Al Haldmain Restaurant

* Saudi Surprise! *
What looked like a fairly standard falafel joint turned into more of a full service restaurant with items from Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. They were out of most of the Saudi specialties so we had some fairly standard items — but they were prepared well.
The falafel platter had five huge falafels which were served at room temperature. These were light and perfectly seasoned. Very nice. The hummus had a nice dose of garlic and was topped with a bit of tahini. The tabbouleh was heavy on the lemon juice, but very fresh tasting. A nice platter:
The mixed kebab platter (
) had the same tabbouleh and hummus (
) which were just as good. It also had a generous portion of rice which was close to Saudi style — although not with all the added extras I’ve had before like raisins, pine nuts, or almonds. But it was tasty. The kebabs (
) were nicely done with the meat still tender. The lamb and beef were best — they were the chopped variety but still juicy and cooked just right. The chicken had a slight butane taste as if it got too close to the flame, but the meat inside of it was very tender as well. Overall a nice dish.
The place could do with a good cleaning, but the cushioned seating was quite comfortable. Service was very friendly as well.
I’ll likely be returning to try and get some of the traditional Saudi items!

Okay so as a tourist really I walked into this place — -I was starving as a matter of fact, but I’m very picky with food, so I decided to order a chicken shwarma and eat on the go since I was not done with errands for the day!
So I thought, ‘this will be an ordinary shwarma’ but as I walked the street of Granville towards Robson, and took a bite of my yummy food, the rain seemed to not be in existence anymore, this sandwich had taken over, it was so tasty and delicious that I felt my feet rise from the ground as I walked through puddles and watched people stare at me as I ate my shwarma with delight!
I loved the food — -I think they are SO worth being on Robson where there is more traffic, they are SO nice as well, I spoke to the owners son, and I asked why they don’t have hookahs here, it would sell out (in Cali they have them) he told me it was a Canadian law no tobacco near food — –what a bummer, but who cares when they serve the yummiest dishes ever!
So…try this place out, I mean I walked right in and was shocked by how yummy their food was — -the little mom & pop places always seem to surprise me!