Kamal’s Middle Eastern Specialities, Not so Special
I was in the mood for shwarma, so I stopped by Kamal’s in Reading Terminal. The menu is exactly what you would expect: falafel, shwarma, dips, etc. with options in platter or sandwich form. How could you mess up shwarma, right?
But I can’t endorse the chicken shwarma at all. It was pretty lame, just a mess of lettuce, and bland chicken meat.
You would think a side order of baba ganoush would be served in a small plastic container, or something like that, right? Instead, I was given a plastic wrapped plate. It wasn’t particularly memorable, but even worse was the flattened, bland pita served with it.
From the “pie” menu, I was leaning towards the meat pie aka lahmajoun but the corresponding photo explaining the product displayed looked like a factory version, which was then confirmed. I chose the chicken and vegetable pie instead, since I was told they are made in house ($3.95). This was the best of Kamal’s wares that I tried. It was mild, but pleasant and healthy tasting.
THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)
- Lots of options, for vegetarians and meat eaters
- They also serve fresh juice
THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)
- Lame attempt at chicken shwarma
- Boring baba ganoush, and bad pita
Kamal’s, 12th and Arch, 215-925-1511
Posted by Jamie at 12:55 pm, December 2nd, 2010 under MIddle Eastern, Reading Terminal, Team Baba Ghanoush.
6 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
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6 Comments
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This place has always been kind of sleazy. Besides the quality of the food, they only got the professionally-printed signs in the past few years. Before that the signs were so cryptic it was difficult to tell exactly how much your lunch would cost. I have a feeling they did this on purpose and charged according to your appearance (i.e. tourists paid more).
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I recently had very good shwarma at Marakesh Express in University City.
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Best Middle Eastern food I’ve had outside of the Middle East is at Saad’s on 45th and Walnut. They use a garlicky sauce in all the dishes that is out of this world. I LOVE their falafel sandwich with hummus. The Chicken Shish Tawook was also awesome. Their site is not very impressive, but the food blows me away every time. http://www.saadhalal.com/
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reading terminal would be better served by having either the falafel king or falafel nazi occupying that space, I’m sure you all agree!
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That place is the pits. I made the mistake of eating there, twice. Unbelievable they are able to stay in business given the great food at RTM.
bad pita can definitely ruin everything.