By Baba Ghanoush BBQ
Plainfield, NJ, restaurant praised for food and atmosphere
PLAINFIELD, NJ – After more than six months serving an unusual brand of barbeque, Baba Ghanoush BBQ has earned good reviews from critics and customers.
“Any restaurant named after one of the Middle East’s most iconic dishes had better do it right, and the babaghanoush here is terrific,” Peter Genovese wrote in The Star-Ledger, the state’s largest newspaper. “The eggplant is brought – more like shocked – to life with a dash of lemon, a touch of tahini, a bit of garlic and some spices.”
And customers agree calling Baba Ghanoush BBQ “delicious, healthy food” that will get you hooked. Another described a meal of a chicken kabab, rice and hummus with a side of cucumber and yogurt salad as “amazing.”
A five star review on Yelp.com called Baba Ghanoush BBQ the “best Mediterranean BBQ ever. Chicken and Lamb were perfectly seasoned and cooked. Humus was phenomenal! Great environment to enjoy lunch or dinner. …Owner and staff are great. Will be back very soon!”
“When we started, we made dishes that we knew we liked,” said Mohamed Moussa, one of the owners of Baba Ghanoush BBQ (1324 South Avenue, Plainfield, babaghanoushbbq.com ). “We made this a place where we could be comfortable with the food and the atmosphere. And in the last six months, we found that many people share our taste.”
The area around Plainfield has experienced Portuguese barbeque and traditional American Southern barbecue. But Baba Ghanoush serves Middle Eastern barbecue. And they owners were born and raised in Egypt.
Hamedy Soliman , the chef and one of the owners, brings a high level of enthusiasm to his charcoal grill. He clearly enjoys cooking and enjoys it even more when he is able to see customers enjoy his food.
“I love to cook,” he said. “But I really enjoy seeing happy people eat my food. It’s really hard to keep me in the kitchen. So sometimes I help out a server and deliver the food myself – because I just want to see that reaction to the way it looks and the way it tastes.”
Baba Ghanoush is known for its beef, chicken, kofta (minced ground meat and spices) and lamb kababs served in platters, wraps and in pitas. There’s seafood, vegetarian options plus homemade hummus and of course, baba ghanoush. There’s falafel and delicious homemade desserts.
A specialty item is the Baba Ghanoush Mega Sandwich: Which includes a choice of two meats (chicken kabab, beef kabab, lamb kabab, pulled chicken, pulled beef or kofta), a sauce (tahini, babaghanoush or cucumber sauce) and toppings (garden mix, tabouleh or grilled vegetables). The menu also includes soups, special appetizers and exotic beverages including sugarcane juice, kharoub, tamarind and hibiscus.
All food is prepared under the halal tradition – which means pork products are prohibited and animals must be slaughtered under the most humane conditions with special supervision.
The restaurant, which also offers takeout and catering, has recently built a huge grille that can fit an entire lamb.
And Baba Ghanoush BBQ is winning raves from customers.
“Finally, a Middle Eastern restaurant close to home,” a reviewer from Fanwood wrote in a 5 star review on Yelp.com. It’s “delicious, healthy food prepared and served by a gregarious owner. … My wife brought a delicious falafel sandwich home for lunch the other day and I couldn’t wait to try something else on the menu.”
“I couldn’t resist the wonderful smell of the kitchen,” a 5 star reviewer from Plainfield wrote on Yelp.com. “I had to order lunch to go. …Amazing. So excited to have good Egyptian food so close to my house. … It seems like the kind of place you could go for a meal with friends and stay for hours enjoying the food. I will recommend this place to all my friends.”
And a tip on FourSquare.com added: “Come hungry! The food is fresh, delicious and plentiful.”
To top it off are the Middle Eastern desserts – almost all of them homemade.
Moussa’s wife, Salwa Aly, makes the desserts. Her rice pudding was described in The Star-Ledger as “creamy, dreamy and delicious.” It is very rich and is made with rose water. Her favorite dessert is her bread pudding made with croissants, raisins, nuts, coconut and special Middle Eastern cream.
“Operating Baba Ghanoush BBQ has been a very special experience for us,” Mohamed Moussa said. “We‘ve gotten to meet so many wonderful people and to give them a taste of our culture.”
Baba Ghanoush BBQ
1324 South Avenue, Plainfield, NJ 07062
(908) 222-1227
[email protected]
babaghanoushbbq.com
