[Oriental House Arabic Halal Cuisine] Consistently good Arabic food

This restaurant has been here for years serving the best Arabic Halal food in Hong Kong.

I used to eat at Sham Fast Food which was owned by them before this restaurant popped up in 2004.

Went here for dinner because I haven't been here for years and nothing has changed except for the improved decor which gives it a stronger Middle Eastern appearance like Simurgh in London.

That guy who served me a few years ago was still there.

Dinner portions are quite big.

Started with lentil soup which was starchy and creamy with a hint of cumin.

Next was the silkiest hummous which I just wolfed down.

It is too good to be shared.

Also had the mutabal and babbaganoush. The babbaganoush tasted sweet and sour while the mutabal was more savoury, both delicious with their fluffy pita bread.

For mains had the Shawerma which was tasty chicken, lamb and beef.

All were nicely spiced.

The mixed kebab paired with Arabic salad was grilled minced meat drizzled with tahini, again with cumin paired with refreshing salad and tasty Arabic rice.

Finished with the Halawat Al Gibn which tasted like a chewy glutinous rice cheesecake that was not too sweet.

https://www.facebook.com/OHFoodArabic/

More chocolates from Ali Baba

Ali Baba (Kowloon City)


I was given some chocolates over the new year so decided to write about them.
The silver and gold ones were chocolate filled with cornflakes, it was quite fun eating this because it was loose cornflakes inside.

The green one was chocolate filled with deliciously creamy caramel.

For candied aubergine, candied cactus and pistachio nougat, please read my previous review:http://supersupergirl-dining.blogspot.hk/2012/03/sweet-middle-eastern-delicacies-ali.html

Chicken sandwich @ Oh Food Arabic Halal Cuisine

I love the food here especially the chicken.

 

You would think their food is spicy, but it is not spicy at all.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
chicken sandwich:

 

 

The bread they used could have been better because it was a local one.
However the chicken inside was delicious and tender because it was thigh meat.
The sauce was packed with aromatic spices.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

Heavenly halal food @ 尚門快餐(清真) Sham Fast Food

The best food I have ever eaten, although its simple chicken and chips/arabic rice.

Every bit of it was dreamily delicious. The chicken is tender and tasty, its rice is the best, very minuscule pieces of carrot and herbs gently giving the rice aromatic flavour.
The coleslaw is also good, gently flavoured with salad sauce, not salad cream.

The fries were great too, topped with gorgeous spices, which reminded me McDonalds shake shake fries with curry powder.

There was also some white sauce, which I was not quite sure what it was, but added excitement to my meal. It was pure white, fluffier than mayonnaise with a slight garlic touch to it. That sauce was good, I wouldnt mind having more to dip my chips or to go with rice or the bread. It turns out to be Middle eastern style garlic sauce (thoom).

The bread was also good too, cute in size and piping hot.

For their drinks they also have a wide variety such as Almond milk in the cans, Apricot juice, Lemon and mint.

 

Sweet Middle Eastern delicacies @ 阿里吧吧 Ali Baba

At first, I didnt realise this little shop sold delicacies of dried fruit and chocolate.

When I went it, I was amazed at the selection, very rare and exotic choices of dried cactus fruit, dried figs, dried dates, dried apricots, dried apple, dried aubergine and various nougats.

One of the pistachio nougat I tried was interesting, it was pistachio in grape jelly, the grape taste was real grape extract too, rather than the fake grape essense or the wine flavour type.

My favourite nougat was the pistachio nougat sandwiched between the apricot, the nuttyness and sweetness of the nougat infused with the sour fruitiness of the apricot.

The candied fruits tasted quite the same for most of them, except for strong tasting fruits such as dates, or strawberries, the candied cactus fruit had a waxy skin, just like the dates, and many rock hard seeds in it too.

The candied aubergine tasted starchy.
For middle eastern delicacies, they contain alot of figs, dates, and apricots.
Although the sweets were really nice, I found the occaisional sand/grit in some, most probably blown on the fruits when they were being sun-dried.

Old Sham versus New Sham @ 清真夏姆阿拉伯餐廳

This used to be called "Sham", an Islamic fast food restaurant serving grilled/fried chicken with rice/chips/bread.

My review here before renovation:
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2023517

After my first meal at SHAM Fast Food I was hooked, and went twice, but then the third time is was closed for refurbishing.
When I found out it had re-opened, I was so keen to eat that food again, however, from the new pictures, I realised it wouldn’t be fast food.

I walked in, sat down, browsed the menu, ordered the Set dinner that includes a choice of starters, mains, dessert and soup, however the waitress with bad English said that the main dish was fixed, and also you could only choose one dish.

Their paragragh regarding the set menu, requires cautious browsing, if you skim it, it looks like you can pick two dishes from the chef mains.

That set costs $190 per person, which is quite a jump from the prices before as a fast food chain, the prices before ranged from $13-$85.
The most expensive one at $85 was a family size meal including 3 drinks, 3 pieces of bread, fries, and chicken.

Anyway, after I was told the choice of mains was fixed for the set, I picked other stuff on the menu, the waitress took my order and asked what about the other person, so I said we were sharing it.
Then after 1 minute, she came over again, and said there was a minimum order of $100 per person, and the current bill came to $105.

IF IT HAD CLEARLY STATED THAT ON THE MENU OR DISPLAYED IN THE RESTAURANT I WOULDNT HAVE BEEN SO ANNOYED.

But anyway, I chose other stuff to make up for the $95, after noting my order, she said that it still wasn’t enough!

For crying out loud! My arithmetic is Sham Shat, but hers was more sham shat than mine.
I had to verbally add it in front of her!
I said the existing bill was $105, and the addition of the hummus was $30, the falafel was $40 and the chicken wings were $30, so that’s $100 right.
Then after she froze there for a few seconds, she said Oh yea!

Finally sorted for ordering, I was waiting for the food.

The hummus came first, which was a generous portion with very hot bread, then came the falafel, it was slightly dry, but nice.
The main dish I ordered was the chicken Taook with potato puree and salad, the chicken thigh was tender and juicy, and the potato puree which looked like paste tasted very interesting, it was not starchy at all, the texture was a bit like Mado's ice-cream.

Was then served the Arabic rice, which tasted as good as before, with bits in it.
There are several versions, sometimes it has peas, this time it had short pieces of noodles.

Overall the food was really really good, but if you have been here before, its like paying 150% of the fast food price served here before, although the food is slightly finer with out the chips, drinks etc.
The chicken wings were not spectacular, didn’t taste of lemon or parsley, as stated.

While we were there, another customer came in, after he ordered, he was told about the minimum charge, at that time we found out that waitress was from China as she spoke mandarin, and her accent was a bit different to the English accent of HK people.

That moment, I really wanted to FAKE UP some mandarin and ask her, where is the shop or on the menu it saids about the minimum charge, but I figured, I could just fake it enough in mandarin to ask, but probably not understand her reply.

Finally finished the meal, there was no 10% service charge, but I didn't expect there to be any.
When we left, took a quick glance to see if there was any notice for minimum charge, but there wasn’t, only when we were outside the restaurant, we found this one piece of paper stuck on the front door stating the charge, AS if you would notice that! The first thing I would look at before going in a restaurant is the menu, and if there is anything in there I want to eat!

Overall I felt the service was not that good, if she spoke better English, it would have made communication much easier. Secondly, they need to make that sign more prominent in the restaurant or menu too regarding minimum order.

Delicious egyptian dinner @ Habibi

Had this dinner along time ago, but just found the photos.

Ordered the following:

Firahk Bil Roman: Baby chicken stuffed with apricot, figs, and raisins cooked in pomegranate flavoured sauce.
Very fruity with tender chicken.
Babaganough: Roasted eggplant with tahina and lemon juice
This was nice and tangy, and the texture is unlike eggplant at all, it was so nice I finished it before remembering to take a picture.
Mussaka: Layered slices of eggplant, seasoned minced lamb and vegetables topped with mashed potatoes
This was like a not spicy version of “ma poor kear ji”, the chinese minced meat thing with aubergines.

Babaganough

 

Mussaka

 

Firahk Bil Roman