Village Grill - El Cajon

**** Village Grill has closed

Over the years Cathy has mentioned that El Cajon, and Main Street El Cajon has become an enclave for Iraqi's in the US. A few months back, I was meeting two of my favorite FOYs, Candice and Howie in El Cajon for lunch. I arrived a bit early and decided to drive down El Cajon Boulevard, which turned into Main Street, and I was astounded by the amount of Middle Eastern Markets, restaurants, and snack shops. Coincidentally, I would receive an email later that evening from FOY KennethB, who also mentioned Main Street. So over the last couple of weeks, the Missus and I have been driving East to El Cajon to kinda just look around and eat a bit.

On one of our drives we noticed a small shop doing some pretty good business, and I added it to my "list". It was called "Village Grill".

 
On this day, we decided just to take a drive down to El Cajon and make our decision when we arrived. Little did we know that today was also the day when the annual Mother Goose Parade was held. We decided to park, and head out on foot, and just stop by somewhere......

I've got to say that walking down Main Street past places called Babylon Market, while passing marching bands, and clowns, and cowboys, and walking into Village Grill, the scent of meat grilling on the vertical spits permeating the air was somewhat surreal. The interior of Village Grill is spartan, with just a few simple tables and chairs. We looked over the one page menu, ordered and sat down at our table watching the parade go by.

One thing about these restaurants..... I don't think you'll ever leave hungry, and you'll soon see why.

First to arrive was the Baba Ghanouj (small - $3.99).

Along with one of my new favorite things in the world, the wonderful flatbread I was told is called "Khubz". The Missus thought the Baba Ghanouj had too much tahini in it. I thought it lacked that wonderful, smokey eggplant flavor. The bread was fine, but served barely warm, and wasn't quite as good as the version at Ali Baba (a post is forthcoming) up the street.

A large plate of "Turshi", various "mezze" also arrived.

I expected the usual pickled turnips, but here it was replaced with a pickled turnip and cabbage flavored with tumeric and other spices, giving it a bracing sour-curry flavor. I really enjoyed it, the Missus did not.

Knowing what I had ordered, the Missus went with one of the "Rice & Stews"; the Okra based "Bamia", this one had beef as the meat.

The stew came with a large plate of rice. We both thought the broth was excellent, rich and tangy, with large chunks of flavorful beef, that looked tough, but was fairly tender. The okra was plentiful, and this would be quite a filling meal. I really loved the whole cloves of tender garlic in the soup, sweet and pungent, it was wonderful.

Of course, this is when my order started arriving. I had ordered the "Village Grill", the mixed meat plate. At $12.99, it was one of the more expensive items on the menu. Things started with a good sized salad.

The Missus loved the salad, which She called "refreshing"....good amounts of citrus and olive oil made this very tasty.

And then my huge plate of meat arrived. This was enough for two people at the least.

The Missus's favorite was the Shawarma Beef, also called "Gus".

 

This was very moist, with a nice beef flavor, that the Missus said was almost "beef jerky-ish".

Most beef kabobs in these type of restaurants tend toward the tough side, and are sometimes a bit short on flavor. This one was moist with good flavor, and if a bit on the chewy side, I wouldn't call it tough, not by a longshot. It was my favorite meat item.

Of course, that's not to snub the Tekka Beef, which was very moist.

It was also quite tender, and had a decent beef flavor. The rice on the bottom really benefited from the meat drippings.

The only item that I didn't care much for was the Hummus, which again had too much tahini, and not enough lemon, nor any other flavor to carry the day.

This was quite a meal, we left with tons of leftovers, and a full belly. The young lady who works the front of house was very sweet and nice. The prices are very reasonable, and the ingredients, except for the rice are of good quality. We'll be back without a doubt. And because I know folks like RONW love menus, here's a photo of the simple menu at Village Grill:

 Ooops, wrong side! (Click to enlarge)

I really think the Mixed Platter for three would probably feed 4-5. And you could always order the Kousi - a 33 pound roasted lamb stuffed with rice.

The best deal here right now is a buy one sandwich, get one free deal.

Village Grill
550 East Main St
El Cajon, CA 92020

El Cajon sure has been full of surprises for us......

Comments

[kat]

that does like a lot of food and not too expensive either.

[Stephen]

Looks good. That baba ghanouj looks an awful lot like hummus. Looks like it maybe be worth the drive

[ed (from Yuma)]

Looks wonderful. But you got me thinking about a whole roasted lamb stuffed with rice. That sounds like a heckuva party.

[nhbilly]

What a true carnivore you are Sr.
That was alot of food.

[Jenne]

Hey Kirk, you should have stopped by the library to say hi!

I just tried the shawarma at another Main St place the other day--Hammurabi. I thought it was great. The flatbread was amazing and really hot, and they give you a sort of lentil soup with your meal that I really liked.
Also, free tea!

[Kirk]

Hi Kat - Yes, a good amount of food for the $$.

Hi Stephen - If you've never been in the area, I think it is worth checking out.

Hi Ed - Can you imagine the whole lamb, along with a whole roasted pig!!! Oh my..... I'd die with a smile on my face!

Hi Billy - We had a ton of leftovers.

Hi Jenne - he-he-he....a post on Hammurabi is coming up. I had forgotten that you work in the area....I should drop by. After all, I Love the Liberry!!!!

[Lynnea]

Yummy!
I keep hearing great things about Ali Baba and now I'm looking forward to your post on it.

[MrM]

That's very cool seeing your explorations of El Cajon's burgeoning Chaldean Community.

I love these people! They truly make me happy to be around them. The stories they tell! The suffering they endure, and yet they keep their faith!

Not to mention the number of Grandmas that cook foods probably eaten by their families for literally thousands of years...its just an incredible experience being with them.

If you are Christian and are interested, if you listen to the 'Arabic' they speak you will actually be listening to Aramaic...the language of Jesus himself!

Their foods are wonderful. They really are a treasure in San Diego!

Kirk, keep an eye peeled for the Food Festivals that the Caldeans put on in April/May at St. Michael's Chaldean church in El Cajon. They also have one at St. Peter's Chaldean Cathedral in Cottonwood, just south of El Cajon!

[Ed]

You know, after being here for almost two months in Oman, I can read some of the Arabic on the store sign. From right to left, it says: "Ahlan wa sahlan - laHm Halaal [...] (don't know the middle bit) - makulah al-3iraqiyya shahih" (Welcome - Halal meat [...] Iraqi specialties (?)" That's as much as I can come up with, hehe.

[foodhoe]

I love the pictures from the mother goose parade! That looks like a ton of food for two people, that was really all for one meal? you guys really had a feast.

[Kirk]

Hi Lynnea - I'll try and get that done soon.

Hi MrM - I can tell you love the people. We've found them to be warm and generous. I'll be on the lookout for the festivals, thanks for the tip!

Hi Ed - Welcome back, we've missed your comments! You do much better than I would after two months...or in my case two years!

Hi FH - That was one meal....the portions are very generous, the prices very reasonable.

[Andrea]

Mmm...looks like some yummy food. You should also try Cafe 21 in University Heights for some great Azerbaiijan flavors! They have delicious meals for any time of day. www.cafe-21.com

[Kirk]

Hi anrea - Thanks for visiting and commenting. I've been to Cafe 21, but only for lunch..... the few dishes that does have a "Azerbaiijan flair" to them seem to be very fusion-y.... but I'll be sure to check them out.