Aladdin’s Palace

Allow me to first explain three things:
1. This is Mediterranean food, concentrated on flavors found in Lebanon. If you’re looking for Americanized Greek food, keep walking.
2. This food is homemade. It did not arrive here precooked, premade, prechewed, just needing to be heated up and plated.
3. The restaurant isn’t in the most glamorous of locations and there are lovely murals on the walls but to be honest if you came to look at walls… visit a museum.
My family and I are adventurous eaters, and we love to challenge our palates. That being said, we decided on a whim to head to this fine establishment. With four adults, two school aged children and one infant in tow, we were seated immediately. (One might find this indicative of the food. Seated immediately on Friday night? Food must be awful! Just wait.)
As we were seated by the super friendly owner of the restaurant, we noticed the nice table settings and cloth napkins. We were welcomed in warmly, and offered ice cold water and menus immediately.
As the owner was also the waiter, he came over to take our order. Sensing we were a bit in over our heads, he allowed us some extra time to process the menu.
We decided on the Large Meza, which sampled eight different menu offerings. As we did, he let us know that we may need more food, and we kept a menu.
The Large Meza fed six people as appetizers, and here is what it came with:
1. Tabouli
2. Deep fried cauliflower
3. Falafel
4. Stuffed grape leaves
5. Hummus
6. Baba ganoush
7. Garlicky kalamata olives
8. A creamy white lemony mint herb dip I can’t recall the name of.
The pita bread flowed freely, as we dipped and stuffed and tasted to our bellies delight. (I am currently expecting a baby, and haven’t found any food even remotely worthy… except for this food. It was exactly what my pregnancy has craved! I literally want to eat it again, right now and it hasn’t been twelve hours since I stepped foot in the place.) The baby in our group couldn’t stuff her face full of pita fast enough.
The grown ups loved it all, but let me tell you about the kids. The only two things they couldn’t get their minds around were the stuffed grape leaves and baba ganoush. Other than that, clean plates. There is no kids menu, but don’t let that scare you from bringing your well behaved kids here. They are welcome, as long as you’ve taught them there is more to life than grilled cheese and pizza.
As we were coming to the end of the food we ordered, we realized we still wanted to eat! We ordered more of the Large Meza food items, hummus and the Chicken Curry entrée.
I’m telling you, there was zero food left on the table as we left with our two orders of baklava to go. We were so stuffed, but couldn’t bring ourselves to not try the regional dessert specialty.
The favorites included the falafel, the deep fried cauliflower and the hummus as well as the chicken curry entrée. Again, every item was depleted as we ate and ate some more.
The gentlemen of the party ordered Arabic coffee, which came in teeny cups, but packed a punch! The aroma was strong, and I was sitting two chairs away!
My family will be back, and soon. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for next time, when we allow the restauranteur to guide our meal from one decadently herbed dish to the next.
Thank you Aladdin’s Palace, we had a wonderful evening.

Best food in Silverdale! House special is amazing shish tawouk and wings are delicious. Must eat here every time I’m in town.

Reviews are what they are. I once read a review of a Korean restaurant in the Seattle Times by a reviewer who had never had and ultimately didn’t really like Korean food. The reviews for Aladdin’s Palace run the course from great to terrible. The later include a comment from someone who claims to know how to cook and then complains about the rice with «cinnamon». I guess that person doesn’t know the difference between cinnamon and cardamom. Another negative review asked why there was no moussaka and spanakopita. Perhaps because this is a Lebanese restaurant and not a Greek one. There are differences.
In 1977, five brothers from a large Lebanese family moved to Seattle and three opened restaurants. Two were named Omar al Kyam, one in Renton and one in Seattle, just north of Greenlake, and one in Silverdale, named Aladdin’s Palace. I found the Seattle storefront in about 1978. It had a been a small café with pine paneling and there were pictures of covered bridges on the walls. The owner was Hani, and his son Walid helped at the restaurant.. It is Lebanese, not Greek, not Moroccan, not Persian. But more than that, it is Lebanese the way Hani’s, Fayez’s and Kamal’s mother taught them. The food has always been consistent, and sometimes there have been changes, but the food is always been fantastic. Hani used to make his salad with iceberg lettuce with lots of lemon, parsley and mint. Fayez and Kamal later changed to romaine with little parsley. I think Hani used more garlic, with Fayez and Kamal using less. Perhaps that has been dictated by marketing to wider tastes. Hani used to say that he had some complaints about the amount of garlic and he would say that if you didn’t like garlic, you shouldn’t come to his restaurant.
Sadly, both Fayez and Hani passed away, and their children weren’t interested in running restaurants. Hani taught me the best way to make baba ghanoug, by broiling and mashing, not baking or blending. I learned to make grape leaves his family’s way, and the tabouli… well anybody who thinks that stuff that is nearly all bulgur with a little parsley, onion and tomato, has not had Lebanese tabouli.
Every restaurant can have an off night, certainly. The bulk of the reviews mention being there for the first time. I first went to Aladdin’s Palace in Silverdale in the 1990s. When I go, which is all too infrequently, Kamal always greets me and my party with a smile and a hand shake or a hug. A warm welcome from someone who sees me only every couple of years, sometimes. Is the food inexpensive? No, but you’ll pay just as much at the Yacht Club Broiler down the street where the server is just interested in making the night’s tips.
I recently brought my girlfriend’s family here for dinner. All but one were reticent, unsure about the level of spice and even what Lebanese food is like. It isn’t curry… We let Kamal prepare two mezza plates, appetizers. Tabouli, greek olives with mint, labneh (a Lebaese yoghurt) baba ghanoug, hummus, grape leaves, zahra (lightly fried cauliflower) and falafel. The main course consisted of lamb, kafta, chicken, grape leaves and cabbage rolls, all served family style. The tender chunks of lamb were cooked perfectly, medium rare. the beef kafta was flavorful, the chicken breast chunks not dry and very tender. We finished with the best baklava you will ever have… that is, if you like baklava that is flaky and not overly sweetened. Of course, turkish coffee with cardamom and just a little sugar.
Restaurants come and go. Food in many is inconsistent as owners strive to hold onto staff. Kamal and his family have provided consistent Lebanese food for nearly 40 years. Oh, and now they have Almaza, a wonderful lager beer from Lebanon.
I have traveled widely and Lebanese food is among my favorites. Carnival on Woodman in LA is good, as is the Mediterranean Kitchen, first in Seattle, and now in a Bellevue location. Each have their own family recipes. All of them make you feel welcome, but no more so than Kamal, whether you are coming here for the first time, or are almost family, like me.

If you want an amazing experience when you go out to dinner or lunch for that matter, go here. The owner Is an absolute gem. The food is to die for. If you have catering needs, use this place. You will not be disappointed.

I was looking for something different and we both like Middle Eastern food so gave this place a try. Our first clue should have been the empty parking lot at noon.
The waitress was a dear but the food was bad. Our salads had black slimy rot and the falafel was extremely dry. The tahini sauce was sour and the bread was so cold and stale that we could hardly tear it with our teeth.
Very expensive and not worth my hard earned money.

Great experience, great staff, and an even more wonderful owner. Food was amazing more of an experience than just a quick bite which was great! My husband and I are both foodies and have eaten at many places and I can honestly say that we will be back because this was the best. The flavors were great loved the chicken and the garlic sauce.

I love the grape leaves! The owner is so friendly and the food is so good! If I could eat here for dinner every day I would! I have been a return customer for the last 4 years.

Good food, great service! It is a little pricey but if you go for lunch it’s cheaper :)

Delicious. If you like authentic!
The owners are fabulous. Venture away from just the kabobs and gyros.

Worst place ever. Rude server who fought back with attitude that was uncalled for when we had to return worst gyro ever made. Way too priced for mediocre food. Mom is Greek and if she ate here she would have stormed into the kitchen to show cook how to make authentic food from scratch as nothing was scratch made. Rice was Uncle Bens covered with cinnamon. Hummus was bought at Costco and even saw the empty containers in storeroom which was left open for the public to see. Chicken was well seasoned but so dry like chewing jerkey. Best thing was the salad and am familiar with bottled dressing brand that was used. Pita bread was ice cold and way too chewy to eat. My own Greek cooking is authentic but never as good as mom’s. Why no mousakka or spankopita on menu??? Paid over $ 40 for my part of the meal. Sheesh!

We have been meaning to stop into Aladdin’s Palace for quite some time now, and it was worth the wait! All of the food was freshly prepared and spiced to perfection. Be sure to have some Ksara white wine with your meal. Perfect compliment. It’s a new favorite!

My wife and I enjoyed the food here immensely. The food was hot and very fresh. Our waiter was very personable and a joy to talk too. He took his time to explain the menu and the preparation. We would come back here in a heartbeat. I suggest you do too.

This is my second time coming here and I have to say their food is absolutely fantastic. Plenty of seating and the atmosphere really was authentic. The waitress was very attentive to us and the owner even was going around checking on customers to make sure everyone was satisfied. I ordered the hummus appetizer and both the hubby and I really enjoyed it. You can not find it made any better than here.
As for the entrées I got the gyro and it was beautifully plated and was served hot and oh the colors they have in that dish ! The hubby had the kabob combo which was also beautifully plated and tasted even better he said .
Of course we could not leave without taking home some baklava. It was the perfect amount of crunch and sweetness, words can not describe how delicious it was. We will be coming back for future date nights !

I highly recommend not dining here.
After seeing the 4 out of 5 star rating (40 plus reviews) and being in the mood for a Mediterranean feast, my wife, daughter and I decided to try this place for lunch.
Upon entering the restaurant the proprietor greeted us with a very warm welcome and showed us through the dining room to our seats by the window. It was around noon and we were the only party in the restaurant. We told our host it was our first time in the establishment and he promptly explained we did NOT need to see a menu and he would be able to put together a wonderful lunch based on our likes and dislikes. He then asked if we were vegetarians, liked chicken, etc. After a few moments of discussion, my wife ordered a gyro with lamb and I ordered a lamb and rice plate. I explained that we didn’t want bread, but would like hummus and vegetables. We also ordered side salads and our daughter a side of fries.
Service wasn’t slow and it wasn’t quick either. Our salads arrived first and we were very pleased. The salad dressing was tasty — a mint/​lemon/​vinegarette over lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers. The hummus was delivered a few minutes later with a side of cucumbers, tomatoes and romaine lettuce. The hummus simply ok (we later overheard the proprietor telling a couple they make the best hummus in town — smh) and you can tell by the pale color of the tomatoes they are stored in the fridge.
A while later our main dish arrived. My wife did not get a gyro as expected, but instead was served exactly what I ordered. The plating was clumsy. It consisted of a ramekin on a plate. The ramekin was layered with thin pita bread topped with a lamb stew consisting of garlic, peppers and onions. The ramekin was on a plate of rice — Uncle Ben’s quality — with a dash of cinnamon. The dish was below average, as the lamb was underwhelming and the rice was comparable to minute rice. My wife and I wondered about her gyro, which never showed up, as well as the fries.
After reminding our server about the fries, he apologized and put an order in. A few minutes later we received the fries, which were homemade in appearance, but undercooked — perhaps only fried once. As we were finishing our meal, we overheard a couple who were sitting behind us complain about their meal — apparently they thought the lamb tasted rotten and assertively passed their critique onto the proprietor. The proprietor was very defensive and insisted that the taste was the seasoning and the meat was not rotten. He apologized, took their dishes away and promptly summoned for their replacement meals. Shortly after witnessing this ideal ending to one of the less than mediocre lunches I have endured in a long, long time, I went to pay the tab. I was astonished that our bill was $ 70.
In retrospect, it would have been wise to ask how much our host was asking for his recommended — off the menu — lunch, but we neglected to do so, thus in the end we paid a lot more $ than the meal was worth. I am one who has no regard for cost when having a fine meal. However, nothing perturbs me more than overpaying for a crappy dining experience. I was not satisfied with our experience and I do not understand how, or why this place received such laudable reviews. If the reviews of this place were even remotely accurate, we would have never stepped foot into Aladdin’s Palace. Although the proprietor was very welcoming, I did not appreciate his sly tactic of not offering us a menu, so he could take advantage of our unfamiliarity with his establishment. Perhaps this, among the other deltas mentioned in this review justify the 7% tip he received.
I highly recommend not dining here.

This is our new favorite restaurant in Silverdale. Not sure why it took us this long to try it but we are SO glad we did! It was worth every penny.
I can’t say enough good things about our experience here, the service, the food, the atmosphere, it was all top-​notch. Kamal met us at the door and invited us in like it was his home and really made us feel welcome. The soup, the hummus the lamb the chicken; it was ALL mouth watering and delicious! My wife and I both kept wanting to lick the plates but we refrained since it was in a public place.
Our biggest regret was not coming sooner. If you haven’t been, you need to go check this place out! We’ll be back very soon and very often to partake in more fabulous Mediterranean cooking!

I really wanted to love this place, Mediterranean is my absolute favorite cuisine and we were excited to try it out.
The major issue we had was service. We went at 6pm on a Friday night. Weirdly there was only one server, who also appeared to be the proprietor, and though it wasn’t swamped, he was overwhelmed. That said, he was SUPER nice and this place has a ton of potential! A couple of tweaks and this place is 5 stars. I hope you read Unilocal.
We started with the house red wine, it was good, and they actually had a decent wine list.
We ordered the hummus and lamb, which was just good, the lamb was a little chewy, definitely well done. The bread was totally underwhelming. It’s not house made and it was pretty stale. For dinner we had the house special; kufta, lamb kabob, chicken kabob, one cabbage roll, rice, and one grape leaf. We specifically ordered the lamb mid-​rare, we got mid-​well. We both ordered salads with dinner, I never got mine.
This dish was not nearly $ 27 worth of food. Also, it all needs a sauce. It needs to be served with a tzatziki or something!

The food was amazing! I liked the laid back atmosphere and how nicely everyone treated us and our baby!
It was really awkward that the server kept trying to speak to my husband in Spanish. My husband is native American so I can understand the initial confusion… but why did the server continue to speak Spanish when my husband and I were speaking English?

So I am writing this review in the hopes that somebody in a similar position to mine comes across this and says, «ah, I get it».
I ordered their Lamb Sharhat spicy with a salad. I will have to say the salad was the highlight of the meal. The dressing was super spicy in that lemony garlicky herby sort of way you might expect food from areas bordering the Mediterranean to be.
Let me preface the rest of this review with my own personal ignorance. I didn’t pay attention to how much this item cost on the menu (came out to be $ 28 after tax, one meal item, no adult beverages, nothing!) and I didn’t utilize opportunities to make mention of the issues with my meal when I had the opportunity to.
I don’t proclaim to be any sort of decent chef, but I know how I like my lamb and I know how to cook a Lamb Château properly and this s**t arrived DOA, like they took a wet dry vac and sucked whatever moisture was left in the meat and let it sit under a heat lamp. Then the rice, somebody got liberal with the Lawry’s Restaurant sized cinnamon shaker and coated my rice in it. Good thing I don’t mind cinnamon much.
The 3 star rating is in consideration of the area it is located in, the meal wasn’t inedible (but then again I also eat galley food on a «research» vessel), and this is all I’ve tried at this restaurant, but for the money this was ridiculous. If this happened in an area with some more Moroccan/​Lebanese/​Persian competition I would have slammed it with one star, it really was that unacceptable.
I accept 50% of the responsibility for not looking at the prices on the menu, not saying anything about how «well done» my lamb was in the restaurant, and not letting my inner voice pipe up when I got the bill. But seriously, if you love food and love «Mediterranean», avoid the Lamb Sharhat at the least and let me know how the rest of the food is.

This was an unexpected surprise. Entrees and side soups/​salads had bold flavors and were well-​prepared. Between a combo plate and chicken kebab, we tried four different meats for four wins.
The service was warm and personal, which makes up for a room that isn’t, and a sort of awkward entranceway.
Skip the baklava: I’ve had crispier.

This may be my new favorite spot! First time ever having Mediterranean food, and it was delicious! The restaurant is very pretty and clean inside. The staff was delightfully friendly, and quite attentive. Started the meal with Baba Ghanoug– amazing (and I thought hummus was good!)
Ordered the house special sampler platter; Grape Leaves, Cabbage Leaves, Kafta Halabia. and a couple other which I can’t recall… so good! Everything tasted fresh and seasoned beautifully! Took a piece of Baklawa to go– by far the best piece I’ve ever eaten. It was not too sweet and flaky! Will certainly be back!