Amel's Restaurant — Restaurant in Baldwin Township

Another visit with similar findings. Great waitstaff and less successful food. This time the kebabs were way overcooked, the lamb burger was flavorless. But the fish was decent. Sigh.

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Good thing we made reservations! Parking is difficult. They have a small lot in front of the building, and a larger, gravel lot, behind the building. Both were almost completely full when we arrived. We were seated at a nice booth. Wait staff was plentiful and we were quickly offered water as well as menus. Our waitress was delightful. She has obviously been with the restaurant for a long time and knew the menu inside and out. She was attentive to us and her other tables, and took good care of all our needs. We made sure to reward her efforts in the tip we left.

The menu itself is quite extensive and features many Middle Eastern dishes. There are many American dishes for those who do not wish to indulge in that particular cuisine as well.

We started with the Mezze Platter. This was a selection of standards: Hummus, Baba Ghanouj, Grape Leaves, Tabbouli, Pita, etc. It was enough to whet our appetites, but a little scant for sharing between four people. Luckily there was more food coming. Flavors were reasonable, although the Baba Ghanouj was surprisingly sweet.

As far as the main dishes went, we went with a Mixed Kebab, a Lamb Kebab, a Flounder Mediterranean, and a baked eggplant and grape leaves meal. All of these meals come with rice and vegetable sides. You also get a side salad, and one of us upgraded to the She Crab Soup. One of our party asked that the rice be substituted for vegetables and the waitress said that would not be a problem. When the dish came (the fish), we were surprised to note an ear of corn on the plate!

As far as the flavors of the dishes, it was very much a hit or miss affair. The She Crab Soup was judged to be excellent while all the salads were drenched in too much dressing that featured way too much oil and not enough herbs or other flavors. The grilled meats were just that – grilled meats. While the meats were grilled perfectly, they were not flavored in any way. We all expected some seasoning since those cuisines typically use a lot of herbs. The saving grace was that each of the Kebabs came with a small tub of a lemony dip which we were able to dunk the meat cubes into.

The fish was cooked perfectly and was seasoned well. At one point it was coated in bread crumbs, but then it was placed in a sauce so the bread crumbs did not retain their crunch and became soggy. Too bad. It would have been better to not have the bread crumbs at all. Unfortunately, the spinach and tomatoes that were part of the dish were just laid on top or bottom and did not contribute to the dish. This is also where that mysterious ear of corn appeared. It was way overcooked in plain boiling water. Not only was it tasteless, but you could scrape the cob and get corn soup from it. We left it uneaten. The baked eggplant was very tasty and the grape leaves that came with it were the same grape leaves that came with the Mezze Platter.

The veggies that came with most of our dishes on the side included Broccoli and Green Beans as well as rice. Again, there was no seasoning on any of them. They were cooked well, but had almost no flavor to them whatsoever.

As you can see, this was a very uneven experience. We’ve eaten at many Mediterranean restaurants around Pittsburgh, in other parts of the country, and even in the Middle East. It is not easy to figure out where to place this one. It is clearly not one of our favorites, but there is so much good going on here that it is a shame to downrate it completely. On the other hand, there are so many problems, that it is difficult to give it a very high rating either. I ended up deciding on a three-star rating to recognize the excellent points and the incredible wait staff as counterbalancing the weak points from the kitchen staff. Our meals, which included a bottle of wine, ended up costing $50 per person, which is on the pricey side for what we got – which was the final...

While at Ice Castle for a game we decided to check out restaurants in the area and found Amel's. It was late so a seat at the bar was perfect for what we wanted, nothing fancy. The service was good and the staff were all great to chat with. I'm guessing the one gentleman was the owner, yet the staff felt comfortable with him being around so you can tell he must be a good guy to work for. We ordered the she crab soap, stuffed hot peppers 🌶 and an order of beans and greens. The she crab bisque was delicious and served in a nice-sized bowl. The stuffed peppers were plentiful stuffed with tasty sausage and covered in a delicious sauce with melted cheese on top. Though not very hot they were delicious just the same. The plate of beans and greens was delightful and quite tasty. My son fancied himself on the mixed kabobs. While it took quite some time for them to come out as they weren't that busy, the meat was a tad overcooked. It appeared with it being so late, the guys were trying to get the kitchen in order and didn't pay attention to the grill. While it was still very good, we felt for what was served, the price was quite high. The mixed kabobs started at $30. All in all, we'd probably give it another chance and come a bit earlier. Keep in mind most of the entrée started around $30-$40, the appetizers were reasonably priced and worked for a...

The two stars are for the service, I ve been thinking about eating in this place for a while. I happened to be in the area and decided to go for it. Ordered a lamb shawarma with pilaf and a side of fries My husband ordered tabbouleh and mixed grill. The fries were way too greasy and looked borderline brown. The tabbouleh was soggy and watery but eatable. The mixed grill was OKAY. The lamb was way undercooked and gamy But the worst was my main order: lamb shawarma… For anyone who has the slightest idea about shawarma : don’t order this dish, it s everything but a shawarma: it s grilled ground meat in a wrap. I didn’t eat it but didn’t complain out of respect to the servers who were running around trying to take care of everyone. For my peeps who never had a shawarma, this is the equivalent of ordering a brisket and getting a shepherds pie… The pilaf rice… well i can say i had better elsewhere. Bottom line is: all respect, but whoever designed the menu maybe wanted to be creative and make certain dishes sound more middle eastern/ Mediterranean. But what they did is set the wrong expectations for people who are familiar with these dishes. Again nothing again the establishment or the owners but the menu needs to be revisited to be...