Mediterranean Delite is a 12 year old restaurant run by Palestinians originally from Jerusalem. It was recommended to us by an Israeli expat for its falafels. There are more to like- owner has an insistence to cook from scratch, and takes pride in doing so. The ingredients were very fresh. There was also an attention to details to be applauded.
The combo plate from the apps section had hummus, baba ganoush, tabbouleh, 2 falafels, 2 dolmas and a salad.
The falafels took 3 days to make, according to the owner. First day to soak the chickpeas in water for a day to soften it. The second day to chop up the chickpeas and let the marinade soak in. The third day to cook. The results were very good. The falafel was nicely spiced and moist inside and lightly fried and crispy outside. I haven’t had Oakland Ba-bite’s or the nearby Falafelle’s version. But I liked this version much.
The baba ganoush was nicely garlicky and smokey. The tabbouleh and the salad were very fresh- just made earlier in the day. And the results showed. The tabbouleh was bright and nicely refreshing. The hummus was quite good. I don’t remember much about the dolma and pita though.
The chicken shawerma plate had a good marinade on the chicken. The one small complaint would be its a little dry because its all breast. The dish also came with a little salad, tabbouleh and hummus.
The restaurant makes their own tahini from scratch- all sesame, and it paired nicely with the falafels and the plates. Believe its the same for the chili sauce. The guy obviously took pride in them- I think he charged for extra sauces to go.
The owners paid attention to details. The modest place was spotless, even the areas underneath the sink in the kitchen. I will be willing to make the logical leap that this attention to details extended to the food as well.
Even though the address is on El Camino, its tugged away in a mall on the southbound side of a quiet stretch of El Camino with the storefront facing south. There were a few tables inside and a few outside.
Some online reports suggest a soup nazi style owner, we only experienced very warm hospitality. We can’t speak to the experiences that others on Yelp encountered there. The guy does have a peculiar and dry sense of humor, and a little Salaam-Alaikum or Shukran probably go a long way.
We got comped a sugar cookie as dessert.
We’ll for sure be back. But also curious if anyone else had experience here. We like it better than Dish Dash (more sauce heavy) or Holyland in Santa Clara. Ingredients and attention to details matter.
Sweets:
Apparently this was how Jerusalem used to look like, maybe a few thousand years ago?
