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I don't know if I'd ever actually gone to Tigard Plaza before I went to Adem Ayem. I'd passed by it several times and considered some of the food spots there, but none never tempted me to go, which was probably a mistake. Adem Ayem was a reason to explore.
This was one of the less obvious places, just a small sign to indicate that it was around back beyond the Indian import store and the home brewer on the main level. It's a small little restaurant with just half a dozen tables or so. I'm not going to reproduce their whole menu here, just the parts I was most interested in. But you can go to their website to check out the rest.
MEDITERRANEAN CUISINE
SPOILER --Click here to view--
GYROS
SPOILER --Click here to view--
On first visit, I was stuffed from eating three meals at Adem Ayem. I met the owner, then, though and got to ask about what they do and how they do it. On second visit, I had already eaten a huge sandwich from 7 Estrellas, but I ordered enough for another meal or two anyway. I started with a hummus and baba combo appetizer.
Nice hummus. Light tahini flavor, plus a little lemon and garlic flavor in the background. The dominant flavor was the garbonzos themselves. Tasted like the kind of stuff I make at home.
Really good baba. Ultra creamy with just a little soft chunkiness for texture. The smokiness is just shy of too much. Like the hummus, it seemed to have an undertone of garlic and lemon.
I'm torn on the pita. It's better than a lot of places because it has a little structure to it. It's not wonder-bready soft. But I found it a little thick and under-baked. However, Reed, a guy who is a friend of the family and seems to help out or even work there, struck up a conversation with me. He was just talking about the Lebanese ex-pats that come in and noted that they request the pita "Lebanese style" -- ie, thinner and baked more aggressively. Apparently there are a few things like that here, so I'd recommend that if you go in, you do the same, if you want a more unique/authentic experience. I look forward to my next visit to give some of these suggestions a try myself.
I also ordered a "pie". In Lebanon, according to the owners, they just refer to pizzas as a type of pie. So in the pie section of their menu are not only spinach turnovers and savory tarts, but Lebanese pizzas as well. I got the akawi and thyme. Akawi is a cheese similar in style to feta or queso fresco, from what I can gather. Their pie also includes mozzarella. You can order it without the mozzarella, but they put it in because it melts, meeting American expectations for a pizza. Nice seasoning. There's a little lemon flavor, too, which really makes it so tasty along with the light sprinkling of sesame seeds. Like the pita, you can ask them to make it Lebanese style, a little thinner and more darkly baked. I'm looking forward to giving the suggestion a try, but even the basic version was enjoyable largely because the flavors were so perfectly balanced.
Reed gave me some baklava on my way out. I ate it at home, since my wife loves baklava. I enjoyed it more than my wife, but both of us liked it. I think the reason I liked it was the reason it was a little disappointing for my wife. For me, the light use of honey made it less sweet, which I prefer. I felt like I could taste the nuts, butter, and spices, plus enjoy the texture of the filo. My wife wanted more of a honey hit.
I look forward to giving some more items a try. From what I understand, the falafel are made from a mix, but fried fresh to order. The dolmas are made with fresh, not canned or jarred, grape leaves. They take three days to prepare. The grape leaves are cooked in a flavored liquid and wrapped around uncooked rice which is allowed to soak up the flavor of the leaves. The lamb for the gyros is one of the other things not made from scratch, but it sounds like most things are. There isn't much good Lebanese in far SW/Tigard/Washington County, so when in the mood, I hope more people will give this a try and report back.
Tigard Pizza Kitchen
11945 SW Pacific Hwy, Suite 228
Portland, OR 97223
503.968.3030
http://www.tigardpizza.com
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