Yum Yum(‘s, Fort Collins, CO)

Posted on May 19, 2018 by melsmosaic

I love Mediterranean food and since moving to Fort Collins I’ve had a hard time finding it. Recently, however, I was introduced to a great place that I never would have stumbled across on my own — Yum Yum’s. It’s family owned and operated, multiple award winning Mediterranean restaurant established in 1991.

It’s so easy going and laid back in there. Casual atmosphere, also do carry-out and you truly know it’s family owned when they deliver your food to your table.

The menu is a very traditional Lebanese/Mediterranean one, which can be tough at some times because it’s hard to decide what to get. Usually when I go to these types of places I could eat just apps and salads.

I was sold right away when I found out their Baba Ghanouj had no yogurt in it — Roasted eggplant, sesame tahini, fresh garlic, lemon juice and special spices. Served with pita bread. Some places add yogurt, some don’t. Love it when it’s the latter.

I decided to go with that and some Fatouch Salad — Cucumber, parsley, green pepper, tomato and lemon juice.

Both were absolutely perfect, and big serving sizes.

Others at the table went with Gyros and Shawarma plates. They have several beers on tap here, as well. We were talking with the owner while eating and the story is so true to a family restaurant about how it’s been taken over from a couple generations and they aim to keep in that form. The service was amazing, the food was delicious and the prices were very reasonable (especially considering the large serving sizes). If you like this type of food, give it a try!

Beirut, Auckland, NZ

Posted on May 12, 2016 by melsmosaic

Another night, another restaurant. Asked for another suggestion from the concierge and this time because of what we were looking for, the restaurant suggestion was Beirut, which is contemporary middle-eastern food.

After pouring over the menu, we opted to split several small dishes and opted for:

Za’attar: kale, thyme, coriander, sumac, goat’s cheese

Fattoush: watermelon, beetroot, cucumber, orange blossom, parsley

Bubba: burnt eggplant, black sujuk, toasted sesame, black cabbage

Skate: fermented apple water, bees wax, pine oil, onion ash, batarekh, white radish

All were amazing. The bubba just melted in your mouth. The radish wasn’t my favorite in the fish dish (skate) but the rest of it was great. Love this kind of food!

Mykonos Grill

Posted on December 24, 2015 by melsmosaic

Another restaurant tested…received a recommendation to check out Mykonos Grill in Rockville, MD from a good friend. I had driven by it countless times (when going to Bed, Bath & Beyond) and was glad to hear it was worth checking out.

Got there sort of early and the hostess asked if I had a reservation. No, but was able to get a table for my friend and me. Within 30 minutes that place was packed! Wow, this place i obviously popular.

My friend and I split a bottle of Greek Red. Can’t remember the name of it (no correlation to the amount we drank).

They come out with their warm bread and the super seasoned lemony olive oil — so good!

We ordered some Melitzanosalata right off the bat; a smoked mousse (no dairy) eggplant froth, olive oil, lemon juice and herbs. Similar to baba ghannoush.

Based on their specials that night, we opted to split their roasted Branzino, a whole Mediterranean bass, white moist tender flakes, delicate flavor. It was so nice.

The servers were so nice, all the service was great, the place was packed and the dinner just melted in your mouth. I can’t believe I had driven by this place so many times. Glad I finally went.

Cava Mezze

Posted on December 15, 2015 by melsmosaic

It’s definitely the time of year to try new places. A recent restaurant visit took me to Cava Mezze in Rockville, MD. This is the real restaurant vs the fast-food version, which is Cava Grill.

The restaurant offers a wide selection of shared plates (like tapas) and good drink menu.

They start you off with super warm pita bread and nice olive oil and harissa.

After looking over the wine list, we opted for a house wine, Black of Kalavryta. Wow! It’s labeled as a dry Greek red. Got a slight hint of leather and some great dark cherries and strawberries.

Jumping ahead, we asked if we could buy bottles to take home, and it was not possible. Going to do some research as to who makes this stuff.

The waitress suggested 2-3 tapas per person, so we ordered 2 each to start and sort of share.

Taramosalata — salmon roe, lemon, breadcrumbs. First I had to look up what this really is. Per Wikipedia: Taramasalata is a Greek and Turkish meze made from tarama, the salted and cured roe of the cod, carp, or grey mullet mixed. Let me tell you: tasty!

Roasted Cauliflower — cumin, olive oil, fried capers, lemon yogurt. Such a nice taste from the roasting and apparently the yogurt was amazing!!

Octopus — grilled octopus, black beluga lentils, green harissa. OMG, enough said.

Lamb Chops — two baby chops, crisped potatoes, extra virgin olive oil. Perfectly done.

This was a phenomenal dinner. The only thing bad is that it had taken me so long to get there. It is a small place so when you check it out, make a reservation.

Roti

Posted on February 6, 2014 by melsmosaic

I have walked by, read and heard about Roti for quite awhile. Finally got to have it the other day at a catered event. Lives up to the hype! From hummus to salad to pita to all else, stuffed forever! Very fresh, you can see/tell everything that’s in your food and absolutely delicious. I’m a big Mediterranean food fan so was loving all of this. Highly recommend checking it out if you can.

Beef & Rice

Chicken

Greek salads, mostly devoured

Pita chips

Hummus

Couscous

Zuch-anoush and More Mediterranean Flair

Posted on August 1, 2013 by melsmosaic

More playing in the kitchen! I had this enormous zucchini that my friend gave me from her garden that led me make a twist to one of my favorite dips. When I can find Baba Ganoush without dairy (yogurt) because of my lactose intolerance I love it, but it can be hard. So, I tend to make it at home. But, it’s fun to make small changes to the recipe. Therefore, I have made it with zucchini vs. eggplant a few times. The hardest part of all this is thinking ahead and roasting the zucchini a for a good 45 or so minutes. You just cut the zucchini into big chunks, throw it on a cookie sheet and put it in oven at about 425 to roast it.

When it’s done, you want to be sure to squeeze it to get rid of extra water. After that, throw it in the food processor and add tahini, lemon juice, garlic, S&P…and any other spices you might like. This batch seemed to be missing something but it was still good! I dipped carrots and crackers into it.

I was in a Mediterranean mood that day and continued in the kitchen and made a Village salad. I’d grabbed a great yellow (vs traditional red) tomato at the farmer’s market and added a cucumber that I had from my friend’s garden and some greek olives. I had a red onion in my fridge but totally forget to put that in there. I threw some other ingredients in the mix to both clear out my fridge and add some fun — celery and walnuts. Sprinkled with a Penzey’s spice mix and olive oil. Great, healthy, hearty meal!