Aladdin's Eatery

Where to go?

Being a vegetarian and also occasionally vegan (no animal products), I find it hard to get a good meal eating out. Many restaurants menus are replete meat, even the salads! Often the soup of the day contains some sort of meat. The lonely few vegetarian options are loaded with cream and cheese.

Enter Aladdin’s. It's a franchise offering healthy Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food. The menu opens with Vegetarians Delight, describing the health benefits of limiting your diet to fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes, and grains. A large number of the menu items are vegetarian and/or vegan; however there are several chicken, lamb and beef dishes.

Upon entering, you may question the healthfulness of their food. The first thing you see is a large display case of rich, beautiful desserts. I don’t partake in these but have heard they’re heavenly. You’ll also notice Aladdin’s is a simply decorated, casual restaurant that also offers takeout.

So Many Choices

I like to start my meal with the lentil soup. It’s a combination of lentils, celery, onion, and potato cooked into a dark stew that’s rich and satisfying. The V-nine is a very simple soup with large chunks of vegetables in a tomato base soup that’s similar to a broth. I found it too light, lacking in seasoning and not as enjoyable as the lentil. I’m told the vegetarian chili is very good though I’ve yet to try it. It’s hard for me to order any soup but the lentil which I love.

As far as salads, my favorites are the Aladdin’s and the Spinach. It’s a nice combination of veggies and greens. The almond salad is okay. I didn’t care for the dressing too much. The falaffel salad is really a full meal. Four flavorful fried falafels top what is basically the Aladdin’s salad and is filling. The Lebanese salata, on the other hand, is small and has no leafy greens. It’s a combination of tomato, cucumber, green peppers, onion and lots of parsley. Finally, the side salad is mixed greens with the salata on top, which to me is better than the salata alone.