Friday, March 18, 2016

Azure Mediterranean Grill

My foodie friend Jody sent me a text from a newly opened Mediterranean restaurant with a picture of a Feteer. All she had to tell me was I should go try it.

Yesterday, Sandi and I decided to go have a very early dinner; 4:00 p.m. We got there and the place was empty. I believe they have been open only for a month. The place was spacious, nicely decorated with pictures of Omar Sharif, Luciano Pavaroti. Sophia Loren etc. on a post and some artifacts and interesting mirrors on the entrance wall. We found ourselves a nice private booth and felt at home.


As we scanned the menu, we saw the Feteer. The description read: An authentic delight which came to life by the pharaohs in ancient Egypt, considered one of the healthiest and most expensive meals at the time.  Freshly baked dough made from scratch with only flour and water, stuffed with your favorite ingredients in a modern day twist. In those days, I don't think they had to worry about cholesterol as their diet really seemed healthy. I am pretty sure they didn't have "Savory Feteers" like Cream Cheese and Mushroom Feteer, Cheese Lovers Feteer, Italian sausage or Meat lovers feteer. We decided to try the Cream Cheese & Mushroom Feteer with green peppers. Before that, we were served some pita bread and hummus.



We also ordered the Fried Cauliflower with tahini sauce and lemon, an appetizer which was discounted as it was still "happy hour".  We could not agree on which meat to order so we compromised and got the Azure Sample Slider; 3 sliders of Falafel, Chicken Shawerma with garlic sauce and Beef Shawerma with Tahini. To make the long story short I highly recommend getting your choice of Feteer, the Cauliflower and Beef Shawerma. Everything we had was mighty tasty and packed with wonderful flavors.


Our server, Farrah brought us an alcoholic drink to sample. Though they were not sure what to name it, they almost decided on naming it La Nuit Rouge (French for the Red Night) it was a Merlot with hibiscus. I didn't think I would like it as I don't like flavors of flowers in any drinks but this was wonderful. It was sweet and again, I normally do not like sweet wine but this was different. It complemented the food quite well.


The daughter of the owner, Salma came out and asked us how we liked everything. We told her how we enjoyed the dinner. Sandi thought she was too full for dessert. I too was full but had a bit of room for dessert. Salma had us sample the Kunafe with cheese. It is finely shredded phyllo dough stuffed with sweet cream and honey. We ate the entire slice!


Just as we finished our Kunafe, Moe the owner came to our table. He was a very pleasant man and as we walked out we talked about the pictures he had on the post. He mentioned that there would be a belly dancer performing this coming Saturday. Azure is at 1810 Pacific Coast Hwy. in Redondo Beach. It is next to Ortega 120. They have plenty of parking and are open everyday from 11:00 to 10:00. On weekends they are open until 11:00 p.m. They have Happy Hour where some items are discounted as well as beer and wine. We can't wait to try more of Azure....I am sure you too will like Azure.

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