Laser Wolf — Restaurant in Philadelphia

The entire restaurant experience in Laser Wolf relies on the Salatim (you receive 10 in total), the hummus and the pita bread, and surely not on the main dishes. If you are ok with that and you enjoy filling yourself on cold appetizers and pita bread, you will love this place, also because their dessert is amazing, especially for what you pay for (apprx $40/per person not including tax and tip). If you believe that your appetizers/salads guide you towards your main dish, then this place is probably not your favorite spot.

Most of the salatim are tasty, the hummus is excellent and the pita bread, which tastes fresh but I dont think it is baked to order, as in Suraya . It is important to remember though the the salatim are cold appetizers: from babaganoush, to Turkish celery root, to gigante beans (a Greek Mezze plate served usually with Tsipouro, i.e. Greek Raki). It is not easy to make tasty, smoky babaganoush nor is it easy to make velvety hummus. With your order of mains, that you are supposedly charged for, you get the salatim and the dessert for "free" (your main is overcharged to compensate for everything surrounding it).

When my main arrived though, it was very underwhelming, plate-presentation wise and quantity-wise. My lamb merguez was basically 3 small lamb kofta and my partner's chicken shishlik comprised of 2 small skewers. The chicken was tender and juicy and I give them that. The lamb kofta was more firm, probably because the balance in their mix between minced lamb meat and breadcrumbs was a bit off, meaning they added more breadcrumbs in the mix to increase volume and to reduce costs. Both "mains" came in one plate and were accompanied by 2 tablespoons of hummus and one side of rice both for the lamb and the chicken. There was nothing wrong with anything, but neither the mains nor the rice were exceptional, if you are familiar with the cuisine of the region.

In all honesty, the quality of our mains easily compares with many good middle-eastern fast-food places that I have tried.

Our soft-serve ice-cream was very tasty and it was probably better than many desserts I have had in one-star Michelin restaurants as part of their prixe fix menu.

I would prefer more complexity and less quantity in my overall experience. I don't need to leave any restaurant so full, because I was served 10 small appetizers+hummus+pita bread, nor do I need to carry boxes of food with me when my restaurant experience is over. I want to be comfortably full (and I weight more than 220lbs at this point).

I would prefer a more refined tasting experience, and surely more complex mains with more well-thought sides. I would like to see more contemporary cooking techniques on my plate and more complex/well-thought flavor combinations.

After visiting Zahav and Laser Wolf, Solomonov's restaurant concepts are probably not my style. I don't dislike them I simply don't love them. He probably hits this sweet spot where finer dining is accompanied by large quantities of food, and people do love it. It is more than true that you will never leave his restaurants feeling "cheated" by spending more money and receiving "tiny plates," an accusation I often hear against fine dining establishments. Compared to most Michelin star restaurants I have visited, more than 10 at this point, Zahav for example serves you 3 times the food for the price of $70, before tax and tip. Maybe that is why Solomonov's restaurants are booked 2 months in advance.

On the other hand, this approach to dining has its side-effects, since certain things are compromised (I think innovation is one of them, or maybe how this translates in the palate) for Solomonov's restaurants to achieve a value-for-money aspect.

I probably would...

After a few visits to Zahav, and a current booked reservation window, we decided to venture to the satellite.

First off, the service was incredible. Maybe I'm riding off of my recent low from Hiroki and the Dandelion, where the service is barely scratching at minimum. But our server, Juan, was incredible. His knowledge of the menu, history of the brand, and understanding of the cuisine they served was unflappable. He was calm and collected, despite a consistently busy service, and was able to answer anything we threw at him. The support staff of runners and other servers made sure we were never without.

Next, came the salatim. We hadn't decided if we wanted to do a protein on top of the all-you-can-eat array of middle eastern tapas. And honestly, it was a hard choice not to sit a gorge ourselves on the endless pita and apps. Ten stunning bowls, dressed deep with rich color and flavor to match. And while not all ten were something I would personally order again, seven of them absolutely were. The brilliance of choice meant that no one could dislike everything. I feel as if we don't need my take on the hummus, as it's not only perfection, but there are thousands of reviews of it, based on Zahav alone. Needless to say, a restaurant that focuses heavily on hummus winning best outstanding restaurant from the James Beard Foundation doesn't need much more fanfare.

After two runs of pita and a reupping of most of the salatim, including the hummus, we decided on some proteins. The snapper was moist, crispy, and salty. The exact way it should be. But in this course, I found the only complaint of the night: their ill-advertised beet entree: "Beets w/ Dukkah"

Now, for those of you who have had this dish, you might be thinking "Is this guy outside his own mind? It might be the best thing on the menu!" And you'd be right. But we almost skipped it!

For those unknowing: the price of meat has gone haywire due to the pandemic, and chicken wings most of all. Lazerwolf took the bull, and said we'll do our normal chicken wing rub and spicing, but apply it to some beets, instead. Nowhere on the menu did it suggest that these beets would be treated as a chicken wing, a preparation I know would have piqued my interest from the start. I'm glad we wagered on it, though, as it was absolutely my favorite dish of the night. (But please, a bit more description!!)

THIS is why I'm a repeat customer to Michael Solomonov's restaurants. And while this dish specifically may not have been his, (And please feel free to point me at whomever is responsible) it's the same style of outside of the box thinking that led these teams to be heralded as some of the best in the world.

Finally, the ice cream, which I suspect had a 12.5% milkfat, (though, unconfirmed) was rich, melty, sumptuous, and honestly some of the best soft serve I've ever had. The sour cherry sauce with the saltiness coming from the crumbled pistachio-a normally overwhelming flavor- complimented the ice cream without killing its flavor.

Lastly, I want to say that reading reviews left by people who can't do simple math is infuriating. If it's $18 for all you can eat salatim, but it's free with a protein, that means the protein is $18 cheaper than what you saw on the menu. This is simple stuff.

To me, a party of four grabbing two entrees, and going wild on some salatim is some of the-- if not THE-- best money you can spend on food in...

I’ve come out of my Google review slumber, just so that I can spread the message about how amazing Laser Wolf is (although I’m sure you already know that). I’ve heard so many good things about Laser Wolf… to the point where I started questioning if it was overhyped - I was terribly mistaken.

I decided to make the trek out to Philly (unknowingly on the worst day, due to all the political protests). However, I didn’t let that keep me down. I was on a mission - Laser Wolf.

As a quick prelude, I do want to mention that reservations here are hard to get. So be sure to book out weeks in advance … I was actually on the waitlist, until a 5PM dinner spot opened up. A bit early for me, but beggars can’t be choosers.

I get to Laser Wolf around 4:45PM, eagerly (and awkwardly) pacing around the building until the doors opened. Once 5PM hit, I was surprised by the volume of the people that showed up at the opening. Upon entry, I was greeted by warm smells and spices and a cool/casual interior. Plenty of space, comfortable seating, and nice decor.

The service was phenomenal. Our waiter was super kind and knowledgeable - explained how the whole process worked in perfect detail. For those who don’t know, when you come to Laser Wolf, you are just paying for the entrees, the salatim and the desserts are included. The salatim is basically a huge plate (with 10 smaller bowls) with different types of spreads, bites, appetizers. It also comes with hummus. The salatim by itself is already incredible. So fresh, so flavorful, and the hummus is by far the best hummus I’ve ever had. Also, don’t sleep on the fries… they are amazing - apparently they are brined and flash frozen to make them super crispy - so good! Our waiter actually hooked us up with a free order of fries, since we said we heard good things about them! What a legend! And then on to the meats, I got the chicken shishlik and the steak shishlik, both cooked to perfection. The juiciest kebab style meat I’ve ever had - and a great portion size, not too much, not too little, perfectly balanced with the salatim.

I really can’t express how much I enjoyed the entire experience. From the vibes to the service to the food, everything was on point. They even had specifically designed take away containers with 4 compartments for the salatim - they really thought through everything!

A quick heads up that a 20% service charge is already included on the bill. You don’t normally see that in US restaurants, but honestly the staff deserves every penny, and even some.

An absolute MUST try. There’s also a location in Brooklyn, but Philly is the OG. 10...