In Minneapolis on a cold spring night when winter was still hanging on, I was on the verge of a food funk where I didn't really know what I wanted for dinner. I found a place doing an on line search for restaurants in the Richfield area - Aida - an authentic Mediterranean restaurant that opened about two and a half years ago. I pointed the car toward Aida to give it a try.
Ahmed Mohamed, a native of Egypt, is an accountant in the Twin Cities. His wife, Amy, was a long time travel agent/consultant. Along with Ahmed's fellow CPA partner Sammy Eldabshoury, the trio decided to open a Mediterranean restaurant that had more of a Middle Eastern food influence. Looking for a place to put the restaurant, they found an old Taco Bell location just east of the corner of Penn and W. 66th St. in Richfield. (see map) They opened Aida in February of 2012. Ahmed Mohamed and Sammy Eldabshoury continue to be CPA's while Amy Mohamed runs the day-to-day operation of Aida. (Aida is named after the classic opera Aida by Giuseppe Verdi which was first performed in Cairo in 1871.)
Driving up Penn Ave. in Richfield, I found that Aida is not far from two places that I've been to in the past - Fireside Pizza (click here to see the entry on Fireside Pizza), and the venerable Sandy's Tavern (click here to see the entry on Sandy's Tavern.) I pulled into the parking lot at Aida a little after 8 p.m. There was plenty of places to park as there were only a handful of people in the restaurant.
The menu at Aida is located on two flat-screen televisions above an ordering station. I'm seeing more and more of these casual style restaurants go to video screens to show their menus. It's kind of a neat little high-tech touch.
The brightly lit dining room features a number of tables with chairs, a nice stone floor and sort of a Middle Eastern accent on the decor. It's not large - probably seating not more than 30 people - but I noticed that there were a number of "to-go" orders being picked up while I was there.
Looking over the menu board, Aida had the usual gyros and kabobs, but they also had falafel, shwarma and stuffed grape leaves. The chicken or beef shwarma is a big menu item, I was told. They also have a number of vegetarian dishes at Aida. With the exception of the gyro meat, all the dishes served at Aida are Halal - foods that are permitted under strict Islamic guidelines.
I was looking at getting either the beef shwarma platter - it came with basmati rice, hummus, feta cheese and a Lebanese salad called taboullah - or the straight forward gyro meat on pita bread. I compromised by getting the gyro platter which came with the basmati rice, tomatoes and onions, feta cheese, naan bread and a choice of sauces to go with it. The sauces ranged from a cucumber yogurt sauce, a garlic sauce, a jalapeno sauce and a couple others. I got the cucumber yogurt sauce.
After finding a table in the corner, my food was brought out to me after I got settled in. (Silverware, napkins and water is self-serve at a station next to the ordering window.) After snapping this picture, I was ready to dig in. However, I realized that he forgot to bring out my cucumber yogurt sauce. Once I got that from him, I was ready to go.
The platter featured a generous portion of gyro meat - a combination of lamb and beef cut off a spit - topped with sliced tomatoes and red onions. There was an equally generous portion of the basmati rice on the plate, as well. The naan bread was cut into small triangles and served warm on the side.
The gyro meat was tender, easy to cut and very flavorful. It wasn't salty like I find at many gyro places. That made it even better. I also like the basmati rice - cooked perfectly and had some good Middle Eastern seasonings mixed in. I put a little bit of gyro meat, the onions and tomatoes, rice and the cucumber yogurt on a piece of the naan bread. That was a great taste combination. However, I found that the naan bread got a little too chewy after it cooled down.
But that was probably the only problem I had while I was at Aida. The gyro meat and the basmati rice were a nice break from the seemingly constant round of burgers, pizza or other crap that I'd been consuming lately. The portions are big at Aida and it's a good value - $10.95 got me that plate of food, and I couldn't eat all of it. For a newish restaurant, Aida is a nice little departure from the regular cuisines I'm accustomed to. It certainly helped me break out of my food funk. (Picture courtesy Becca Dilley at Heavy Table.)
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