The Casbah Mediterranean Kitchen opened in downtown Livermore within the last month and it is located in the Vine Cinema block on First Street right by the Zephyr. My sister Nancy was raving about their Turkish coffee, so while we were out and about shopping we dropped in for a cup.
We were at the Casbah around 2:00 pm on a Saturday and even though there weren’t many diners in the restaurant, we sat at the bar so we had a bird’s eye view of what was going on in the kitchen.
I hadn’t eaten lunch yet, so as soon as I looked at the menu I became very hungry. In addition to the Turkish coffee, I ordered a combination platter, which came with dolmeh, baba banoush, mast o’khiar, humus and falafel. Since dolmehs (stuffed grape leaves) are my favorites, I ate those first and was so full I had to take the rest of the combination platter home. I really liked the flavor of the baba banoush, mast o’khiar, and the humus. My oldest daughter loved the humus and has been eating that for the last few days.
The Turkish coffee is served in wee little cups, which are about three inches high or less. It’s very thick and it’s sweet. I really enjoyed it.
While we were waiting for our food, we saw the chef prepare a few of the salmon dishes, which is salmon seasoned with northern Iran spices and broiled to perfection. It is served with basmati saffron rice. This dish looked incredible and it was pretty exciting watching it be prepared as there were huge flames involved. That’s what I plan to have the next time I am there!
L-R: Turkish coffee, the Casbah menu, and the meat for the gyros on the rotisserie
The combination platter
The salmon being prepared
The salmon
The health conscious will be glad to know that the falafel, tabuli, baba ganuch, dolmeh, and couscous are high in fiber, low in fat, and low in calories. They are also ideal for diabetics, people who want to lose weight (only 1 point per serving on Weight Watchers), and people who enjoy hearty, well seasoned food.
Not only is the food at the Casbah good, it is also moderately priced. You should give it a try.
I’ve rocked the Casbah!
~merry~