El Sham, Hamilton

Nothing says spring is here like Mediterranean food, at least in my eyes. I don't know why it conjures up images of the outdoors and sunshine, but it just does. We've recently begun seeing the first glimpses of warmth and the changing of the seasons, so my craving for authentic, delicious Middle Eastern food has been amped up. Luckily I live about 15 minutes from El Sham, a relatively new place that Matt and I have been hearing about.

If you order a combo platter you get 2 (omg!) appetizers, a salad, rice and your actual meal. This is NO JOKE, but what it IS is entirely too much delicious food at once. The salad was great, served with a delicious, nutty tahini dressing (that I couldn't stop raving about). Crunchy, earthy, cold and crisp. For my two appetizers I chose the hummus and the baba ghanouj. I was a bit surprised when full size appetizer platters came out to me (I figured since it was part of the combo it'd be an itty bitty scoop of each, but El Sham is not messing around!) The hummus was smooth and creamy, just the right amount of nuttiness contrasting with a bit of tart. The baba ghanouj was a real treat.... you could tell it was home made. A bit chunkier than most places care to serve it I was really able to enjoy the eggplant. Big pieces of herbs gave it a super fresh taste. I added this to my salad, my pita bread, saved some to mix in with my meal... hell, I ate some with my finger. It was really good. Matt's app choices were the yogurt, mint, and cucumber salad (also known in some circles as tzatziki) which was a bit thin, but tasty nontheless and a (full sized!) fattoush salad. It was crazy flavorful.... citrusy and bright with lemony dressing and topped with fried pita chunks for serious crunch and texture.

Somehow (a miracle, I assure you) we had room left for our meals. I ordered the El Sham protein platter, which is a large plate covered in all of my faves; lamb kabob, chicken kabob, and kafta kabob. Each of the meats were cooked perfectly... I don't think I even picked my knife up once. The seasonings on each (but especially the kafta) were so warm and welcoming... they offered a sense of the familiar with a twist of the exotic. I was happy that the meal was served with Syrian rice and the spicy long pepper... I was able to spice up the meat with a big bite of pepper and then cool down with the herby rice.

Matt went with the lamb shawarma platter.... the thin slices were absolutely delightful. The usual problem with this dish is that the meat is cooked for so long and cut so thin, and if it's not cut properly it gets dry and chewy.... so very much not the case here. The spices used give the dish an almost sweet flavor... I think it's the cardamom (or maybe there's nutmeg in it?) It had the same deal... rice and the pepper... this combo was even better with the shawarma, since the sweetness of the meat really brought out the bite of the pepper. It was topped off with a drizzle of tahini. Delicious.

We thought we were full.... hell, we KNEW we were full... that is until the owner (really nice guy) brought us over one of his homemade desserts. It was called basbusa, I'd never heard of it, never seen it, but what I now know is that it is amazing. It has the consistency of corn bread, but tasted like honey and almonds. When I declared this to him (thinking I figured out the ingredients) he pretty much laughed at me. The trick is all in the prep... basbusa has basically just a few easy ingredients.... semolina, butter, milk and sugar. It was simply to die for.

I strongly reccomend El Sham to anyone in the area. The owner and all of the staff were a pleasure to interact with, the space is small, but clean and tidy, and the food is great. I can't wait to go back and try a few more things... I think I may hear their falafel and grape leaves calling me.

El Sham

http://www.elshamrestaurant.com/

1641 South Olden Dr

Hamilton-

609 931 0513

Chapala, Hamilton

I crave Mexican food at least once a week, and ever since we moved to this area it's been a hard craving to satiate. I know that we can go to Mexican Village but it's a bit of a schlep for a week night, and we were hoping to find something a touch closer.... and then we did. Chapala is right on Route 33 in Hamilton (I wouldn't call the section of town sketchy, but the building and parking lot look like they have potential to be). It's super weird looking on the inside.... really reminiscent of a pizza place or burger bar... looks nothing like what I picture a Mexican place to look like. I mean they hung the standard colorful art and sombreros on the wall, but it just looks... off.

We first tried the place with ME and her friend D, who is not only a local, but the one who reccomended the place to us. We ordered guacamole for the table upon D's reccomendation and it was awesome. Creamy and cold and a little spicy and a little chunky... even Matt tried it (remember... he is anti avacado! This is a big step!) He not only liked it, he has been asking if we can go back just to order it. So ha. Guacamole from Chapala :1, Matt's preconceived notions of avacado hatred :0

D ordered the chicken flautas in the Chapala sauce. She swears that the Chapala sauce is the way to go, but it wasn't for me... it was a brown sauce and tasted very meaty and rich... I think it tasted like it belonged on a pot roast, not a flauta. Hey... she likes what she likes. The flauta's themselves, though, were very good. Crispy and tightly rolled, these were very nice.

ME ordered the taco salad with chicken. This was LOADED with chicken.... I mean LOOK at it! The chicken was practically pouring out of the bowl! The salad was delicious and stuffed with a ton of delectibles... the standard lettuce, tomato, and cucumber were joined by black olives, mushrooms, green pepper and onion as well as cheese, salsa, and sour cream. The dressing on the lettuce was odd though... it had an Asian feel to it... it was very similar to the ginger sesame vinagrette I have at home. It somehow managed to work with all of the components, but it certainly was not expected! The chicken was cooked very well.. a bit citrusy, a bit spicy, all tender. This dish also came along with quesadillas.... soooooo much food. ME couldn't come close to finishing everything on her plate.

Matt ordered the fajita platter, and as his proteins (you can choose two, if I remember correctly) he chose the steak and chicken. Usually when you order fajitas you get your meats on a sizzling bed of onion and pepper.... and that's fine. Chapala didn't agree. Their theory seems to be 'more is more'. The plate was literally overstuffed (seriously... look at the shot I took!) with huge portions of each meat (a bit sinewy on the steak, chicken was delightful) and then a load of veggies. Peppers and onions were now joined by broccoli, carrot, squash, and cauliflower. Actually, thinking about it, this also seemed to have a bit of an Asian flare.... those are pretty typical stir fry veg, yes? Whatever. Long story short it was good and super generous. He got the Chapala sauce on the side and smeared it all over everything. I guess this meaty sauce made more sense on this dish, but I still didn't like it. Matt loved it though.

I ordered the beef burrito with Roja sauce. The burrito was a bit smaller than I expected after seeing the rest of the dishes, but it was seriously dense with filling. Strips of steak were mingling with peppers and onions, all of which were seasoned with a bit of garlic and a touch of heat. The sauce was thick and surprisingly sweet. It had a nice end kick, but I couldn't get over the sweetness... it was downright odd.

We will be back to Chapala.... most of the dishes were well seasoned and delicious, even if I wasn't a fan of either sauce that I tried (and despite the wierd Asian thing that they may or may not be trying to force!). The service was really great and the price was reasonable, especially considering the sheer amount of food that we each received. I will do a follow up on this baby next time we go, and let you know if there is a sauce that I enjoy after all!

Chapala

811 Highway 33

Hamilton- 08619

609-631-0062