See this as an incentive to help the foodservice industry: in times like these, we deserve to treat ourselves, and I believe that south-east Mediterranean food is a great choice to lift our spirits up. I had been craving some, and unfortunately my go-to place is currently closed. I felt desperate for a taste bud serenade, so I decided to sit down and do some online searching, faithful that I would find something as worthy. (Most eateries keep operating with take-out and delivery systems, so it was only a matter of choosing from a vast selection.) While scrolling for interesting Mediterranean eateries online, I found a little gem: Mediterranean Grill.
Located off Bel-Red, by Hyde Square’s apartments in Bellevue, it has been maintaining a good reputation since its opening in 2015, with a following of devoted customers that online reviews can testify. I was already hooked at the sight of the homepage, which exploded to my eyes with colors and a glorious PowerPoint-like transition announcing free (don’t we all love that word?) delivery for $20 and up orders within five miles which would have rocked, if only I didn’t live farther than that. I really miss eating out, but takeout and delivery remain great options to eat restaurant food, with the plus of a meal in the comfort of some ugly pajamas and Netflix in your own home.
The menu has a variety of choices, all served with pita bread. There’s chicken shawarma, lamb shawarma, kofta kebab, baba ghanoush, but also vegetarian options, like the falafel sandwich, the vegetarian mezze, and the Greek salad. Prices for plates, salads, and sandwiches range from $8.50 to $14.30. Sides include gyro fries (beef & lamb gyro over French fries), hummus with pita, Cauliflower Fries topped with tahini, and more.
After a long time inspecting the menu, I ordered the beef and lamb gyro plate, which costs $12.25, and a pistachio baklava for $3.95. My order was delivered by GrubHub, and though I live fifteen minutes away in Kirkland, it arrived perfectly warm.
The gyro plate consisted of beef and lamb gyro (as the name makes obvious), cooked with tomato and onion. The gyro, placed on a bed of basmati rice, was soft and wonderfully seasoned, topped with garlic sauce, which balanced well with the spices in the meat. The pita bread was warm and soft, certainly a game changer when combined with the other flavors in the plate. The little bowl contained freshly made tzatziki sauce (usually made with yogurt, garlic, cucumber, and various spices), where I dipped the rest of my food. I’m not sure if that’s how it’s done in South East Europe and the Middle East, but I think the “experimentation” was a pretty successful choice. I was already full before even getting to the Greek salad, but the smaller size made it easy to eat. The salad had lettuce, tomato, cucumber, cheese, onion, and vinegar. The baklava was my dessert, also my first baklava ever (surely the first of a long series). The phyllo dough was soft and moist with a slight crisp, while the filling was creamy and had the typical mildness of pistachio nuts. Overall sweet, but the layers balanced each other, which made me really appreciate it.
Fresh ingredients, perfect amount of seasoning (the gyro was exceptional), delicious taste, filling portions, and reasonable prices. These are the qualities that we look for in a restaurant, and I believe Mediterranean Grill satisfied these expectations.
I plan to order again, having my eyes already set on the hummus plate.
