Al-Sultan Mediterranean Grill

PALESTINE 🇵🇸

COVID-19 UPDATE: The dining room is open. The large outdoor tented seating area in front is still operational for those that are not ready to sit with others inside unmasked, but is mostly used in the evening.

When you walk inside this modest Anaheim restaurant, it is hard not to notice the dual rotating spits of meat behind the counter. It is the type of thing that is also hard to divert your eyes off from. Glances towards the glistening fatty meats are impossible to avoid even after sitting down. That shawarma will eventually pull you in.

But first sit down and take inventory of the rest of the menu, which includes some daily specials on the back which are packed with favorites from Palestine and the Levant. The days and times these are available are a little haphazard, so give them a call or ask when you sit down. Evenings are probably the best time to come when everything offered on one day is available, but you never know.

On this occasion the special was the sweet and sour okra stew called bamia, but after the order was in it was relayed that the dish would not be ready for another hour. Good news for all the diners coming later to enjoy this slow-cooked gem, but bad for those that came in starving for lunch. On other days you can order musakhan, mansaf, and more, all of which look extraordinary from photos online.

Start your meals here with an array of fresh vegetable appetizers like the unbelievably green tabbouleh ($5.99, above), one of the freshest versions around. Chopped parsley is mixed with mint and tomatoes, topped with bulgur, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. A simple dish, but thoroughly refreshing especially on a hot day.

With the word "grill" in the title of the restaurant, and the constant smokes and aromas coming from the skewers of meat cooking next to the spits, it would also be a mistake not to sample at least one. Better yet, the mixed grill plate ($17.99, above) offers three: one each of kufta, chicken shish tawook, and a beef shish kabab.

Part of the reason these meats are tasting so good is the fire created with mesquite wood that cooks them. The kufta and chicken shish tawook especially shine with stellar marinades and flavor. Accompanying any kabab plate is a nice portion of fresh salad, their above average hummus, and some bread.

On this occasion the spits behind the counter were tested with a chicken shawarma sandwich ($6.99, above) ordered to go. Eaten much later in the day, the wrap still was delectable after a bit of time in the oven, both in the delightful cuts of chicken that came from the spit, and the buttery wrapper that held everything together. This could compete with some of the award-winning tortillas around town.

The sandwich comes with a healthy portion of toum, the potent yellow garlic sauce seen by its side. There is some mixed into the sandwich already, as well as some pickles, both tame amounts by the standards of their neighbors in Lebanon. It is going to be hard to choose between a shawarma fix and some of those daily specials on the next visit.

📍 1707 S. Brookhurst Street, Anaheim, Orange County

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