Like many of you, we're always on the look-out for new restaurants and grocery stores that feature the sort of foods we enjoy—not just Armenian, but the whole range of Near and Middle Eastern cuisine.
There still aren't many such venues here in South Florida, where the region's much-touted ethnic diversity mostly means you'd better speak Spanish if you plan to spend much time in Miami.
But I made a startling discovery the other day via Google that launched us on a Sunday road trip about 50 miles up the coast to the city of Stuart.
Planet Ozone & Tabuleh Cafe, Stuart, FL |
It's a community known to us - until then - as a pleasant but not very colorful spot where folks retire to get away from crowds and traffic.
Until I saw it myself, I'd have bet a whole tray of paklava that nothing like Planet Ozone could possibly exist there on a sleepy stretch of U.S. 1 mostly lined with strip malls and self-storage barns.
If the name seems even odder than the location, it gets stranger: this very Middle Eastern grocery and restaurant seems to have accidentally beamed down inside a Sunoco gas station!
Shelves are well-stocked! |
And I mean astounding: I've opened a million convenience-store freezer cases to retrieve a Good Humor bar or a bag of party ice. But never lamb brains.
No kidding! There they were, along with pretty much every other part of our favorite farm animal.
The real surprise was that not only were there plenty of items useful for Armenian cooking, there were actual Armenian items: basturma, soujouk, lamajoun and even Karoun madzoon.
Just poking through the shelves made us hungry. Luckily, the Tabuleh Cafe is right inside Planet Ozone.
Lamb kebab platter |
Nice stuff! My only complaint is that the kebab was dry but it was definitely cooked to my liking: well done.
Mezza platter |
Lamb shank platter |
We brought along our friend Aram Aslanian, who was visiting from Maine but grew up near me in New Jersey. Aram often complains about the dearth of familiar foods anywhere far from our old haunts in the Northeast.
Planet Ozone, however, had him shouting—quite literally—with glee. "They have Assadourian's lahmajoun!" he announced to the entire store as he opened the refrigerated case.
I suggested Aram bring a cooler and make Planet Ozone his first stop on the return drive to Maine. "Forget that," he said. "I'm coming back tomorrow morning."
I didn't see breakfast on the cafe menu, but they had basturma and cheese in the fridge. Seems like an ideal landing spot any time of day.
Wow, Asadourian lamajun in FL, that great! You can't even find it in DC/MD!
ReplyDeleteNeedless to say, we are VERY pleased with this discovery!
DeleteMakkah Market is a Middle East grocery store that offers their products online, making it simple to get those hard to find ingredients with great prices and reasonable shipping.
ReplyDeleteMiddle East grocery
makkah markey is located in u.s.a
ReplyDeleteMiddle East grocery
Middle east grocery is a grocery store that offer their products online, it making it simple to get those hard to find ingredients with low price.
ReplyDeleteMakkah Market is a Middle East grocery store that offers their products online, making it simple to get those hard to find ingredients with great prices and reasonable shipping.
ReplyDeleteMiddle East grocery
Makkah Market is a Middle East grocery store that offers their products online, making it simple to get those hard to find ingredients with great prices and reasonable shipping.
ReplyDeleteMiddle East grocery