International Cafe — Restaurant in Monterey

This review is for weekend take out. Pics included to evidence food and sadly things are fresh but absolutely do not taste good. Anyways not sure if take out is the cause of how terrible things were but regardless I'm never coming back.

First, I'm very sorry to give this a 1/5 because the service is friendly and fast but the food is by far the most terrible I've ever had on the peninsula and close to the worst thing I ever put in my mouth. Zero flavor, over cooked, and just tastes wrong. I really want to be honest because the 5 star votes on here led me to believe this place was amazing but i feel completely misled.

First I was actually tempted to throw out everything and get a mcds after this...and know that I never waste food and am not a huge mcds fan.

Secondly, what I was eating...

Avgolemono - 0/5 absolutely inedible sour mess. Chicken is way over cooked and tastes like they dumped a vat of cheap lemon juice in the broth. Broth is sour, flavorless and dull. Beef schwarma - 1/5 super dry, super over cooked, super gristly and barely any real flavor. Hummus - 2/5 flavorless, and swimming in way too much oil that is also flavorless. I have a jar of tahini in the back of my fridge that is jam packed with toasted sesame flavor and they obviously did not use that. Baba ganoush - 3/5 okay, smokey and standard. Nothing to write home about Tabbouhle - 3.5/5 normal and fresh Pita - 3.5/5 decent but obviously store bought Dolma - 4/5 decent enough but not outstanding Beans -4/5 sadly the best thing from today but it's literally like canned pork and beans without the pork fat and huge beans instead

The above sounds unkind but again it takes a genuine lack of passion and talent to make fresh ingredients taste this bad and bland. And if I made this in my own kitchen I would be horrified and ashamed to serve it to anyone.

So a recap that the food wasn't just terrible, it wasn't cheap, it wasn't worth the time struggling with difficult parking and is definitely not worth the 5 star rating.

On this I'm not sure how they'll survive in Monterey with real restaurants around them. But I decided to post this review to be fair and to reflect the ugly truth: you should eat elsewhere.

It's not doing places that are legitimately good, like epsilon, dametras restaurant, and petras any justice to be nice to places like this as their own ratings are lower than International Cafe.

On this please rate for food people because you cannot eat...

What a wonderfully delectable, authentic, and satisfying taste experience! I have driven past the Cafe several times, and finally, one day last week, famished, I decided to take a chance and stopped to order lunch. Anybody who knows me knows how much I love to cook and knows what a food snob I can be. My worst fear was that the chicken in the wrap that I ordered (with hummus!) would be dry. The chicken was beautifully seasoned, perfectly moist, and the combination of everything else that was bedded in the wrap, including the creamy PERFECT hummus, made it one - no, not one, it actually was THE best wrap I've ever eaten (East or West coast)! Then there were the jalapeño dolmas... OMG! Moist, mild heat, GREAT flavor. The tabouli was exceptional! A LOT of parsley, just the way I like it!

The lovely ladies behind the counter were exceptionally welcoming and friendly, smiling and patient❣️ The Cafe's prices are easy on the...

Cute and cozy with REALLY good food! We walked in before closing and got a Gyro Plate and Veggie Plate. For the Gyro Plate - I loved that it included 2 Dolmas, they’re my favorite and at most places I usually have to pick between eating a meat option or veggie option so I was grateful I got a bit of both worlds at this place. The gyro meat was flavorful and cooked well, the tzatziki sauce was jam packed with good spices and the pita was nice and fluffy. The salad had just a smidge too much dressing for my taste but it’s not a deal breaker. The Veggie Plate was also delicious - moist and flavorful falafel and hummus and good tabouleh. My only comment is that the fridge for drinks was out of order, but maybe they’ll fix it soon. Overall, the atmosphere was quiet, welcoming, and the food was good...