I crave Mediterranean/Middle Eastern food like nothing else – and ever since my trip to Egypt and Jordan, I’ve been craving Arabic coffee even more. So it was only natural that my first stop on Los Angeles Magazine’s list of 101 Cheap Eats (Summer Bucket List item #21) was Momed.
Nestled among designer fashion stores and ultra modern cafes lined with rows of glimmering luxury cars, Momed, on Beverly Hills’ Beverly Drive, doesn’t exactly give off the “cheap” vibe. And to be honest, it actually isn’t all that cheap (perhaps by Beverly Hills standards). But it’s worth it.
From the moment we walked in, I couldn’t take my eyes off the brightly colored meze (salads) beckoning to diners from a refrigerated glass case. In fact, my first thought was to start with the $16 three-item meze combo. The boy reeled me back a little and suggested we start with just one meze before the main dish. I reluctantly agreed and before long we were devouring the muhammara, a subtly sweet blend of roasted red pepper, walnuts and pomegranate served with wheat pitas.
As I eagerly anticipated my main course — the absolutely delicious and return-worthy duck shawarma with oven-dried tomatoes, figs and garlic spread – I was pleasantly surprised to see mint lemonade, just about the most refreshing thing you can drink, on the menu.
We wrapped it up with Arabic coffee – just the way I like it, with a hint of cardamom, although I could’ve used just a pinch more – and three desserts. Yes, you read that right. We simply couldn’t decide. With a baklava combo that included regular and chocolate versions of the honey- and pistachio-filled filo dough treat and baklava bread pudding on the menu, who could?!
All in all, it was an incredible meal. Cheap? No. But worth every penny.
Celeste
Kim
Even less cheap would have been the parking ticket I was so worried about as we slightly overstayed the none-too-generous one-hour street parking limit. I am told, however, by a reliable source that there are two-hour-free — that’s cheap! — city-owned lots not far from Momed. Check it out: http://www.beverlyhills.org/services/parking/parkingstructures.asp