mmm-yoso!!!

Garlic & Tahini Egyptian Kitchen (Mira Mesa)

I will often tell folks at work who ask me "how did you figure that out", the simple phrase "Google is your friend". And I truly believe that in certain cases. Take for example, Garlic & Tahini. I really don't think I would have found the place if I hadn't Googled "garlic sauce + Mira Mesa". Harvest Market has closed and the Missus was craving the garlic paste. An interesting place appeared on my search; Garlic and Tahini Egyptian Kitchen. I noticed two locations; one in La Jolla, which seemed to be a restaurant and the other on Mesa Rim Road, which seemed to be another area chocked full of business parks; like Hawaiian Fresh Seafood. I noticed a website; which led me to an online order form. I decided to go for it and placed an order; basically it's a "make-your-meal" type ordering.....you know, pitas, bowls, or salads, pick your protein. I also ordered a container of garlic sauce to take home.

My GPS led me to Flanders Drive; the street right past Huennekens (why do I always call it Heinekens?)...the way to HFSF. Down Flanders, right on Mesa Rim Road and eventually a sign......

In a business park.

Whereupon I saw another set of signs and parked in one of the stalls.

Then walked to the doorway to the right of the signs.

Then thru the doorway......

And right into a commercial kitchen. Yes, I know that the concept of Ghost Kitchens are a hot topic right now..... There were quite a few packages lined up on one of the tables.

I called out a rather hesitant "hello" and a really friendly gentleman came on over and I mentioned having placed an order online. He thanked me and said my order would be ready in a minute and he'd be happy to bring it out to my vehicle. So, I went ahead and waited in my car and soon enough he brought out a package with my stuffs.

Back at the office, I unpacked my order. I had gotten a Beef Shawarma Pita, a side of Falafel (five pieces) and an 8 ounce container of Garlic Sauce.

The first thing I noticed when I bit into my pita was the bread itself; which was more fluffy than standard issue pita. It also had a hint of sweetness; which actually wasn't a bad thing at all.

The beef had been chopped and was a bit on the chewier side. I enjoyed the diced tomatoes and onions....and even the parsley; though the Tahini was really mild in flavor and am used to to a more assertive sesame seed flavor.

The exterior of the Falafel were really crisp; though the interior was more gritty than I prefer. I enjoy a bit of light - creaminess in my falafel and I prefer Mister Falafel to the version here. Maybe if we hadn't gone to Israel/Palestine/Jordan late last year, I'd have enjoyed it more. I also preferred using the garlic sauce I purchased to the tahini that was included with the falafel.

Speaking of the Garlic Sauce......this version is truly a sauce and not a paste. As it was fairly thin; not a bad thing at all in this case.

While not as strong in terms of garlic flavor; I did like the texture as it was nice drizzling on salads, veggies, and frittatas - here's a Soppressata - Chard - Potato Frittata I recently made.

I'll definitely purchase more of this.

A week later, I decided on trying a couple of other items I'd seen on the menu and was interested in. So, I placed another online orders and went to pick it up.

Same drill; I ducked in, said hello, and waited for my order outside.

This time I tried the Mesa'aa (Eggplant) and Fool (Fava Bean) Pitas, along with a side of Baba Ghanouj.

I really enjoyed the Mesaa'a; it had a mild spice, was well seasoned, and had a wonderful texture and acidity/tanginess. A definite keeper.

The mashed fava beans was milder in flavor, you could still make out a mild nuttiness, and the tomatoes and pickles really helped it out.

I was told to be careful of the "spicy" finish of the Baba Ghanouj, but I found it quite mild and lacking in the smokiness I expect in the dish.

In the end; I was happy to have found a couple of items I enjoyed from Garlic & Tahini, it's gratifying to support our local businesses during this time, especially in the case of such nice folks like this. I'll definitely be getting more Garlic Sauce, Mesaa'a, and Fool.

Garlic & Tahini Egyptian Kitchen
9932 Mesa Rim Road
San Diego, CA 92121
Hours - takeout only:
Mon - Wed 11am - 3pm
THurs     11am - 8pm
Fri - Sat 11am - 9pm
Sunday    11am - 8pm

Simsim Outstanding Shawarma - bc (before Covid) and dc (during Covid)

Simsim opened at the Gateway at Kearny Mesa back in August of 2018, I first visited a couple of months later...….I then just waited a while before visiting again....then wanting just one more visit before posting took my 'ol sweet time revisiting.....I'd been kinda underwhelmed, not at the portions (at first), but the flavors and such. And then the Pandemic hit. I've actually got a bunch of photos from places that I'd meant to revisit or post on. Simsim was one of them. But with the Pandemic; well, I was just going to delete the photos and call it a day. But I'd already had three visits to the place; so, two weeks ago, I decided to just do one more takeout visit...thus the "bc" (before Covid) and "dc" (during Covid) in the title.

So, here goes.

Simsim is located in the same strip mall as one of Cathy's favorites Niban, Elijah's, and the now defunct Souplantation. Much like Tahini Street Food, the set-up is "fast-casual" (i.e. the Chipotle, which by the way is also in this strip mall) model. You order at the counter and pick up your order when ready.

On all my visits the crew here were very nice and friendly.

The menu consists of wraps, bowls, plates, and sides with names like "Authentic", "Simple", "Spicy", "Tasty", and "Pure"...you get it, right?

On my first visit, I decided to just get the Beef and Lamb (the "Authentic"), which at that time was $10, it's now $12. 

It comes with a side of standard issue thin fries, which I think could have been fried a bit longer as it got soggy quite quickly. It was nicely seasoned though.

The bread off the sajj was fairly brittle and lacking in a bit of stretch from other versions that I had enjoyed more. In fact, one of my Middle Eastern coworkers said that this is almost closer to a tortilla for a burrito. I also like a bit more slightly charred "crust" on my bread as well.

The amount of meat in this was quite generous, though it is obviously aimed as "food for the masses" (nothing wrong with that) and was quite mild in seasoning...it was also on the dry side and a bit ore chewy than I preferred. The tahini was also pretty mild in flavor as well.

Still, very nice folks.....so, after a couple of months, I decided to return.

I'm still looking for really good falafel in San Diego; so I decided to try the Falafel Wrap($9).

The fries were done a bit better this time around and the "bread" had been toasted a bit more and actually had some nice crisp spots on it.

The falafel was mushy and pasty, and fairly bland...….in retrospect it was a good thing I had this before our trip to Israel and Jordan; because now I dunno what I would say about this.

After this I just kinda forgot about Simsim. Until the beginning of the year. I was kinda craving chicken with garlic sauce, I'd already tried the version at Tahini Street Food and Alforon was much too far away. So, I thought I'd try the version at Simsim. I got the "Simple" - Chicken and Garlic ($10.50) to go.

I quickly noticed that his wrap was shaped differently. It looked even more like a burrito than before! Also, the one thing I was most concerned about was that the fries would not hold up on the 10-15 minute trip to the office. Which turned out to be true.

The wrap itself seemed much smaller than before as was the amount of meat. Though the chicken had a bit of seasoning it was quite dry. The garlic paste was quite mild in flavor and I could have used more of it.

That same coworker I mentioned earlier told me that they don't make the bread for their wraps inhouse....

So, what you read above would have never (or perhaps should have never) seen the light of day. But, looking at all the "bc" photos I was going to delete, and knowing that Simsim was doing takeout during this time, I decided to call in an order and pick it up on the way home to check on Frankie.

They've got outdoor seating set-up right now.

My order was ready on the counter when I arrived. I had decided against getting a wrap this time around and seeing that they had Muhammara as one of their sides; decided on the "Signature Side Plate" ($13). Which came with very standard issue (and obviously not made inhouse) pita.

Of the four items on the "plate" (Muhammarah, Babaganoush, Moutabel, and Hummus), I enjoyed the Babaganoush the most. It had a nice smoky hint to it, great flavor, decent texture. The Muhammarah was decent, slight sweet-sour tones, it could use a bit more nuttiness and garlic for my taste. Not in the same league as the version at La Miche, though not bad. The Moutabal was nice and creamy; though for some reason the eggplant and tahini flavors were quite mild. The Hummus as just plain bland.

This was by far my "favorite" item I've had at Simsim.

The food here, like Tahini Street Food is a fusion take on Middle Eastern Cuisine for the Western Palate. I think I prefer Tahini to Simsim, but you may want to try both on your own. The folks here have always been nice and friendly and Soo seemed to like the place, so perhaps you'd like to give them a try.

Simsim Outstanding Shawarma
7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
(858) 430-6717
Open Daily:
11am - 7pm

So, there you go......I've got a bunch of photos of one time visits....all from "bc" (before Covid), some from last year already. I'm fairly certain that if I do return to these places it'll be "ac" (after Covid). A few I probably won't return to. And if I do a post; I'll start from scratch and do a couple of visits. I'm not sure if it's worth posting mostly just photos from these visits.

So, what do you think?

Tahini Street Food (Clairemont Mesa Boulevard)

I recently had a meeting where the food was catered from Tahini. For some reason, I'd forgotten about the place after they were replacing Dudley's Kearny Mesa location, which is right next to Ramen Ryoma.

I enjoyed the Chicken Schwarma Bowl; while being a bit "tame" in terms of flavor; the garlic sauce wasn't too bad and I enjoyed the pickled vegetables, and the rice was nicely flavored and fluffy.

So, I decided to stop by a couple of weeks later.

I'd gotten there right after opening and the place was already doing some pretty good business.

The set-up is very much in the "fast-casual" vein....you order at the register, the stations on the "line" put things together. One both visits; the young man working the register was ultra polite and made sure to repeat everyone's orders to make sure they got things right.

The menu is very much in the Chipotle mold....or even say....Chi-poke mold; you choose your base, if you'd like it in a pita, bowl, or salad, you can add on snacks, be it versions of fries or hummus, etc......

I was feeling hungry on my first visit and got the Chicken Schwarma Bowl and I really wanted to try the Falafel, so I got a3 pieces of Falafel.

This was good as what I'd had in my meeting. The garlic paste; well actually the menu does say "sauce" and is not as pungently delicious as the versions at Harvest Market or Alforon. But it does the trick here. Loved the pickled vegetables which added a nice zip to the bowl. The chicken was decently moist and tender, though quite mild in flavor....yes; it's kind of food not to offend; but with that nicely flavored rice, it did the job quite.

On the other hand; I really didn't care for the falafel.

While the interior was nice and smooth; the exterior was really hard....not crunchy, hard, and in addition to being more salty than I enjoy, there was a strange bitterness that I detected. Plus, the Tahini tasted weak, runny, and watered down.

The pita though, was nice and warm, it was obviously made fairly fresh as I saw the handy-dandy pita bread oven on the side.

Because I enjoyed the pita; I headed back and tried the Steak Schwarma in a Pita.

And while the pita was lovely as before; the "steak" was very lean and chewy and it was very bland. I really should have gotten a different sauce than the standard Tahini that comes with the "steak"....but at least I know for sure that it's not my favorite version. There was a good amount of meat; fresh veggies; but overall, quite bland.

I also ordered a half order of the Tahini Fries (with no Tahini of course), with Garlic sauce.

This was quite nice; I like the way the garlic sauce complements the crisp fries and even don't mind the pepperoncini's or feta cheese; though I will probably ask for no olives the next time. Still, this was not bad.

Overall a mixed bag; nice folks working, it's fusiony food made for Western palates, not a bad thing necessarily, and that rice bowl is pretty good.

Tahini Street Food
9119 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92123
Hours:
Mon - Sat 11am - 9pm
Sunday    11am - 7pm