Maha's Lebanese Cuisine - Monterey, CA

Everytime I walked by Maha's I would always wonder what the food was like there.  And then!....My friend Bethany came into town last night and said that it was her favorite place and she missed it like crazy, so my boyfriend and I went and had dinner with her there!  So finally - I get to write my first "Food Review Blog" - So excited!
(All areas will be scored on a 1-10 basis, 10 being the best rating)

Categories include:
Decor - (Based on environment of the place.  Did it add to the mood? Was it too much?)
Food - (Obvious.  Was there a decent selection? Variety? Mostly taste of my personal entree.)
Drinks - (Based on the drink that I had, and depending on the place, on the array of drinks available)
Entertainment - (Points will not be given or taken if there is a lack of entertainment.)
Service - (Did the waiter/ess come visit often enough?  Did I see some sort of supervisor? Was I waited on timely?)
Final Price (based on a beer budget - I like to eat nice but not too expensive.  Also based on quality.)

Maha's Lebanese Cuisine - Alvarado St, Monterey, CA
Decor - (6/10)
The first thing I always notice about a place is the decor.  The sign on the outside of it is one of the most interesting on the street and I feel like it's always kind of drawn me into it - especially advertizing specifically "Lebanese" foods - not just generally Middle Eastern. Tho outside, on the window, there is a painting of a belly dancer, inviting you to come join them for the entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights. The inside of the restaurant is painted in a dark dandelion yellow color with a few pictures placed neatly on the walls - honestly, not really much to talk about.  The food however...

Food - (9/10)
Of course this is always the reason that people go to restaurants - who cares about the decor!!?!? And the food is DEF a reason to go to Maha's. 
For starters we had some hummus.  The hummus probably wasnt worth the price.  Altho, I know for a fact that the way that it was made is very authentic - the way a Lebanese family would make their hummus, not too many spices or frills, it's just hummus, so for the price, IDK...I felt like for $5 they could have served home made flat bread with it and not just wedge sliced tortillas. - $4 would probably have been a better price - sure it's only a dollar, but when you're considering a full bill - a dollar here & a dollar there is quite a bit! - regardless, final verdict - I could probably make that hummus at home - I would have liked to see a few more spices in it - kinda bland.
The dish that I got was the Chicken Shawarma with Tabouli Salad.  The Chicken Sawarma felt like a very intricate dish - there were so many flavors that I felt a little overwhelmed, in a GOOD way :)  Everytime I took a bite, I was wondering what I would discover next!  You'll see a picture below of the Shawarma and Tabouli - I really enjoyed how they shaped the Shawarma. In layers, you find yellow rice, sauteed onions and tomatoes, chicken with spices, lettuce, torshi (middle eastern "pickles", or rather, "pickled things") and some sour cream.  Every bite that I took was different!  When I got a piece of the torshi in my bite, there was a sour taste to the whole food - kinda of like having a dill pickle on your hamburger.  When I got a tomato or an onion, I could taste the savory flavor of the "grill" with my food.  Sour cream made everything smoothe, and the lettuce added a "crunch" effect.  I will say tho, I felt like the rice was a little oily, not TOO incredibly much, just a tiny bit.

The Tabouli was probably some of the best Tabouli I've ever had.  The mint wasn't over-powering at all, and there wasn't so much lemon that it made my mouth pucker.  The parsley was finely chopped so I didn't feel like I was eating leaves of it, and there was just enough cracked wheat in it to add to the texture.  As for the tomatoes, I personally like a lot of tomatos in my Tabouli, but there were just enough in there that it was tasty!

Drinks - (10/10)
Ah!  Drinks.  I'm always curious when it comes to drinks, especially foreign ones.  All three of us decided to try the Lebanese beer that was suggested by the Owner - and I'm SO glad I did.  Almaza - as told to us by the Owner - is the most favored beer in Lebanon, and I can see why.  To be perfectly honest, I'm not a beer conosouir and I have read absolutely no literature on beer flavor and ingredients. If it tastes good to me, I like it - which may play to the "everyday person" b/c I doubt everyone knows a lot more about beer than I do - and if you do, AWESOME! Please, teach me!

Regardless - it was a very light beer.  That's what I can tell you.  I could enjoy the "beer-y" taste without having to cringe at the overwhelming taste of beer.  Delicious, I will def. be drinking that again :)

Entertainment - (reserved for future review)
So, I"m not exactly sure how I felt about the belly dancer.  I will say that she was very talented and I would LOVE to be able to dance like that.  However, while sitting there with my boyfriend, I felt SLIGHTLY uncomfortable, even tho he paid her no mind.  Im not sure, I think if I was there under another situation I would feel differently about it, perhaps without the boyfriend, or maybe by myself.  I felt that it was inappropriate to watch her while she danced, idk why, perhaps just a social stigma or the way I grew up, maybe it was because she was wearing a traditional belly dancer outfit and the scantily clad clothing made me uncomfortable.  I will say tho, that I plan on going back w/o my boyfriend and I will make a proper review at that time, if I ever have time to go back.

Service (8/10) -
I gave the service an 8/10 because the owner was wandering around, asking how things were, he personally took our drink order, and also told us some interesting "tid-bits" about the food that my friend Bethany was eating.  Had it not been for him, I would have probably given the service a 6.5 - we saw our waitress maybe 5 times, once to give us drinks, once to take our order, once to give us our food, once to check on us, and once to give us our bill.  She never asked if we wanted more beer or something else to drink, and I'm not sure if it was her or someone else, but my boyfriends card was charged twice, once for my friends meal and once for ours.  They did correct this tho by giving my boyfriend cash back for the accidental charge.  The owner was very nice and it was obvious that he was very interested in the experience his guests were having, which made for a really nice experience.  He was the one that suggested the delicious beer :)

FINAL PRICE (8/10):
 for myself and my boyfriend= approx $35 (2 beers, 1 appetizer, 2 meals)

Decor - 6
Food - 9
Drinks - 10
Entertainment - reserved
Service - 8
Final Price - 8

Final Score = 41/50 or 82%

I very much enjoyed my experience at Maha's and hope to go back in the near future - I will say that the food and the drinks (as with any restaurant) were my favorite part, but I feel like it takes the whole essence of the experience to make it a 100% restaurant.





So there you have it!  My very first "food blog" - and I think it turned out rather well!  If you have any suggestions on how I could make this better (please only constructive criticism) - I would welcome you to make suggestions!  Although I will say - next time, I think I"ll take a picture of the sign outside....