Chef and owner of Cleveland-based restaurants Zhug, Amba, and Chimi. Mission to spread joy through meaningful experiences and shared passion, focusing on global flavors.
2
Incredibly disappointing. Would 100% recommend skipping. I was excited at the idea of coming but can not vouch for this place.
The service was awful. Will not call out my server but they could absolutely care less about checking on us, the experience, and could not be bothered to speak about the menu.
Food wise, the potato tostones and the hummus (lamb) were the best parts. Everything else was actually not good.
Falafel - incredibly dry, room temperature, and hard to chew on. This was an absolute no.
Main Lamb dish - this was so uninspired for a place that has other fascinating ingredients on the menu. Avoid at all costs.
While the hummus was good, it’s not worth the price at all. Also their pita was not good.
Frankly, outside of the atmosphere, there is very little this place gets right.
Also doubt that this was an “off-night” experience. We got here around 5pm right before they started peaking in terms of business and like I said, everything was a miss.
Food was incredible! Best calamari I've ever had. I liked the crunchy and herbal elements that accompanied each dish. We had the smoked calamari, roasted carrots, cod cakes, and the garlic green beans. Also the tahini sundae and chocolate cheesecake for dessert. Highly recommend! The only drawback was that it was pretty loud talking and music wise. I think it was just the acoustics of the older building. But otherwise very enjoyable. Wish I had more photos to share but it was all gone before I thought to take a picture 😆.
Update: we went back the next day so we could try more things. Took more pics this time 🔥
Zhug was incredible!! Small plates perfect to share with 1-2 people. 4 plates was perfect for our party of 2. We had excellent service. The staff worked together like a well oiled machine. Amazing place to eat definitely worth the wait (if there is one as they don't take reservations).
Overall we had a great night!
Our server was very attentive and kind, took care in talking us through dishes/drinks and our allergies. She was fabulous!
LOVED the curied lamb hummus, beef kofte and the no.23 cocktail.
The drinks were all very good. My only issue was with the food this evening. I've been here a couple times before, and every other time everything was very flavorful and delicious. This time however, I felt like some dishes were bland? The rice, calamari and carrots were all incredibly bland. We did opt out for olives on the calamari, but the flavor of the calamari itself was just smoke and nothing else also it didn't have the best texture. The mejadra was bland and the fried onions weren't very crisp they were more chewy? The carrots were just carrots, still good but I feel like they could have used some salt or something. Also my partner and I disagree about the free naan, he loved it but I thought the texture was strange this time. A little too soft and crumbly, almost like GF bread?
Overall tho, had a great time! Just a little disappointed in SOME of the dishes (:
My friend and I were looking for a restaurant in the area and came across this place. We called ahead to ask if reservations were needed and were told they weren’t, since there was plenty of space. However, when we arrived, the hostess made it seem like we should have had a reservation. We also asked to sit away from the window because it was very drafty, but we weren’t seated far enough from it and I was freezing.
> When ordering, we selected a few items and our server made some recommendations. She mentioned that what we ordered would take about 15 minutes, but it ended up taking closer to 35 minutes. She also suggested ordering 5–6 items for the two of us. Overall, it felt more like a small-plates restaurant meant for conversation rather than a place for a full dinner, which I wish I had known ahead of time.
> The complimentary naan was good, but the hummus with a small spoonful of lamb was not worth the time or money.
> The atmosphere was nice and clean, with partial booths and pillows. The servers worked well together and were dressed in an artsy style. Our server was pleasant, though she had a slightly snobbish, artsy vibe that seemed to fit the setting. The music was really nice, with a good mix of different styles.
> Overall, despite the nice atmosphere, I wouldn’t return.
