Despite its bold name on the front of the building, Caravan Restaurant is the type of place that is easy to speed by on your way between Glendale and Burbank. There are many Armenian restaurants in this part (and all parts) of Glendale, so unless you especially like a good lunch special, it does not really shout out to passersby.
Once you spend some time in the restaurant, especially when it is full, you will see that they have no reason to be more flashy. The people that eat here seem to have been eating here for decades as they chat with the owners and chef, ordering rounds of kebabs and mountains of basmati that always seem to require a stack of takeout containers when meals are finished.
The other mountain that will start to appear as you eat is one made of lavash (below). A tall stack appears before any food, and then more comes with each additional plate. If you order something for takeout, yet more is stuffed in your bag, and of course any leftover on the table has to come with you home as well. It is hard to use it all, but the hospitality aspect of any Armenian restaurant will never allow for skimping on this necessary staple.
If you have ever been to Armenia, lavash always seems to be in sight, again stacked outside of baker's homes for drying, using in various dishes, and storage. It is thin and dry enough that the ones used during a meal need to be very fresh, and those given here all seem minutes from the oven despite losing their heat quite quickly.
Seeing other tables tearing sheets of lavash apart and picking up chunks of kebabs with them will make you want to order plates of these charcoal-grilled meats. Indeed the menu's lunch and dinner sections consist of these exclusively, but a small one item stew section should be looked to as well to round out your meals.
The one stew, or khoresht, at the bottom of the menu is khoresht ghormesabzi ($13.99, below), a Persian stew that Armenians love enough to make for themselves. This stew is a deep green and floral from a variety of herbs, spiced with fenugreek leaves, and spiked with sour dried limes. It is hearty with red beans and chunks of beef, and a taste like no other if it is your first time enjoying.
The basmati that comes with this stew and all the kebabs is far from dry and adds an intense butter slick to each bite. While any meal is most delicious when eaten immediately after preparation, kebabs and rice from many countries have become a bigger part of the diet in the last two years because they travel and reheat so well.
The lunch special combo plate ($15.99, below top) is only available until 15:00 daily, but gives you the ability to get two kebabs in one order, one beef luleh and another of your choice from the list. The chicken is all prepared excellently here, so a chicken thigh kebab was added to the combo plate, all of which come with an ample portion of basmati and lavash, salad, and some grilled vegetables.
The hummus ($4.99, above) is not amazing but packed with cumin and as always a good companion to plates of meat, as are the homestyle pickles ($4.99, above). These pickled vegetables may not have much color, but they come full of zest. You can also get crisp Greek
and Armenian salads if you are taking your whole meal at the restaurant
with a group.
The lamb chops ($22.99, above bottom) looked excellent on another table and did not disappoint. They are quite a bit more than all the other grilled meats in the house, but good cuts and a delicious marinade make this rack completely worth the cost. All the meats are grilled by someone who knows what they are doing, given a very slight char but not even close to being overdone. This is not a place you go because it is fancy, but the food and especially the kebabs and other grilled meat will make you feel like a million bucks.
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