Mediterranean Garden Grill - Monrovia

Generally, when I write about a restaurant, it is based on a unique experience. Even if I like it or love, I don't go back for various reasons. It can be too far or my pocketbook can only make an annual visit. Usually it is because I like to eat and check other restaurants so much that I would rather focus on new finds, unlike re-visiting old hunting. However, if a restaurant is the double whammy of serving delicious food and near where I live when I take the opportunity to visit it again. This is the case with the Mediterranean garden grill in Monrovia. Before I go on, I would like to mention that it is an interesting restaurant place. My first visit there was during the lunchtime, and the dining room had opened a closed terrace feeling with the windows to let the air in but to a later dinner visit, they closed all the windows and it felt like a regular indoor restaurant. As mentioned, there was my first meal for lunch. I wanted a little tart, I started with the beautiful pink pickle plate. Silly question, but why are these pimples pink and are they actually cucumbers or some other plastered vegetables in total? I always wanted to know. While I had penetrated the menu, an appetizer started to my eye, so I decided to order the Mouhamana, cut the walnuts with sharp red peppers and pomegranate juice. I loved the mix of flavors that are nutty, sweet, tangie and with a little kick. I could just have eaten that with the Pita bread or even only crackers and I would have been happy, but soon enough, my lule Kebab came. Lule Kebab is lean ground beef mixed with onions and spices, seasoned, spiced and grilled, served with rice, grilled vegetables and a pita bread. Under my first look, I could really see all the spices embedded in the meat and with only my first bite, I could convey all the great flavors the spices. Surprisingly, although the ground beef was leaner, which meant less fat, the spoon Kebab had a little vigilance to it and of course I loved the texture of its carbonized surface. I didn't even consider Dessert, but a tempting photo of her Ashta Dessert was just too irresistible. Ashta is sheramoya fruit mixed with whipped cream and rose water and sprinkled pistachios and honey and this delicious mixture is placed on freshly cut bananas. Wow, what a great dessert. I'd just go back. It was a light and refreshing dessert, absolutely perfect at any time, but perhaps even more on a warmer day. My first visit was definitely a hit so much that I went back a few days later and unfortunately that was not a good experience. I sat, got a glass of water, ransacked the menu and made my choices and continued to wait and wait and wait. The restaurant wasn't so busy. There was only one big group on the other side of the room and me. Granted, I could have turned someone around, but come on. My menu was downstairs and there were waiters in front of my table. One of them would have stopped asking me if I was ready to order. I decided to watch how long it took for a waiter and after 10 minutes I just went out. I wasn't sure if a third visit would be imminent, but I really enjoyed the food so I thought I would give it another try. This time I brought a friend to dinner a few weeks later. I am not sure if they had reminded me that I emigrated or maybe the waiting staff was just more attentive to this evening, but this time the service was much better. For my second meal there, my friend and I shared the marinated and spiced black and green olives as well as the Baba Ghanouj, which is basically BBQ eggplant and sesame paste. What I liked about the Baba Ghanouj was that it was full of cunning eggplants and not up to the point that you are not even sure whether it was an eggplant in the plate. As far as my entree is concerned, I ordered the Beef Shawarma, which is basically spiced and marinated pan-flamed beefs served with tahini sauce, rice and hummus. I really liked the bait Kebab I had on my first visit. Beef was a little more cheerful than I would have liked and needed a little more taste. I got a chance to try the Chicken Shawarma of my friend and thought the chicken was nicely seasoned and was even tender and juicy. This time there was no room for dessert. It wasn't so stellar a meal like my first visit, but still pretty good. The last time I visited, I was in the mood for soup and ordered her Swiss Char Lentil Soup, which is vegetarian. The ingredients for this soup are whole lentils cooked with Swiss Char and roasted garlic and the taste is brownish and lemony, flavors near and love to my Filipino palate. Apart from the fact that a large Hiccup on my second visit, I really enjoy the food in the Mediterranean garden grill and thus only a few miles away, I can always give my Ashta and Swiss Char and Lentil Soup desire when I want to, or at least when the restaurant is open.

I was here for lunch and we really enjoyed it. I find the hummus, Babanoush and Toubouli to be really good here. The Fatoush Salad is also really tasteful here and everyone who tasted it then wants to order it instead of their typical Greek salad. Grape leaves are average and falafel is also good, but not from the usual. The chicken cabobs were a bit dry when I had them, but the beef and the spoons of kebab were good. The highlight is the Ashta Dessert. All right. Cherimoya mixed with cream, honey and rose water, with crushed pistachios all sprinkled on slices of bananas. So refreshing and slightly sweet. But the last time we ordered it, the bananas were very entertaining and somehow ruined it. but that was the only time we had. We had once that they really enjoyed our lunch at work at everyone. She helped me figure out what I needed for the crowd of people we had.