Aybla - Food Cart

My friend introduced me to this food cart, in the downtown section of PDX food carts. Aybla is a Greek/Mediterranean food cart, and they serve gyros and falafel and other scrumptious delights.



I am now a lamb fiend. Yes, me, the girl who was vegetarian for six years, now cannot stop eating delicious baby animals. Sigh.











You would understand, though, if you tasted the Super Lamb Gyros from Aybla. It's a little pricey, for a single wrap ($7 or so), but that sucker is HUGE, and they aren't stingy with their lamb. It comes in a space blanket, with pita bread, cilantro, and tomatoes, smothered in sauce.

There are several Aybla food carts: SW 5th and Oak (my previous frequent stop), SW 9th and Alder, and SE 43rd and Belmont (my new frequent stop).

Habibi

On a quest for Indian food in downtown Portland, Dad and I discovered this little place instead. Habibi serves Lebanese cuisine. The place was mostly empty, and we were greeted by low lighting, and Shakira music.


I tried the Spinach Pie, and Turkish Coffee. The Spinach Pie was gorgeous, and very different. Besides spinach, it was made with some herbs, lemon, and pine nuts, which gave it a very tangy flavor. It's a good vegetarian option, and it was also pretty tasty with some of Dad's lamb.

The Turkish coffee came in a nifty little pot (as you can see) and though it wasn't very thick, it was pretty strong (if you're a wimp) and very, very sweet.

I believe Habibi has two locations: SW 10th and Morrison, and SW 3rd and Pine. Try them out! They're authentic and delicious. And they serve pretty food.

Arabian Breeze

There is a Middle Eastern restaurant on NE Broadway called Arabian Breeze. They serve authentic food from Syria, Lebanon and other nearby countries, the recipes and preparation of which have been handed down through the Arabian Breeze family for years.

All meals come with a wide circle of flat bread, hung on a short stand on the table. Think of it as a giant, thick tortilla. I would recommend getting hummus or some sort of dip to come with it! My party got Baba Ganush -- a pureed smoked eggplant, much like hummus, actually, except with a great wood-smoked flavor.




I was excited about their menu, because I discovered a food I had not eaten since I was in Ecuador, and I ate these ALL the time at night downtown in Quito: Chicken Shawarma! Not an Ecuadorian food, by the way. Shawarma is a roasted chicken wrap, with veggies, and a white garlic cream sauce on the side. Mmm. This chicken was flavored with a pungent array of Middle Eastern spices.

This is Dad's lamb kebab, with yellow rice. It was well-done lamb, and the rice was smooth.
This was Kefteh, a strong lamb meatloaf:
And this! This, my friends, is pistachio cheesecake. It was delicious. The crust was not overly crumbly, but very sweet, and the cheesecake was smooth, and delicately green and pistachio-flavored. It was a big piece -- I definitely recommend sharing. My low-carb, low-cholesterol-watching party didn't help me much.


Chicken Shawarma: 10.75
Lamb Kebab: 12
Kefteh: 13
Pistachio cheesecake: 7