sexy belly dancers, mmm good! Family friendly to all different types of people (lifestyle, race, etc). The service is so friendly, youll feel ike you are dining at a friends home. 5 out of 5 stars!