Aladdin's Delight - Quick, Filling, Good

Aladdin's Delight, in Frandor next to Apple Jade, is one of my favorite places to grab a quick lunch, especially when I'm in the more vegetarian mood. Their flavors are similar to Woody's Oasis on Trowbridge in East Lansing, in come cases identical (even their Big Board menus on the wall are essentially the same). Both places have Lebanese cuisine. Both share the title of best falafel sandwich in town.

This place is a great choice for both meat eaters and vegans. The menu has about half and half, meat or veg -- and many dishes have a meat or vegetarian version. While a few of the vegetarian dishes have dairy, it's always the main ingredient, so easy to avoid.

Aside from the falafel sandwich, a few other favorite items are the samosas -- a little fried pastry of patatoes, peas and spices (and very spicy). Fried or baked kibbee comes in meat or potato version. There's good hummus and babaganouj. (Hummus is a mixture of ground chickpeas, sesame paste, lemon and seasonings -- served as a dip or spread with bread. Babaganouj is a smilar dip made of roasted eggplant.) The bread is the very thin Lebanese kind.

There are a number of main dishes on the menu, and many come with a salad. My favorite combo is the Hashwi with yogurt salad. Hashwi is rice, beef, pinenuts and seasonings all cooked together, then mixed with a little shredded chicken. The yogurt salad is cucumbers in a yogurt, lemon and garlic dressing. If you pour the salad over the hashwi, it's a real taste delight! (I've been known to buy the salad just to dress up a quick roast chicken dinner of any kind.)

International Market

(NOTE: International Market has moved to the 2800 block of East Grand River in East Lansing. It's in the same strip with Oriental Mart and Fiesta Charra.)

The first thing you see when you walk into the International Market on Grand River in Okemos, is a wall of baskets, each full of candies. Unfortunately the wrappers on the candies are in Russian, so it's a pot luck purchase. But it's kind of a treasure hunt too.

The candies are odd and fun, but the rest of the store is a great little font of eastern European foods with a Middle-eastern flair. They don't have a lot, but they have a good variety of what they carry -- various rices and lentils, and a case of cheeses and cured meats and sausages. Not to mention Teas. (My mother has been yearning for an Earl Grey tea she got at a Russian tea room in LA. I found her a good substitute here.)

There's also a wall length refrigerator-case full of good stuff. I purchased some Labna -- a thickened creamy yogurt that is a lot like cream cheese. It is high fat for yogurt (though I haven't compared it to cream cheese yet -- might be a wonderful substitute for your bagel spread).

Labna could be used as a substitute for sour cream too. I'm considering experimenting with a salad dressing or dip that could be a variation of wing sauce for those who don't like bleu cheese. Heck, next time you have hot wings, just try dipping them in straight labana! (I will be posting a recipe Sunday for an easy treat I call Buffalo Shao Mai. I tried one with some Labana and it was heaven.)

International Market is located in the 2800 block of East Grand River in East Lansing. (Same building as Oriental Mart and Fiesta Charra.) (517) 853-8400.

Altus Ethiopian - Great food, fun dining experience

Altu's Ethiopian Cuisine, on Michigan Avenue, tucked in right next to the Silver Dollar Saloon (at the very border of Lansing and East Lansing, just west of Frandor).

Ethiopian food not only tastes great, is very filling, and provides great options for both meat eaters and vegetarians, but it is one of those unique dining experiences that makes the whole thing extra fun...because at the end of the meal you eat the napkins and table cloth! (Okay, that's because what looks like a rolled napkin and table cloth is really the spongey "injera" bread that is unique to Ethiopia. More on that in a minute.)

Ethiopian food consists mainly of various kinds of stews. There's a lot of ginger, onion, garlic, tumeric and lemon here. And there's a lot of hot pepper in the spicy dishes. The meats are all stewed with tomato and onions until the meat is tender and sauce has blended itself all together with the meat. Beef, Lamb, Chicken -- and you can get them all either spicy or mild. We usually get something spicy and something mild. While everything is good in spicy mode, lamb and chicken are the best mild choices. (Note, while the Chicken is really tasty, she uses drumsticks only, which means the proportion of meat is smaller. The "Breast Chicken Strips" may be a better deal, but I haven't tried them yet.)

The vegetarian entrees consist of various legumes -- lima beans, lentils, pinto beans, chickpeas -- cooked in variations of similar seasonings. (Though not tomatoes.) While a lot of people really like the spicey lentils, I think the Lima Beans are the star of the show here. They are mild, creamy, stewed in lemony ginger and tumeric. And they're the perfect complement to Spicey Beef (or Spicey Lentils if you are a vegetarian.)

On the side, you always get a small, sharp peppery salad, and a scoop of stewed cabbage with a little potato. You can also order collard greens (and on Wednesdays, there's a special greens with coconut dish).

All of this is served on a large platter with a sheet of injera -- a flat bread made from a tiny whole grain called tef. The batter is fermented, like sourdough, which is what gives it the spongey texture, and a sour/salty flavor. Injera is extremely healthy - one of the few whole grain products that taste really good. But if you prefer, you can also get dishes with a big plate of seasoned rice instead.

The restaurant has a number of regular booths, as well as small Ethiopian tangine tables -- stands you can gather around and dig in as a group. Ethiopian food is meant to be eaten by hand -- just tear off a piece of bread and scoop up the stew. But Altu provides forks too. (And for some people, this might be a good choice. All of the food has tumeric in it, a lovely yellow/orange spice that stains. Don't wear white silk unless you are a very neat eater.)

If you like iced tea, give her tea a try -- it's spiced and tasty. Otherwise, she has a selection of regular softdrinks. Prices are just under $10 for vegetarian dishes, and just over for meat dishes -- but you get a LOT of food. Closed Sundays and Mondays. She also has live worldbeat music on Saturday nights.

Check out the menu and music schedules at her website, Altu's Ethiopian Cuisine, 1312 Michigan Avenue, East Lansing, (517) 333-6295

Sultan's Restaurant

The main Sultan's location in Hannah Plaza has a bread oven. Yes, fresh hot hand-made pita bread. (At least when the oven is fired up -- which it usually is at dinner time.) A big basket of hot bread, a bowl of their lentil soup and a plate of babaganouj, and you might forget to leave room for the generously portioned main course. (I often take home a huge box of leftovers.)


The lean and well seasoned grilled meats are premiere here. There's lamb and beef and chicken. Probably one of the more popular dinners is the Chicken Shawarma. (Shawarma is what many of us think of a gyro meat: chopped and seasoned meat formed into a big roll, and then put on a hot rotisserie. The chef cuts off strips as the meat sears and sizzles.) All the chicken dishes are served with this intensely garlicky yoghurt sauce that is a favorite. The Shish Combo (pictured below) provides samples of a couple of the grilled meats, and both kinds of sauce.


A few other favorite dishes: The salads are good, and I think they have the best fattouch in town -- this is a large salad of crunchy toasted pita bread, along with the usual tomatoes, peppers, onions and lettuce. Gallaya (below) is another of my favorites -- a cross between a stirfry and a stew with chicken in mushrooms, tomatoes, carrots and seasonings.


Sultan's also serves good fries, when you have kids or other cautious eaters with you.

They have two locations in the Lansing area:
Sultan's -- Hannah Plaza on Hagadorn in East Lansing
Sultan's Express -- 305 S Washington Sq, in downtown Lansing.

Lou and Harry's Greek Grill

Lou and Harry's Greek Grill in East Lansing, has the best gyro in town. I don't know where they get their meat -- it comes in oval patties rather than on the classic big shwarma roll you see in a lot of gyro places. However, it is perfectly spiced, and they sear the patties on the grill to crisp, carmelized perfection. Their pita is the thicker Greek-style, which they also heat on the grill.

I'm not a fan of their seasoned fries -- but I'm not a fan of coated or seasoned fries in the first place -- so if I get a combo, I like to get their Greek salad. They have a nice, sharp dressing that isn't shy, but is also not too vinegary. And the salad itself has a nice balance of feta cheese, peppers, onions and olive, as well as the lettuce, tomato and cuke.

There are a lot other popular items on the menu, from chicken sandwiches and burgers to fancier salads and a great selection of Greek deli foods like moussaka or Greek spaghetti. They have specials Monday through Thursday, combos of burgers, chicken sandwiches and the original gyro. I don't recall offhand which days for which special, but gyros are Wednesdays.

L & H Five Star Deli on Ann Street (next to El Azteco) is also owned by Lou and Harry's and serves excellent sandwiches. For a long time, they didn't have a grill, so their gyros weren't as good (they put them through a broiler instead --and it just didn't reach that crispy, seered texture), but I notice they are offering burgers there, so I assume their gyros are now cooked on a grill, and up to the quality of the original location.

The original Lou and Harry's is at at 1139 East Grand River, East Lansing. Phone: (517) 351-0066
The Five Star Deli is at 245 Ann St, East Lansing. Phone: (517) 351-5566

Middle East Cafe - a hidden treasure

A Lebanese friend recommended Middle East Cafe to us. He said that Lebanese cooking tends to vary by village, and that this place serves food like his own family's cuisine.

And boy, his family must eat well. My favorites are the Cabbage Rolls. Somehow the perfect balance of tenderness and seasonings. You can get it with meat or vegetarian (in both cases, the filling has a lot of rice -- so if you get the combo, this can replace a rice dish). My other favorite is the Baked Kibbee -- grain and lamb, and pine nuts.

One great thing about this place is that they have a Combo Special, where you pick three items for $6.50. The list includes: Grape Leaves (Meat or Vegi), Baked Kibbee, Meat or Spinach Pie, Shwarma (that's the big roll of gyro meat: Chicken or Beef), Cabbage Rolls, Burgul & Tomatoes, Mujadara (lentils and Cracked wheat), Hummous or Baba Ghanouge, Hashwi (rice, chicken and ground beef), Tabouli (salad of parsley, cracked wheat and tomato).

The worst thing about the place is that's it's hard to find. (Once you know it's there, it's easy, so give it a try.) They are just off West Saginaw on the way out to Lansing Mall, tucked in behind a Tuffy Muffler shop a block or so west of Waverly Road, on the north side of Saginaw.

They are open 8am-10pm weekdays but not weekends. (Hey, the owner has to have time to run to the grocery store once in a while!)

801 W Thomas L Pkwy, Lansing, MI, 48917. 323-9009