Egyptian Koshery — Restaurant in Midland

I want to be completely transparent about the fact that the pictures with this review will not bring justice to any of the food shown in the pictures.

Let's start with the restaurant's namesake dish, the Koshery.

My first experience with Koshery was actually when searching for plant based recipes. I came across a very well reviewed Koshery recipe. The foundation of the dish is seasoned rices, noodles, chickpeas, lentils and fried or french fried onions. Then it has two types of sauce added to it. The first is tomato based, the second is garlic and cumin based. As you may imagine, when I saw this recipe online, with pictures of these ingredients together it doesn't look like much, so while the pictures looked great, I wasn't inspired to try making it.

Fast forward to this restaurant. This was the first time I ever tried the dish that looks very simple, but WOW does it pack a flavor punch!! You pour the garlic sauce over the entire dish. And I will tell you, this garlic sauce is like a magical elixir! I can't convey how delicious this is, other than to say, I recommend using a spoon to eat this dish, as a fork would just be frustrating when trying to indulge in this food.

Next up, the falafel. Pictured here you see the falafel bowl. I have also tried it as a sandwich (forgot to take a picture), which I personally prefer. The pickles and the falafel are where it is at for me, well, plus the tahini sauce. I'm not a huge fan of the rest of the vegetable mix, which consists of onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and some leafy greens. My apoligies if I missed a veggie in that mixture. The falafel are baked, not deep fried (+1), the flavor profile is good, the texture is good, but I would probably enjoy them more if they were set under a broiler for 2-3 minutes. That's just me.

Next, the punjabi samosas. These are among the BEST I HAVE EVER TASTED!!!! I ADORE these samosas. I want to make one thing very clear though, they have bit of a spicy kick. My wife tried them, loved the flavor, but couldn't handle the heat.

Finally, the baklava. I never in my life tasted baklava that wasn't a traditional greek style. I'm going to be BRUTALLY honest here. I think I like these more than the greek style.

Finally, finally, the Trabi raisin soda. Never had it before this visit. It almost reminds me of a dessert wine. Delicious, quite sweet, nothing like any traditional soda from the USA. I'm not a huge soda person in general, so I likely don't get it again, but I wanted to try it for only the one reason, to share with everyone here. I HIGHLY recommend trying it if you have never had it. It is quite unique and worth a try.

OH OH OH!!! I would be remiss if I didn't review the owners. Because what better way to judge a restaurant than by judging the individuals running the establishment. Riham is from Egypt and her husband Dale is not from Egypt. Riham appears to be one of the happiest and most joyful people I've ever met, I would say it is almost impossible not to feel happy walking into their restaurant with such a happy greeting and big smile on her face. Dale happily shares his excitement for their restaurant and really makes you feel glad you are there. What a great set of business owners.

In summary, there are numerous, healthy and delicious food options here. There is no really heavy fat / oil laden foods (at least that I have tried) and I feel extremely satisfied after dining here. The owners might get tired of seeing my face, as I will be a frequent visitor.

Maybe next visit I will have to try their...

Ok this is a long review, but I don't really want to summarize because this was such a shocking experience. I came here some time ago with my husband, brother in law, and his girlfriend. We decided to give this place a try since we like to try diverse foods. My brother-in-law's girlfriend was dealing with some very serious issues at this time, and she was not feeling it. We talked her into going to this restaurant because we hoped it would cheer her up. We ordered the food and sat down, but at this point, she did not want to eat any more. My husband asked me to ask if we could cancel our order and just go home. When I went to the counter and asked politely, I was told that the food was already done and that we could not receive a refund. I asked if he was sure, and he said yes. I was ok with this, said that's understandable, and was ready to leave the conversation there. However, he became agitated in his tone. He asked why I wanted a refund. Not wanting to give personal details, I just said it was due to financial reasons without knowing what else to say. I thought the question was a little rude. He kept talking and said something about my sister in law needing to go to McDonald's instead, or something along these lines. She heard him too. It was incredibly rude and I was just appalled especially since this person had no knowledge of what was truly going on. I was ready to be done with the conversation once I was denied a refund, which again, I was ok with, but apparently we needed to be insulted. I tried so hard to be polite, but it was not well reciprocated. We just sat at our table in silence and shock. This was supposed to be a positive experience but instead it made the situation worse. When he gave us the food, I felt like he was trying to be somewhat apologetic? I was still too shocked to tell or really even care. As for the food, it was ok. I love to see diverse restaurants in mid Michigan since we have little to nothing otherwise. I'm just sad that this was our experience. I never leave reviews. Especially when the experience was so long ago and the details harder to recall. However, this experience comes to my mind time and time again since it happened so I figured it was worth it to leave something here. I probably won't be visiting again.

*Update: As stated in the post above, I am not upset about not receiving a refund. I did not feel ‘entitled’ to one. I simply asked due to a change in circumstances, and I was not offended when told ‘no’. Had it ended there, I would not have thought twice about it nor left a review. This is where the problem lies for me: The problem lies in the intrusive question and extremely rude comment afterwards when I just wanted to sit down and wait for my food. It was shocking to get such a visceral reaction as I was not intending to be rude. It was such a shock that it still sticks with me and I wanted to leave this review as a result. Small businesses are not entitled to good reviews just because they are small. Customer experience is an important factor in the reviews...

First and foremost, it’s difficult coming home from Detroit where there’s a great middle eastern restaurant on every street corner and getting something that meets expectations in Midland. It’s like spending time in Tokyo and coming back to Maru. I understand where we are and try to keep that in mind.

I ordered the hummus and pita bread. It was just fine overall I’d say. The hummus was somewhat bland and the whole chickpeas were unexpected, but could be an Egyptian thing.

The bread however was inexcusable for a kosher and for the price. It was dry and had the classic texture of frozen and thawed pita, which is not great. I assume they get it from Dearborn or Flint and freeze it as needed but if I’m wrong and it’s made in house daily then I’ll gladly donate 200 dollars to a charity of their choice. Eating fresh pita from New Yasmeen is a life changing experience, trust me.

Overall, it was a little over 12 dollars for a small amount of average food, maybe a half cup of hummus and 4-6 slices of pita. I wish them the best and I’ll probably be back to give them a second chance but if you’ve had better then there’s no going back to Midland Egyptian food. I hope that moving to the mall isn’t the death knell it’s been for so many...