Granada Cafe, Middle Eastern on Elden Street with Iraqi, Syrian, and Turkish Dishes

[Joshua Grinnell]

When we moved from Arlington to Herndon, I was afraid my wife's heart would break from losing Me Jana/Lebanese Taverna market and the other local places to get a quick shot of shawarma when needed.

In one of Herndon's many strip malls of ethnic delights on Elden (this one has four Indian places of various styles and regions, a halal grocery store, a Russian deli, a German place where the owner's Thai wife snuck some things on the menu) is Granada Cafe, which beyond doing excellent Lebanese staples such as shawarma/fettoush/kibbeh etc. has some Syrian and Iraqi dishes, including something which I never thought I'd see outside of Iraq, the delectable sammoun.

Sammoun is a soft sandwich loaf that defies easy description. It's shaped like a baguette truncated into a crescent-roll shape, very soft with a hint of sweetness. If you've only ever had pita and lavash, sammoun is eye-opening. The Granada Sandwich (tender beef strips, pickled beets and carrots, marinated eggplant, and a touch of curry) comes stuffed in a sammoun, as does their version of shish tawook, which is like a yankee bbq sandwich because it takes a perfectly good bit of bread, meat, and sauce and then throws coleslaw in it.

All the breads are fresh-baked in their brick oven and any sandwich can come on sammoun for an extra dollar, I believe. They also bake Turkish pide in this oven, though I haven't tried one.

They do a fairly steady business for lunch, but I've never seen them busy for dinner outside of Ramadan. They have an impressive dessert case from the bakery side of the house - different strains of baklawa, bird's nests, knafeh, etc.

So far I've only been disappointed with the meat and cheese fetayer - it's possible that they're not getting the turnover they need, so they end up a little dry; otherwise, this is a great chance for fans of Middle Eastern food to try something new.

[Kibbee Nayee]

Plus, with this Groupon, you can get $20 of their food for $11, plus another 15% today only (last day of a local special). I purchased one for myself, and I plan to use it soon.

[CanY]

Granada is located on 368 Elden St. Herndon, VA 20170. They are located in a run-down shopping center with relatively out dated furniture and a confusing set up for a first time guest. 2.3 miles down the road is another restaurant. This restaurant has 919 locations and operates in 62 countries. A single location of this restaurant costs around 2 to 6 millions dollars to open doors. It's decked out with big signs, nicer furniture, professionally designed menus, and a good size staff. Guess which one I would go back for and be willing to pay double the amount of what I paid for the same food from my previous visit?

Maybe the title of this page is a dead giveaway but my answer is Granada. I don't get the name. Perhaps they're paying homage to Emir Muhammad XII or perhaps they root for Granada FC in La Liga. But besides their name, I get everything about them. I get that serving food from the Middle East without the "kabob", "Mediterranean", and "halal" keywords may deter the general public, so almost every Middle Eastern restaurant ever opened in our region feels the pressure to feature one or more of these words. I get that good food has nothing to do with decor. I get that having high stars on Yelp will help determine whether a restaurant of this make-up will make it or not. I get that although the suburb folk craves well made food, they won't patron it on the regular unless there was hype surrounding the place. So when I visited Granada this past Sunday, I felt joy of finding this restaurant in an area which is filled with restaurants which are a lot like the most outer piece of an empty babushka doll; well designed and hollow.

When you walk into Granada, it's unclear whether you approach the register to order or take a seat or wait to be instructed. After getting seated, we tried grape leaves and falafel. They were both enjoyable. For next course, we ate Turkish pizza and lamb tagine. Turkish pizza had hints of sweetness, but the consistency of the pide was in line with what it is served in western Turkey. Lamb tagine was the best dish of the night. It was also the best dish of the month for me. If you don't like lamb, you won't enjoy it. It's gamey and best part of it is hidden in it's marrow. If you like lamb, you will wish that the pot in which the dish is served is magical and presents you with never ending lamb. The marrow has wonderful flavor that if you don't enjoy it, it`ll remain hidden. After the amazing lamb, I enjoyed rice pudding. Even though it's very different than what I`m used to, it was delicious. I also ordered basboosa, madlouka, and baklava to enjoy later while watching Cowboys position themselves for another early playoff exit.

Later that night, we did drive 2.3 miles from Granada to the earlier mentioned restaurant. Best thing they served was the cold Stella on tap. Food there was, is, and will be tasteless and soul-less. Hopefully honest efforts of small, family owned restaurants will continue to flourish and prosper.

[Al Dente]

Nice write up CanY. I'm giving this place a try tonight!

[Al Dente]

I forgot all about ordering the sammoun, but I gave this joint a try a few nights ago.

It's a weird place. A large TV presents a slide show of their dishes. The lights are way too bright. The music is way too loud. The springs in the banquettes are shot. You don't know whether to order at the register or wait for a waiter.

We sat and a guy timidly approached us with takeout menus. We were the only ones there. When we were ready to order we asked that they put wheels on it so we could get outta there.

• Grape leaves-- loved them. The sweetness of pomegranate rounded out the earthy flavors.
• Falafel-- dry and stale tasting.
• Deep-fried beef dumpling (the name escapes me)-- come on, it's fried so it was pretty good. However, the perfectly formed shape and size of the dumplings made me wonder if this was a frozen product from some vendor.
• Turkish Pizza-- the pizza is as close to the ones I enjoyed in Turkey as any I've had in the US. The crust was great. I'm still looking for the real deal though.
• Spinach Turkish Pizza-- also good. And it reheated well for leftovers.
• Adana Grill-- nothing special in terms of flavor.

I have to say I was troubled by the situation with the vertical spit roaster doohicky. The burners were turned off yet a hunk of meat remained on the spit which made me wonder how often the meat went out of temperature. It just seemed a little sketchy.

It was a slightly above average Middle Eastern restaurant experience. Maybe I'll return and try a tagine.

[Kibbee Nayee]

Deep-fried beef dumpling (the name escapes me)-- come on, it's fried so it was pretty good. However, the perfectly formed shape and size of the dumplings made me wonder if this was a frozen product from some vendor.

That should have been Sambousik.

[DonRocks]

That should have been Sambousik.

Other than the shape, is there a substantial difference between a Sambousik and a Fatayer? (I'm not going to cheat and research this.)

Although they're a bit yeasty, and maybe not very "down-home," I've always liked the Fatayer at Lebanese Taverna carryout (not loved, but liked).

[CanY]

Other than the shape, is there a substantial difference between a Sambousik and a Fatayer? (I'm not going to cheat and research this.)

Although they're a bit yeasty, and maybe not very "down-home," I've always liked the Fatayer at Lebanese Taverna carryout (not loved, but liked).

I think Sambousek is fried and Fatayer is baked. (But I could be wrong, since in Turkey we have different names and variations of them.)

[DonRocks]

I think Sambousek is fried and Fatayer is baked. (But I could be wrong, since in Turkey we have different names and variations of them.)

Yes, that's correct (I didn't even think about that).

You know, long ago, the best thing at Tabaq Bistro (psst ... update your website!) was the Borek (which is kind of similar as well, except cigar-shaped). Oftentimes, it helps to find out the ethnicity of the owners, and order something from that country - that was the case here.

[CanY]

Yes, that's correct (I didn't even think about that).

You know, long ago, the best thing at Tabaq Bistro (psst ... update your website!) was the Borek (which is kind of similar as well, except cigar-shaped). Oftentimes, it helps to find out the ethnicity of the owners, and order something from that country - that was the case here.

As much as I enjoyed the rooftop views of Tabaq, I never tried their food, and I believe they are closed so perhaps that's why their website is out dated. And when my mom visits me in town, I`ll get her to make some sigara boregi (the cigar shaped borek) with rich feta and parsley, and save some for you. ( )

[DonRocks]

As much as I enjoyed the rooftop views of Tabaq, I never tried their food, and I believe they are closed so perhaps that's why their website is out dated. And when my mom visits me in town, I`ll get her to make some sigara boregi (the cigar shaped borek) with rich feta and parsley, and save some for you. ( )

Yes, of course it's closed (and I even said as much in their thread in August, 2013 - Dining Guide).

I should probably start doing crossword puzzles or something. I've been so absent-minded of late. I remember every post ever written in this forum (believe it or not), but this past week, I've faltered - tough holiday season for me.

[Al Dente]

That should have been Sambousik.

They were described as dumplings on the menu but I don't know that I'd call them that. They were little meatballs dipped in batter. I'd say they were like corn dogs in that sense (minus the stick).

[ulrath]

I've been here three times.  If it was on the other side of Herndon, I would be here all the time.  Their fresh bread is great.  My go to dish is a granada sandich.  Meat, pickled vegetables and a curry sauce.  Be sure to try the mushroom soup if they have it when you are out there.

[Kibbee Nayee]

Had a very nice shish-taouk platter for lunch today. The chicken was a tad overdone, but not too bad, and the accompanying sides of pickled turnips, sliced tomatoes, a Levantine slaw and fresh pita made it a plenty good lunch for about $10.