The other night I was taken to a new restaurant in Glendale, well sort of a new restaurant. Apparently the Phonecia Restaurant had been in Glendale on the same corner of Central and Lexington years and years ago. Phonecia serves traditional Lebanese Food. We were greeted very warmly by the staff and sat in the fairly empty, but elegant dining room. There is a tented area outside where it seemed like more of the action was and the restaurant seemed to get busier as the evening progressed.
My husband and I shared the "Arz" meal for two. This combination included just about every Middle Eastern favorite of ours, hummus, falafel, kebabs, tabbouleh, baba ganoush, rice, salad, stuffed grape leaves, rice, a never ending basket of warm pita, and other dishes I had never tried before and couldn't name. There was a tremendous amount of food that the two of us, our two children, and the two adults with us (who had their own entrees) could not even come close to finishing.
Based on this visit, I would recommend Phonecia. I am sure I will go back for more.
Phoenicia Restaurant
343 N Central Ave
Glendale, CA 91203
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Phoenicia Restaurant
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7 comments:
Fof so liked the rice, she named it twice!
Well,
There was a lot of rice...
This past Saturday (7-19-08), I along with 50 other people visited Phoenicia to celebrate a friend's birthday. This was my first visit to the restaurant though not my first exposure to Middle Eastern food. I arrived a little before 7 p.m., as I was told by my friend that food would begin being served at 7 p.m. At 7:40 p.m., cold appetizers were finally brought to the table. These consisted of humus and other fare which are typically found in many Middle Eastern restaurants. I did note, however, that there was a lot of humus or as I like to call it, filler. Though there were 11 people at my table, the individual dishes only provided enough food for 3 to 4people. Needless to say, many of us were only able to get a tablespoon of food (I am not kidding). A salad comprised of broccoli and romaine lettuce could have comfortably fed 3 people, but fell far short of the 11. I got to small lettuce pieces and a piece of broccoli. After the appetizers were finished, empty dishes and silverware remained strewn about the table for another 60 minutes. As these were being picked up, someone asked the owner what the next entree was. He replied, "Shish kabob. It will be out in a few minutes." It was 9 p.m. at the time. At 9:20 p.m., I asked a server when the entree might arrive. He mumbled something incoherent and walked away entering the kitchen. He reappeared minutes later and walked towards the other side of the room. At 9:40 p.m., I got up and handed a member of our party, $86.00. The cost per person on Saturdays is $43.00 which includes a band who begins playing at 9 p.m. and a belly dancing show, which is scheduled to start at 10 p.m. I and my companion left the restaurant without eating or even catching a glimpse of the entree (which might have been making its way from the Middle East). $43.00 is too much for generic appetizers and lousy service. The management has not concept of what constitutes acceptable service. The place is also loud the drywall construction, looks cheap and appears to be a failed attempt at sophistication. I not recommend Phoenicia. If you want good Middle Eastern cuisine there are many other places in Glendale and Hollywood. If you want to eat good food you can go to Damons on Brand Blvd, Clancy's on Central, BJ's on Broadway or the new Cheesecake Factory at The Americana. It is the worst restaurant I have ever visited.
dquinonees,
Thanks so much for your comments. I really appreciate your input. It sounds like your visit to Phoenicia was horrible. Of course any visit to a restaurant can be made into a great or terrible experience by the service. I recently had amazing service at the Marmalade Cafe on Ventura blvd. in the Valley.
I back your Clancy's call, I love that place. I look forward to your comments in the future.
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