Aladdin Mediterranean Grill — Restaurant in Golden

Really great owner and service. I also believe the quality of the food is good and the owners are doing the best of any levant/arabic options in the golden area.

HOWEVER! I'd really love an authentic Shami/Arabic restaurant using true regional recipes, which does not exist in the area and hence the 4 stars for Aladdin and 2-3 stars for other options I've tried. While the food is a good quality, quantity, price point, for people from the region or having lived in the region, this doesn't cut it and we don't order from this business as a result after trying it once.

For example, when calling something "shawerma" it should be cooked on a shish and not just using "shawerma" spices on a flat top grill. Shawerma is usually served on shami bread, which is not the same as store-bought pita but is closer to a large tortilla. The toumeya and tahina are relatively flavorless and not the right consistency of hand-made toumeya and tahina.

For example, the foul is not foul (fava beans), which can be purchased by can or dry. They just use some locally-available cheap bean, which is not foul. I make foul at home every day from amazon-delivered canned foul ($1.50/can so not expensive) as there is no local option that actually sells foul

So if you are looking for a taste of the region, I would just buy a mexican burrito with only chicken (true shawerma made on a shish and closer bread) and add house-made toumeya/ tahina and some harissa and debs rouman from the grocery store. This is now how we fulfill our 2-3x/week craving for shawerma.

I hope the owners go back to regional flavors and recipes and focus on a shawerma concept versus whatever this Colorado-Arabic interpretation is. I wish we had a local restaurant using tried and truly-loved recipes that have been used across the region for hundreds of years and are a huge reason why many would visit the region. I wish I could take my friends to experience Arabic food... true arabic food and that we had a local place highlighting what it truly tastes and feels like to eat in Cairo, Demascus, Aleppo, and Beirut. (all different but many similarities across flavors...

Late lunch today with my husband. We will be returning to try more items on the menu.

Very clean location, friendly owners. I liked that they were available, but did not keep coming over to check on us so we could enjoy our time.

We ordered the kibbeh/tzatziki, muhammara/pita, two lunch portions of chicken and beef shawarma, hot mint tea, and hot masala chai. The lunch came with pita, sumac dusted rice, and a tomato/cucumber/romaine salad. I am really glad I was starving because the portions were huge. We have enough take home leftovers to last another meal.

The appetizers were authentic. We have some Syrian friends and they would have approved. I love muhammara, but I've not found a great recipe. I'll just buy it there instead. Ditto the kibbeh. It is a challenge to make if you don't do it all the time.

The salads were a full small plate of fresh vegetables, lightly dressed.

The meat was tender and seasoned properly, not salty or garlicy. It was good quality chicken and chunks of beef that were tender and did not have one spot of fat or gristle.

I told them I was glad we came in for my birthday lunch, and she brought over a walnut baklava on the house. The best thing about it was that it was not overly sweet.

The only remark I have is that the food came out so quickly that our table was full while we were still working on our appetizers. As I said, I lot of food that took a while to tackle and I am a slow eater. I would give them a try. We've tried the other nearby mediterranean restaurants and this...

Side note: I have been in Golden for over 4 years.

A little confused about what I just experienced. The ratings are really good for this place, so I was expecting the food to be amazing.

They first brought the salad, which was a tiny plate’s worth—not even a bowl. Then came the pita bread and hummus. The hummus tasted good, but they literally “lined” the bowl, so there was barely any, and the pita wasn’t made in-house.

The chicken shawarma was a mushy mix, not fried but seemed boiled and soggy. It came with fries, which felt really out of place for the price point. The portion of chicken was decent, but it was super bland and lacked flavor. I couldn’t even finish half, even though I was very hungry.

This cost $22?? I honestly could have made something better at home for half the price and I’m a college student…

If you’re looking for better quality, go to Amir Grill in Golden—they actually make their pita bread in-house and give you large portions with real baba ganoush and plenty of hummus. Higher quality and much more food. Been going there for a couple years, so I guess I got spoiled.

The atmosphere was nice here, and the staff seemed friendly, but I don’t understand the high reviews. :(

Note: If you’d like the chance to change my mind, feel free to invite me back for a complimentary meal. If the experience impresses me, I’ll happily update or...