Dawali Mediterranean Kitchen

For quite a while, Old Jerusalem at 1411 N. Wells has been the only middle eastern restaurant within walking distance of our home.  It is OK, but I can't say that I'm a real fan of the place.  I'd often drive all the way up to Pita Inn in Skokie (3910 Dempster) instead of walking the 3/4 mile to Old Jerusalem when I wanted my shawerma fix.  So last year when I heard that Dawali Mediterranean Kitchen was opening a second location in the neighborhood at 1625 N. Halsted I couldn't wait for it to open.  But I waited, and waited, and waited.  The original opening date was scheduled for March, but that came and went with the windows still papered up and no evidence of work being done.  But work was being done, I guess the build out just took a little longer than expected.  Dawali Mediterranean Kitchen has finally opened their doors, and last night we walked through the rain to give it a try!

The restaurant is well decorated on the inside and much larger than you would expect from the street.  Everything is wood and earth tones.  Walls are adorned with middle eastern art along with a wooden shelf supporting various pottery and metal vessels.  The wooden tables and chairs sit atop hardwood flooring and the restaurant is well lit with pots and lamps hanging from the rather high ceiling.  All in all, a very attractive space.  Even the bathrooms (at least the one I went in to) are well decorated, they owner obviously put a lot of thought in to how he wanted this space to look.



  


I haven't seen anything advertising that the restaurant had opened and their website still says "Opening Soon", so there weren't many people there when we arrived.  A lot of restaurants do a "soft" opening like this to work out the kinks that are inevitable at any new establishment.  We were seated immediately and out drink orders taken.  No alcohol is served, but our waitress did tell us that they are BYOB is anyone wants to enjoy an adult beverage with their meal.

When our beverages arrived, we were ready to order.  My dining companion ordered the Hummus with Portobello (Diced and sauteed mushrooms on a bed of our famous hummus served with pita) and I ordered and appetizer of 6 falafel (Chickpea fritters highly seasoned and fried to golden perfection) and a combination plate.  The falafel was very good, crispy on the outside with a moist, flavorful interior.  My dining companion reported that the hummus topped with the sauteed portobellos was also top notch.






 
The combination plate is a little different that what is listed on their on-line menu.  Instead of the fixed selection on that menu, the menu at this location allows you to select either two or three items from a list to create your own combo.  The list of options has about 10 items to choose from, I asked for beef shawarma, chicken shawarma and lamb kebob.  They apparently didn't have the lamb kebob, so I opted for the beef kebob instead.  I didn't get a list of the other items available, but they did have various kebobs (chicken, shrimp, salmon, kufta and chicken kufta are ones that I remember off the top of my head).  The combo comes with basmati rice, grilled veggies, pita bread, a salad (romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomato, mint and a tahini (I think) dressing)  and two types of sauces (a tahini sauce and a thicker garlic sauce).  I thought all the items in my combo were well done, the chicken shawarma (which in many places is dry and overcooked) was tender and juicy.  Same for the beef shawarma and beef kebob. 


Both of us really enjoyed our meal at Dawali and I'm sure we will be returning soon and often.  Hopefully next time we will save enough room for a desert or two, but the portions are so large that it may not be possible!  As it was, we took home enough food for another meal tonight.  This stretch of Halsted is becoming one of our favorite areas for restaurants in the city, made even better by the fact that it is within easy walking distance of our home.  Besides the new Dawali Mediterranean Kitchen there is Landmark Grill, Boka, Alinea, and (a couple blocks north) Taco Joint.