Gaby’s Mediterranean Restaurant Cafe has been a part of the Los Angeles culinary landscape, just across Venice Boulevard and the L.A./Culver City divide, since 1998.
“Our menu features fresh and healthy dishes such as our beloved kebabs, falafel, hummus, grape leaves, and favorites like lemon salmon, fatayer and the delicious lamb kebab,” they say online. “Gaby Maalouf knew he wanted to do something extraordinary from a young age. Little did he know, his ambition and family expertise would launch him into a whirlwind adventure in the casual and fast dining industry.”
The casual nature of the restaurant is such that customers enter and choose their food from the counter, before taking a seat cafeteria style. The staff are welcoming, the open kitchen refreshing, and overall atmosphere delightful.
The sights, the sounds, the smells, and eventually the tastes – the senses are fully tantalized at Gaby’s and everything on the menu looks incredible. The beef kafta kabob (two skewers of grilled seasoned ground beef and lamb mixed with chopped parsley, onion and spices), and the Phoenician chicken (boneless chicken sautéed with fresh tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, bell peppers and spices), to name two.
That said, we opted for the classic fattoush salad (romaine lettuce, tomatoes, onions, radishes, cucumber and parsley tossed in our fattoush dressing and topped with pita chips). In many ways, a fattoush is a fattoush, and at Gaby’s the major ingredients are all present and correct.
The lettuce is fresh and crisp, complemented beautifully by the tart tomatoes, onions and radishes. The cucumber balances the salad wonderfully, and the parsley makes the real difference. That’s when you know you’re eating a fattoush and not just another salad.
Gaby’s fattoush dressing is a little sweeter and fruitier than many other fattoush dressings. That’s the key, the unique ingredient. It’s oily and delicious, and it ties the whole salad together, but it’s the sweetness that takes this salad up a level.
It’s not the star though. That honor falls on the pita chips which are browned and crunchy, and bursting with flavor. Coated with the oily dressing, they’re frankly incredible.
We added a side of olives, which are plump and juicy. We also added a side of rice, which is sticky and dotted with noodles.
The Salad comes with a piece of pita bread and garlic sauce, both of which are very tasty. The combination of all of those items made for a very delicious, relatively healthy meal.Gaby’s Mediterranean Restaurant Cafe is located at 10445 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles 90034. Contact 310-559-1808, or visit gabysrestaurants.com.