“Women Who Eat Out,” my group of foodies who dine together once a month, headed to the Delmar Loop recently for some Middle East food. Aboud Alhamid, owner of Ranoush was working along side his servers when we arrived, but took time for a visit.
There were five of us, which is an easy number to fit into one car. We parked across the street from the restaurant and walked gingerly over the new trolley tracks on Delmar. I had a flash back of doing that many times in downtown Washington when I was a kid. I always scanned the tracks to see if a penny, nickle or even a dime might have rolled into the crevices. According to a popular urban legend, someone had once found a diamond ring! Such worthless trivia is hard to forget.
Falafel plate
Middle East Food Favorites
My introduction to Middle East food came years ago with a cautious tasting of spiced chickpeas and parsley, that had been shaped in the size of golf balls and fried. Falafels, as they are called, are crunchy on the outside and soft and greenish on the inside.
I came to love the flavorful little orbs, that are often served with vegetable salads. Some times these Persian tidbits can be dry and disappointing. But like a good Southern-style hush puppy, when you get ’em just right, they’re good eatin’. That’s how they serve the falafels at Ranoush.
The decor in the corner restaurant is definitely Middle Eastern, but restrained, with no over-zealous attempt to make the place look like a set from Arabian Nights. As I scanned the menu and the colorful plates of those sitting around me, I recognized many of the foods that I’d eaten in Turkey, Israel and Oman.
The ceiling at Ranoush complements the Middle East food and decor.
As our group often does, we decided to share a variety of dishes. We started with an eggplant meze, an appetizer that was much like a salad. The bountiful platter of pita and creamy hummus set the stage for the flavors to follow. For entrees we shared three different kebob plates: beef, chicken, and lamb—all juicy, tender and nicely seasoned.
Hummus, a typical Middle East food, is made from chickpea and tahini blended with olive oil, lemon juice and garlic, and garnished with sumac and whole chickpeas.
One of the mezes, or appetizer plates, was this spicy aubergine (eggplant) salad.
Irish beer and Middle East kebobs. It worked.
I’ve had this sampler before and it’s a good one to share at the table because of the variety. The Vegetarian Mezza for Two includes: Hummus, Falafel, Baba Ganoush (eggplant dip); Batata Hara, (potato cubes with coriander, garlic, and red pepper); Moutabal, (grilled eggplant with garlic and lemon juice); and Labneh, (yogurt dip drizzled with olive oil and mint).
We ended the meal with a stunningly good Baklava, a dessert too often dripping in honey. This one was not, and I much preferred it.
Ranoush has a side room for hookah smokers. Our server gave us a demonstration on how the ancient water pipe is used.
We learned from our server that the hookah pipes contain flavored tobacco (shisha) and molasses, that are heated in the bowl. The smoke created passes through water and is drawn up through a short hose to a mouthpiece. (Cost: $13; not sure how may puffs that gives you.) Despite the instructive demonstration, the five women at our table decide that we’d acquired enough bad habits over the years. We had neither room, nor time, in our lives for anymore.
On the way to our car, the “child” in me checked the trolley tracks again. Drats! No coins. My eyesight’s not what it used to be. But we had re-discovered Ranoush and that was a very worthwhile find.
Ranoush (2 locations): In the Loop, 6501 Delmar and Kirkwood, 200 N. Kirkwood. Mon-Thu, Sun 11a-12a; Fri-Sat 11a-1:30a.
