At about 5PM, I was already feeling hungry so I messaged my sister Regine if she would be interested to eat Mediterranean food over at Greenbelt 1. She had just finished her Japanese classes a couple of blocks away, so we opted to both meet directly there.
Mediterranean Cafe at Greenbelt 1 had apparently gone through some renovations earlier this year. They opened up the space to allow an more open environment, and to create a larger seating capacity. Regine and I browsed through the menu and placed our orders with the waiter (by the way, out of the last 5 times I ate here, service has reliably been attentive and fast... it was no different this time 'round)!
While waiting for our orders, Regine instructed me to grab the bottle of garlic sauce from the other table... seems we didn't have one! While it was tempting to get a more filled-up bottle from another table, I figured between the two of us, this amount would probably be enough.
The first item to arrive was the Falafel (Php 175). I suppose when you just see three balls, you'd feel it wasn't going to be enough. But after we broke the balls (lol) on our wheat pita bread, smothered it with the spicy, and white garlic sauce, it was more than enough! And texture wise, it was everything I hoped it to be! Yum!
Regine ordered a Kofta Gyro (Php 210)... which is like a gyro, that has beef and lamb combined. Kofta is a lot like falafel in terms of texture... but the taste is so pronounced! It was really delicious! According to Regine, she says the kofta was tender. Flavor was mild and pleasant... but the overall wrap itself could use a little improvement (she identified that the vegetables felt a bit too raw, or in some cases wasn't as fresh as they should've been). She adds, if they upped the level of the wrap to the level of the kofta, it'd be a really amazing gyro!
For me, I ordered the Chicken Gyro (Php 175). It doesn't seem like much from this photo, but it was everything I expected from a chicken gyro... so I was pretty happy with it. Have I tasted better~ sure! But generally speaking, I'd maintain that this order was an 8/10... which is still pretty high!
Of course, from each bite I'd make, I'd pour some of the spicy + white garlic sauces over it. Thankfully, the gyro didn't break down like a runaway burrito. But the amount of sauce really overflowed... so Regine and I had to make a number of requests from the waiter to bring even more table napkins!
Overall, it was good!
What stole the show though was the Hummus with Grilled Vegetables (Php 300). The hummus itself was enjoyable... and what stood out for me was the generous heaps of extra virgin olive oil that they put into the dish. It reminded me a lot of those homely family lunches or dinners, and how they wouldn't scrimp on the ingredients. Or better yet, it felt like a dish that was made out of love! That's how I'd describe it!
And the grilled vegetables... they were roasted so well. The squash, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes... everything just added a level of complexity to the dish! Amazing! And what I appreciated were those fork patterns of paprika. Once your pita hits that portion, the flavor!
Now, the weird thing that happened though was that Regine ordered her kofta gyro with a side of fries. Unfortunately it didn't register right away, and they only managed to catch up on the order towards the tail end. When you look at it, it totally didn't blend with the whole Mediterranean themed cuisine we were eating.
It was a really satisfying early dinner, and I would still come back here again! I should probably start ordering other items I had never tried before, just to get a better sense of their entire menu. But anyway, I was really glad to have spent dinner here!
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