I've never been the biggest fan of Mediterranean food. I mean, I've always liked it okay, but I've never craved it or dreamt about it like I do with ice cream or Dewey's pizza. That's until I tried labneh or lebne. Then, BOOOOOM! My world was turned upside down and I longed to get my hands on more of this delicious and creamy delight. If you've never had lebne then you're missing out. It's somewhere between strained yogurt and cream cheese, often with hints of garlic and sprinkled with herbs and spices and a drizzle of olive oil. Oh, and served with warm pita bread...that's a must. Mmmm.
Wait, what was I saying? Oh yeah, lebne has given me a greater appreciation for Mediterranean food and now I find I crave it more and more. So when I saw a groupon for Cafe Mediterranean in Blue Ash, a spot I had been to once with the girls, I jumped on it since Antoine had never been. Plus, groupons can be a great vehicle for impromptu date nights to spots we normally wouldn't go. And often, especially in this case, the restaurant becomes a favorite that we'll eagerly look forward to visiting in the near future.
The food is excellent and the staff is so friendly! We started off with the lebne (of course) and the spinach borek. The lebne was fantastic! The sprinkle of fresh dill on top was just perfect. The borek, which we had never had before, is a flaky pastry filled with spinach and feta, rolled up like a egg roll and lightly fried. Tasty!
We both got the chicken kebab as our entree, which was juicy and flavorful. I opted for the steamed veggies instead of the rice and I'm glad I did; they were a tasty accompaniment to the chicken.
For dessert Antoine got the baklava, which I stole a bite of, and my goodness it was heavenly! I tried the Turkish coffee since we were going to the 10pm showing of Great Gatsby and it was a weeknight. I had never had before. Wow! It was intense.
It totally did the trick and I made it through the movie without passing out. But boy, oh boy, I don't now if I could handle that again. It was like drinking coffee-mud. But the demitasse it came in was exquisite.
Overall, Cafe Mediterranean is a great spot with good food and a super friendly staff. I'd recommend it to anyone for a nice little date night out!
They used to be in Anderson and we would frequent them. Then they disappeared but we were so happy when they re-opened a year or so later in Blue Ash. Good stuff.
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