Mediterranean

Momo’s Ouzaria Taverna

by Stephanie on December 2, 2011

in Dinner, Lunch, Mediterranean

Happy Friday! Hope your week went well! I can’t believe it’s December already. Crazy, right? 2011 is almost over!

I recently went to Momo’s Ouzaria Taverna with friends. This cute little restaurant is located in University City, and I’ve been wanting to try it for quite some time! It’s absolutely beautiful on the inside.

See? Gorgeous. I loved the romantic lighting and all of the art in the place. So cozy!

We were hungry, so we started with the layered pita dip.

 

This came with creamy feta cheese, roasted red bell peppers, tomato, pepperoncini, olives, and spinach. It was fabulous – I loved the richness and creaminess of this dip! The pita chips were a little too hard for my tastes, however. They were a bit crunchy, and I would have preferred something softer and chewier.

For my entrée, I went with the grilled lamb kabob.

Looks amazing, right? This was spiced with moroccan herbs, and served with lemon oregano roasted potatoes.

It’s just too bad it didn’t taste as amazing as it looked. The potatoes were fine (and were my favorite part of the dish), but the lamb didn’t rock my world. Sad smile It was seasoned perfectly, but the meat itself was very tough and chewy. Not tender at all like I was hoping it would be. What a huge let down.

The service at Momo’s was another small letdown. Our waitress was friendly enough, but she was super slow! It was weird, since it was a Sunday night when we visited, and the restaurant was practically empty. Oh well.

I was too stuffed to try dessert (which included bread pudding!), so I’ll have to return to try that. I’ll be back to Momo’s for sure to give them another shot!

See you next week, and enjoy your weekend!

{ 7 comments }

Yummy food and…yelling?

by Stephanie on September 7, 2010

in Dinner, Lunch, Mediterranean, Vegetarian

What do you do when you go to a restaurant and the food is GREAT, but the service is sub-par? I guess you blog about it! I’ll talk about the food first, of course. The sub-par service I’ll get to a little later…

Andy and I met some friends at The Vine: Mediterranean Market and Cafe a few days ago. It’s a cute little restaurant with a grocery store attached. It’s located on South Grand in South St. Louis. I LOVE South Grand – it’s a long street with tons of ethnic restaurants, grocery stores, and shops. So much good food crammed into one area – who wouldn’t love that?

IMG_2382

I love love LOVE the atmosphere of this place. It’s very cozy and is decorated very well. The amount of detail put into the place is obvious.

IMG_2384

IMG_2385

Yes, those are SOFAS! Nice, soft, and comfy seating for the win!

Okay, on to the food.

We started with the Hummus appetizer. A blend of chick peas, tahini sauce, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. It was served with warm soft pita bread for dipping.

IMG_2396 

IMG_2395

I snapped a quick picture of the hummus before we stirred it all up and dove right in. It was creamy and delicious, and had a sharp tang from the lemon juice that I LOVED. The pita bread was soft, warm, and fresh! We had too much hummus and not enough pita, but the waitress quickly brought out more of the bread. Yum.

I also wanted to try the stuffed grape leaves. Grape leaves stuffed with rice, veggies, and spices? Yes! Count me in. I’m always up for a new adventure.

IMG_2391

These were GOOD. The leaves tasted exactly like collard greens. The filling was delicious and very well seasoned.

On to the real deal! I’m a huge fan of falafel, so I went with their falafel sandwich: a blend of chick peas, garlic and spices, with tahini sauce, tomatoes, parsley, onion, pickles, and pickled turnip. Wow!

IMG_2411

It was delicious, even though the falafel was a little too dry and crumbly for my tastes.

Andy ordered a side of fries for the table to share.

IMG_2401

These were SO good! I’m pretty sure I ate most of these. They were seasoned perfectly, and were hot and crispy! I’m a sucker for hot and crispy fries. :) I didn’t even need barbecue sauce for these babies! They were eaten plain. Yum!

After our meal, we decided to explore the shop that was connected to the restaurant. I thought this would be a good opportunity to snap a few pictures.

IMG_2419

Aren’t those hookahs beautiful?

Well, I was only able to take one picture, because shortly after I took that one, a worker came over and yelled at me, telling me to stop taking pictures! I explained my food blog to her, but I don’t think she understood. I was super embarrassed! That’s never happened to me before. What would you have done? It definitely put a damper on the night, and we left shortly afterwards.

Other than that one little snafu, the night was a success. You can’t beat good cheap food!

Score time…

Food: 4 stars (out of five)

Ambiance: 5 stars

Service: 2 stars (I can’t get over the yelling situation!)

Value: 5 stars

Overall, this place was good. Super cheap and delicious food in an inviting atmosphere. Just don’t take pictures of the shop next door!

{ 3 comments }