Shababi, Takeout-only Palestinian "Ghost Restaurant" Opening at Roro's Modern Lebanese in Alexandria

[Kibbee Nayee]

I am more than mildly excited about the opening of Shababi, a takeout-only "ghost restaurant" operating out of Roro's Modern Lebanese Cuisine at 5655 General Washington Drive, Unit A, in Alexandria.

Musakhan is more or less the national dish of Palestine, and when executed well, it is among the best of the world's chicken meals. And I have a feeling to believe it will be executed well, because Marcelle Afram was the former executive chef at Michelin-starred Maydan in DC, and is teamed up with Roro Asmar, who own's Roro's.

If you've never had musakhan, it's a real treat for chicken lovers. It's a rotisserie-style halal chicken with amazingly crispy skin, coated with allspice, sumac, cumin, fenugreek, and cardamom, and cooked in a special oven imported from Lebanon. And as if that wasn't enough, za'atar fries and onion flatbread, followed by funnel cake-like zalabia for dessert, shoudl make for delectable meal. And for you vegetarians, I'm betting the mushroom shawarma will hit the spot.

They will start taking pre-orders on January 18 and will go live on January 22.

 

[jderryup]

Impressive.  I found Roro's to be a great falafel lunch spot.  This will add to Friday night dinners.  

[Bob Wells]

4 hours ago, Kibbee Nayee said:

I am more than mildly excited about the opening of Shababi, a takeout-only "ghost restaurant" operating out of Roro's Modern Lebanese Cuisine at 5655 General Washington Drive, Unit A, in Alexandria.

Musakhan is more or less the national dish of Palestine, and when executed well, it is among the best of the world's chicken meals. And I have a feeling to believe it will be executed well, because Marcelle Afram was the former executive chef at Michelin-starred Maydan in DC, and is teamed up with Roro Asmar, who own's Roro's.

If you've never had musakhan, it's a real treat for chicken lovers. It's a rotisserie-style halal chicken with amazingly crispy skin, coated with allspice, sumac, cumin, fenugreek, and cardamom, and cooked in a special oven imported from Lebanon. And as if that wasn't enough, za'atar fries and onion flatbread, followed by funnel cake-like zalabia for dessert, shoudl make for delectable meal. And for you vegetarians, I'm betting the mushroom shawarma will hit the spot.

They will start taking pre-orders on January 18 and will go live on January 22.

 

WOW. I think if I ate nothing but food from the mediterranean region for the rest of my life, I would live long and die happy.

[Kibbee Nayee]

15 hours ago, Bob Wells said:

WOW. I think if I ate nothing but food from the mediterranean region for the rest of my life, I would live long and die happy.

I would agree with you, although I am more of a fan of the Eastern Mediterranean. 

For those who haven't seen my write-up on Middle Eastern food, click HERE.

[saf]

23 hours ago, Kibbee Nayee said:

Musakhan is more or less the national dish of Palestine, and when executed well, it is among the best of the world's chicken meals. And I have a feeling to believe it will be executed well, because Marcelle Afram was the former executive chef at Michelin-starred Maydan in DC, and is teamed up with Roro Asmar, who own's Roro's.

If you've never had musakhan, it's a real treat for chicken lovers.

 

They make it Ayesha's, and it is my regular order there. I wish this place were closer to me!

[Kibbee Nayee]

I still haven't tried it yet, but I'm bumping this with a comment from Tom Sietsema's chat today (March 3):

Hi Tom!
Wanted to highlight an amazing dinner we had from Shababi last night. It's the Palestinian 'ghost restaurant' located by Landmark with rotisserie chicken. My husband and I got the half chicken portion and was one of the best take-out meals we've had all lockdown! The place is tricky to find (with a letter-sized paper on the door), but well worth the trip. Recommend ordering more pita or having some extra veggies because they have so many fun dips to try (or probably should have saved more for leftovers...but the food was too good to put down). Honestly, was a little skeptical about za'atar fries, but they were delicious! Whatever rub they put on the chicken I want to buy a bottle and put it on everything. It was about a 15 min. drive home and everything was packaged perfectly and traveled well.

 

A:

Tom Sietsema

Thanks for the prompt to try the dining draw in Alexandria . One of the two chefs in the project is Marcelle Afram, late of the wildly popular Maydan in Washington.

[jderryup]

We gave it a try Thursday night and it was exactly as advertised.  A perfectly cooked and seasoned chicken with nicely chosen sides.  The ordering process, payment, and pick-up were easy and orderly.  It all made the trip home and onto the plate with no unexpected loss of heat or cool.  The taboon bread and the sauces, especially the spicey shatta and garlic toum, were an asset to the chicken and to the zaatar fries. Somebody said to order extra pita.  I wish I had listened.

 

It is hard to rival the official bird of the area, the Peruvian chicken, but this place deserves a shot as contender.

[Kibbee Nayee]

Imagine if a chef from Michelin one-star Maydan decided to pursue a dream and open a "ghost" or "virtual kitchen" inside the little known restaurant of a friend in Alexandria, and he decided to specialize in a Palestinian chicken concept, and then he nailed it to perfection. He named it Shababi, which means "my people" in Arabic.

Dinner tonight was the Chicken Musakhan dinner from Shababi Chicken. It's located behind Marlo Furniture on General Washington Drive in Alexandria, right off Edsall Rd. If you're looking for it, look for "Asmar" sign, and with Roro's Asmar Deli on on the entrance door (Asmar Roro is his fellow Lebanese friend). The process is to order and pay for your meal online, arrive at the location at the scheduled time, and call their number to have them bring it out to a table outside the front door. It was an entirely painless and efficient process.

The food traveled well from Shababi to my home in Springfield, about 15 minutes. At home, the chicken was piping hot, the pita and the Taboon flatbread were still fresh, but the za'atar fries tended to be a little flaccid. This was a really nice meal and a special treat. Here's the breakdown:

Whole Chicken Musakhan Dinner with za'atar fries, Aleppo crisp cucumbers, hummus, mazarea sauce and Taboon flatbread, to which we added an extra order of pita and an order of baba ghanouj. Zalabia was added as gratis treat.

• Chicken Musakhan -- As mentioned before, it traveled well and was quite hot on arrival. The meat was tender and juicy, although it toughened up a bit over time. The skin was delectable, caked with allspice and sumac, and was very crisp. Very delicious on my Middle Eastern trained palate, but I can see where it might be a bit assertive for someone else. But I have to say, as soon as I started tearing into it, still very hot, that meat was as tender and juicy as a quality rotisserie chicken should be.
• Mazarea sauce -- This was outstanding, a perfect accompaniment to the chicken. It's tinged red, probably with sumac, and creamy with a whipped garlic and cashew base. I've never dipped any chicken in anything better.
• Za'atar fries -- Too bad they faded in travel, because they were otherwise delicious. I can see where these would be incredible right out of the fryer.
• Aleppo crisp cukes -- Outstanding. One of the hits of the meal. I'm not sure what the spices were, but definitely pepper, maybe even Aleppo pepper, and other spices.
• Hummus -- Extremely good, topped with sumac, and creamy-smooth. Excellent texture and flavor.
• Baba ghanouj -- As good as Mediterranean Gourmet Market, which has always been my standard. The flavor of the charred eggplant was really coaxed out of this dish.
• Taboon flatbread -- Pita topped with olive oil, sumac, and za'atar. It was good, not great, but I would order it again.
• Zalabia -- Picture Palestinian funnel cake, only better, with turmeric and orange blossom water. The Middle East is known for its desserts, and add this one to the list of all-stars.

We ordered enough food to feed a few NFL linemen, and there will be leftovers aplenty tomorrow. For me, the surprises were the highlights -- Aleppo crisp cukes, mazarea sauce, baba ghanouj, and zalabia. Overall, I'll be coming back for more of these meals, and I'm glad it's close enough for me to enjoy.

 

[saf]

2 hours ago, Kibbee Nayee said:

Mediterranean Gourmet Market

Hm. Where is this?

[Kibbee Nayee]

14 hours ago, saf said:

Hm. Where is this?

Mediterranean Gourmet Market is on Franconia Road, in the Franconia area of Springfield. Don Rocks has it listed first in the Franconia section of the Dining Guide.

[saf]

6 minutes ago, Kibbee Nayee said:

Mediterranean Gourmet Market is on Franconia Road, in the Franconia area of Springfield. Don Rocks has it listed first in the Franconia section of the Dining Guide.

Thank you! I shall have to try them! I already go to VA for Mediterranean shopping, at Mediterranean Bakery, so I can manage this expedition too.

[Kibbee Nayee]

On 3/19/2021 at 11:07 AM, saf said:

Thank you! I shall have to try them! I already go to VA for Mediterranean shopping, at Mediterranean Bakery, so I can manage this expedition too.

Pro tip. Get your fresh pita bread, and most of your olives and spices at Mediterranean Bakery. And it might have the best desserts, like baklava and ma'amoul, in the entire DC metropolitan area.

Then go to Mediterranean Gourmet Market for the prepared foods -- sfeehah, ftayer, kibbeh, baba ghanouj, hummus, tabbouli, and so forth. You can also get Lebanese beer and wine at Mediterranean Gourmet Market.

Pro tip #2: Freeze whatever you don't eat right away of your fresh pita bread as soon as you get home. Then, over time, bring out one or two frozen loaves, wrap in damp towel or paper towel, and microwave at 40% power for about 35 seconds. It will be the same as fresh-out-of-the-oven.

[saf]

6 hours ago, Kibbee Nayee said:

Pro tip. Get your fresh pita bread, and most of your olives and spices at Mediterranean Bakery. And it might have the best desserts, like baklava and ma'amoul, in the entire DC metropolitan area.

Then go to Mediterranean Gourmet Market for the prepared foods -- sfeehah, ftayer, kibbeh, baba ghanouj, hummus, tabbouli, and so forth. You can also get Lebanese beer and wine at Mediterranean Gourmet Market.

Wow, they have better prepared food than Mediterranean Bakery? OK, for sure will have to try them now. (Haven't been to VA in quite a while now, so haven't had a chance to try them yet.)

And as for deserts - the fruit pockets cookies at Mediterranean Bakery, especially the raspberry, are the best things ever. EVER! I wish I could find a recipe for them!

[weezy]

Was planning to do  a pickup later this week and checked the website, and Shababi has closed