by Kamla Srinivasan

April 10, 2005

From journal Eating out for less than $10 in Hollywood

We were starved and had to eat something real quick to assuage our hunger. We had survived the 6-hour road trip from San Francisco to L.A. on a bag of popcorn!

The minute we hit Burbank, we called our friend who lived in Hollywood about where we should head to eat. Being of Armenian descent, he unhesitatingly recommended, "Zankou on the corner of Normandie and Sunset." So to Zankou's we went, with our Armenian friends in tow.

I was a little unsure when we pulled into a nondescript strip mall and spotted the restaurant. We were also having trouble parking the car, but our friend reassured us and said, "I have been coming to this place for over 30 years and their food is really good."

We walked into a large, airy room that had Formica-topped tables at regular intervals, and on the right side was a counter manned by three friendly young women who were efficiently taking the orders, and right behind them you could see chickens being roasted and the tall cylindrical contraption (guess that is a spit of sorts) used for roasting shawarma.

We decided to order takeaway and enjoy it in the comfort of a nice, comfortable kitchen table. We ordered shish tavouk (which were chicken pieces barbecued); shish kebab (which were barbecued beef chunks); shawarma (beef slices), and lulu kebab (minced beef barbecued). Each of the entrées came with a couple of pieces of pita bread, a small portion of hummus, tomatoes, and the familiar-looking dark-pink radish pickles. Each entrée was less than $10, and we discovered that the food was way too much for one person to eat since the portions were generous. The shish tavouk, or the barbecued chicken pieces, were moist and flavorful, and the hummus had a nice tangy edge to it.

I normally eschew red meat since I have hard time digesting it. However, I could not resist the lulu kebab, an Armenian specialty, and took a couple of bites of it, astonished at how good it tasted. It has a nice, flavorful taste, and when wrapped on a piece of pita bread slathered with hummus and stuffed with onions, tomato, radish pickle, and the lulu kebab --I realized why my friend ordered this particular dish.

For some reason, the shawarma was very dry according to those who ate the dish. It could have done with some moistness.

Overall, the food was very good and worth every penny we spent on it. I know now why this particular friend has been visiting Zankou's for the past 30 years. You know that the quality of the food will be good and consistent. I know that the next time I find myself in that particular neck of the woods, I am heading to Zankou's for my food. The only gripe I have is that we got (what to me appeared to be) an incredibly small portion of hummus. Guess I will just have to ask for more when I place my order.

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