Lulu — Restaurant in Albany

A fancy new place in west Berkeley. We read about it in the local news and decided to check it out. We couldn’t get a reservation through the Resy platform earlier in the week. However we decided to call them on the date of our visit to see if a spot opened up and luckily it did.

The food was really good. The menu is quite limited and the mezze platter is the star of the show. I don’t mind that because the platter is really a work of art. The chef trained in French cooking (according to their website) and infuses that style as well as her Californian upbringing and Palestinian roots in the food being served. Each mezze platter is unique and you can actually see the chef assembling it. It’s around 30 dollars per person and the entire table must participate. It’s a tad pricey but given inflation and the amount of effort needed per platter, I can understand why the cost is high.

In terms of the components of the platter, below is what we got:

breads: an assortment of 3 kinds of bread, one of which was the zatar bread. Fresh, hot and good with dips.

shakshouka: runny eggs with avocado and feta and a bit of coriander. A nice tangy combo

Apple butter and halloumi: the butter was tart and dark because of the apple . Paired well with the pan fried halloumi

Butternut miso mutabal: a dip made of likely butternut squash with some other ingredients and garnished with feta. Had a bit of an umami squashy taste

Crispy Brussel sprouts in pomegranate molasses: the star of the platter and a perfect fall side dish

Labneh: with some oil

deviled eggs - with zatar and some spices mixed into the yolk. This wasn’t on the menu but was a nice surprise

Crudités- went well with the dips

black garlic hummus- a really interesting fusion hummus served with maitake mushrooms and molasses

pita chips - were crunchy and paired well with the dips

a few slices of cut fresh fruit - we got some pears and what looked like persimmons

The good thing was the portion sizes were not overwhelming. One felt satiated and full without feeling uncomfortable.

We also got the Cardamom tcho mocha iced - I couldn’t taste much of the cardamom but it tasted like a nice iced coffee.

I appreciated the attention to detail. The water was infused with peppermint leaves. The crockery was minimalist and interesting to look at it. The decorations and artwork were cute. Service was quick and friendly. The place seems to be a labor of love and it really shows!

A note on halal. The menu changes frequently and the items available at the time we went were not halal. It didn’t really matter as the mezze was primarily veg/ova-tarian But I did see a previous version of the menu which contained a halal meat item. Would be worth asking when you go.

I really enjoyed my experience here and wish...

The short: beautifully refined versions of traditional dishes (especially falafels and knafeh) and a few creative fusion ones (corn salad and shakshuka-chilaquiles aka shuka-quiles!). High quality ingredients and attention to detail in a beautiful mural-ed space.

Wow solano is lucky to have a beautiful and delicious place like Lulu's!

The REAL reviews of chef Mona are just scratching the surface of the level of refinement and creative twists she brings to Palestinian food. You can taste the high quality ingredients in every dish from the fresh rose petals in the knafeh to the herbs in the falafels and edible flowers across everything else.

The ambience is beautiful and exudes positive energy with its locally sponsored artists' murals.

The service is wonderful with our lovely waitress (I'm sorry I never caught your name) who clearly loved the food, was helpful and attentive despite a packed place right before closing.

It's sad to say our expectations were hesitant because some reviews mentioned Lulu's was over priced and over hyped. This is one of our main pet peeves. Glad to say that was wrong and sad to hear some reviews may be biased by literal hate due to global circumstances beyond any chefs control and other close minded people.

Come with an open mind and tummy and Lulu's will fill it with surprise and delight.

Try the corn salad. It's a 6 star. Sweet Brentwood corn. Smoky chewy eggplant almost like mushrooms. Sesame oil infused dressing that makes a party in your mouth.

Try anything falafel. Tiny and beautifully decorated with edible flowers. One of the best and most flavorful.

Try the shuka-quiles. A playful take on shakshuka and Mexican chilaquiles. Only recommendation is ask for the eggs to be a little runny if you like it that way. Ours was a little overcooked for my taste.

Try the knafeh. They make it fresh which is surreal. My benchmark is knafeh cafe down in little Arabia Anaheim. Ask anybody in socal who knows. This place is the standard and this knafeh was a different level. Finely pressed. Amazing quality cheese. Not too sweet.

Try the roti rolls. My parents who aren't vegetarian tried it and loved the lamb.

Farro fried rice. The only slight disappointment. All agreed it was too salty. I found it palatable by smothering it with the yogurt sauce from the mezze platter.

Overall, they're not afraid of contrasting bright herbs, fresh delicate florals, and intense spices with just darn good ingredients and good technique. If you hate flavor you'll hate it here. If you love it you're in...

I really want to love this place unequivocally, but sadly I left my second brunch there feeling a little on the fence about it. I think the main reason is that the service doesn’t feel as warm as I would expect for the reputation and price point. I was in a group of five and we were trying to order three appetizers, three entrees, and possibly a dessert to share, but the server stopped us to point out that the entrees were meant for one. We asked if they felt like we would have enough food and they just said “No,” full stop. (Not like, “it might be a little light” or “I might suggest one more X” or “you can always order more if you’re still hungry!” Just: “No.”) We felt kind of pressured into ordering one entree each and ended up taking home boxes because it was more than we needed. The service was pretty neutral otherwise, but that left a bad taste in my mouth—and the entree portions were actually quite generous and could have easily been split (although the starter portions were petite).

One other thing about service: I texted the number on the website to make a change to my reservation (it says on the website text, don’t call), and they never texted me back!!

[Side note about the website: Lulu, can you please add a sample fixed price mezze brunch board menu to your website? It’s kind of confusing that you only have the a la carte menu listed. This is not a knock or part of my review, just a humble request for easier planning with friends.]

The food is definitely very tasty and the presentation is gorgeous. The only other thing I would say about it is that almost everything on the brunch menu is super rich. Tasty, but really decadent.

Last thing: I’ve been seated in the back room both times and it feels a little isolating back there. I don’t really love the layout of this place, and I’m sad I never got to try the OG spot in West Berkeley.

I guess in conclusion, brunch here is a spendy, decadent, and tasty treat, and I would definitely go back if invited by a friend, but there are other places my partner and I would rather go just the two of us and it feels a little dicey to rave about it to others/invite people to try it which is what I’ve done the last two times. I feel like the experience doesn’t quite live up to the hype even though the food is good and worth trying at least once. I am curious about the dinner menu, but I also don’t feel like going back anytime soon.. maybe later...