Mishkenut Mediterranean Cuisine — Restaurant in North Township

Excellent food, superb hospitality and an exceptional young woman running the place. It was like having dinner at a good friends’ home, a friend who’s an excellent cook and loves the cuisine of the old Levant – Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. We ordered the sampler plus a few other mezze. Grape leaves were the best we ever had in a restaurant – both the vegetarian and the meat options. No hard or tough leaves, soft and succulent rice fillings, cooked perfectly. The kibbeh balls were exceptional: crisp and crunchy on the outside, moist and aromatic inside. But our favorite was the baba ganouj – beautifully silky, smooth, and ever so lightly smoky eggplant, finely balanced with lemon and tahini. Many, many restaurants don’t take the care to make this well. The subtle flavors of the dish are often overwhelmed by pungent smokiness (from careless charring and peeling of the eggplant) and a heavy hand with the lemon juice and tahini. Prune rolls, sambusa, hummus, laban were all very well done. The high quality of every dish we tried speaks to the care taken in preparing the food, and the restaurant’s commitment to providing the best food they can possibly make. Exceptional. We were on a cross-country road trip, heading west, when my wife found this place, 45 minutes out of our way. We had to try it. When we arrived, late on a Sunday afternoon, the restaurant was short staffed. The one very hard-working young woman was just short of overwhelmed by cooking and prepping the number of takeout orders. She apologized and said she could not seat us because, with the phone orders pouring in, she couldn’t possibly serve us properly. But, when she learned we were from far away, she graciously seated us, then let her wonderful food, her hospitality and friendliness flow over us. Yes, it took a while to finish dinner, but it was worth every minute. We stopped in again on our return drive east. Traffic and trains crossing conspired to delay us so, when we finally arrived, late on a Sunday again, the kitchen was nearly out of food and closing early. Our wonderful host/server/cook/manager insisted on packing what was still available in the kitchen into a couple of to-go boxes. Her warmth and graciousness accompanied us as we enjoyed another wonderful meal at a picnic table in a nearby park. Should we again be anywhere near (say, a 100 mile radius!), we...

RUDE!!! LET'S BE CLEAR - I ONLY ADDED A STAR SO THAT I COULD POST THIS REVIEW - I gIve this restaurant '0' stars because the customer service was HORRIBLE! I went into the restaurant, wasn't acknowledged at all - I had to seek out the waiter to have my order taken. I placed an order for the lunch special - only to be told minutes later by the female cook (who was wearing her hair in a messy bun - and no hair net) in the most curt manner "you can't order the lunch special to go." "I'll have to prepare you the 1/2 chicken kabob dinner ." To which I answered, that's fine, as long as it comes with hummus and falafel. The female cook answered - in a curt manner, "I'll figure something out - as if it was an inconvenience! Then she returned to the kitchen. After sitting for 40 minutes, with no follow-up from the waiter who was busy catering to the guests who were dining in! NOTHING! Not, sorry for the wait time ma'am, your food will be up shortly we're busy right now, or would you like a drink while you wait...NOTHING! I actually had to ask about my order. Well...when it finally came, I noticed that the bag was unusually light, so I looked inside. There were LITERALLY TWO PIECES OF CHICKEN, THE SIZE YOU SEE IN THE IMAGE, TONS OF PITA BREAD, RICE AND 2 FALAFEL! Before paying, I asked the waiter what I was being charged for and he stated the "lunch special!" When I inquired about the quantity of food, he just repeated himself and gave me the total which was almost $9. I THEN ASKED, DEPSITE ME SITTING HERE FOR 40 MINUTES - HE SIMPLY APOLOGIZED AND SAID THEY WERE VERY BUSY...:-( I am not cheap, nor do I ask for more than I should receive, but to take advantage of an individual because they didn't dine in is BEYOND ETHICAL! SO I CAN GET THE MINIATURE VERSION OF THE LUNCH SPECIAL TO GO BUT STILL BE CHARGED THE SAME PRICE??!!!! AND TO ADD INSULT TO INURY, THERE WERE NO NAPKINS OR UTENSILS - I GUESS I SHOULD EAT WITH MY FINGERS AND WIPE MY HANDS ON MY SHIRT! MY TIME IS VERY VALUABLE SO TO SIT DOWN AND TYPE THIS REVIEW AND REHASH MY EXPERIENCE IS NOT PLEASANT AT ALL, BUT I WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE POOR RATINGS UNTIL...

MUST TRY! WARNING: ADDICTIVE! 😁 I came here to look up the number as I always do, to place my order and sadly saw a negative review so I thought I'd counteract that with this...... The food here is ALWAYS fresh and there is only ONE hard-working, dedicated, passionate, lovely, chef/server/manager/owner. I first came here as a recommendation from someone else who raved about it. They did inform me that there may be a wait because of the large work load of one awesome lady. She is always very honest about the wait time and will inform you to patiently wait for her to serve you. Even with all this I have never waited too long for a fresh and healthy meal. The first time I went, with my husband and we ordered the special that serves 2 (not sure of exact name) and the food came out pretty fast, given that she was busy, it came out steaming hot and there was soooo much food we each had lunch the following day. I have since become addicted to the hummus. Nothing in store or homemade even compares to the authentic and delicious Hummus found here. I will call and place my order for it and it's usually ready in 5-15 minutes. Also the owner/chef learned and knew my name after my first take-out order (1st out of 4-5). Now when I call, I place my order and she already knows who it is for! You can tell this place is running on love and passion for food and service. You should definitely find some time to give dine-in a try or call ahead and place a take out order for lunch! You won't be...