Jericho — Restaurant in Ottawa

Follow my food blog on Instagram for reviews: @mimi.munches! 💖 . I absolutely adore Middle-Eastern cuisine, ever since going to there for the first time to Jordan a few years ago, so I'm always looking for new spots in Ottawa to enjoy! . I've always walked by this restaurant whenever I go to the Glebe area, and have always been curious. So when a colleague (thank you Janine!) recently recommended Jericho to me, so I went with a friend and we tried these dishes: . House Specials: #2 Lamb Kafta, which is ground lamb mixed with onion, parsley and spices. This was my favourite out of the two house specials. The lamb was SO tender, and really flavourful, given the unique blend of spices. I would absolutely recommend this as a must-order! Thank you Janine for recommending this. . House Specials: #5 House Combo, which has homus, kebby, grape leaves, salad and fatayer. Kebby is cracked wheat stuffed with beef, onions, pine nuts and spices. Fatayer is spinach pies. This dish was a good way to try a bit of everything. If you're someone who enjoys variety, this is a good choice! I especially enjoyed the kebby, as the mix of spices used in the beef was different from those in the lamb kafta! . The other house specials (there are 5) are: Grilled spicy chicken breast, Shish kebab, and a Chicken Wrap. . I recommend dining in the restaurant, as it is beautifully decorated and spacious. The owner came by and told us that he created all of the art on the walls! The owner was super friendly and really helpful with regards to helping us decide on what to order. . Next time, I want to try their Falafel, as well as their Kabab Combination (chicken/beef)! . 📍Location: 840 Bank Street, Ottawa, ON, K1S 3W1 (Glebe...

Came here for dinner, and I ordered the chicken breast house special, and my partner ordered the chicken kebab house special. We were also the only ones in the restaurant when we ordered. I also found the menu somewhat confusing, some items would list what was included, others didn't, and when we asked some of the items didn't seem to come with what you'd expect for the price. Like the shawarma on hummus just came with Pita, no potato or salad, which I would have expected for the price.

Our water took a while to come out. When the food came out, I was given the wrong meal, I asked and he apologized and said it was the lamb kafta instead of the chicken breast. He offered to take it back and make the chicken instead, but I didn't really want to wait that long, and I don't mind lamb so I said I'd just take keep it. He assured me it was the best item on the menu. Confusing how he mixed that up when nobody else was in the restaurant, though.

So, the lamb kafta were nicely seasoned and had pretty good flavor, however, one of them was slightly burnt on the outside, and the other was slightly undercooked in the middle and had a raw ground meat texture. The salad it came with was good, but the pieces of tomato and green pepper felt too large for the salad and made it awkward to eat. The spicy potato was a little burnt on the outside too, and wasn't spicy at all. The rice was okay, I'd say about average.

Overall, I wasn't impressed and I...

Sorry to say it was just awful. Lunchtime service. Guessing because it's slower the server is the cook. The problem is that while in the back, the customers are waiting for everything. The big problems was the food though. Ordered lamb kafta. This was obviously not cooked to order and just microwaved. The meat was dry and barely warm. I took one bite and couldn't eat it at all. It was inedible. The rice was the same. At leastvthe salad was fresh. My wife's meal had issues too with part of it was sour as if gone bad. This shouldn't be the case for a fresh item, but then I guess that's the problem. I left the restaurant and went to the corner deli as I was starving. The server had never check in with us the entire time after the food was dropped. Really too bad because there's potential. Easy fixes should they...