Orkeed Restaurant

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to stop in when I live a few blocks away, but let me say, even after one visit, I can say that I will be a regular!
I tried both vegetarian lunch dishes ($ 4.95), one was an absolutely incredible trio of perfectly cooked veggies, in a tasty, creamy sauce over rice and the second, was a really nicely flavored spinach and red bean dish.
I ordered my food to go and since both dishes were saucy, they wrapped them in plastic wrap to prevent spilling — nice!
A common complaint that I’ve seen in the reviews is the slow service, so everyone will be pleased to know that there was a server in addition to the cooking staff and the service was quick and efficient.
I also had a hookah & they have many flavors that you can mix and match, all for $ 10.00, which may be the most inexpensive on the block.
Another nice touch (among the many) was that the owner went over to Jay’s market and got more fresh produce, while I was there — extra points all around.
Check out the beautiful sitting area in the dining room window with a canopy, lovely upholstery and lots of pillows, which was truly enchanting.
Wifi yes, alcohol no.
Try this place for a tasty meal and a nice hookah, if that’s up your alley!

Food = yum. Service = slow… painfully slow.
I’ve been so excited to try this place ever since I spotted it on Grand, and I’m certainly glad I did. To my surprise, we were just about the only table in there around 1pm on a Friday, so it was a little quiet… there was only one employee working at the time, and we had quite a hard time getting him to take our order, bring us our bill, etc.
I had Turkish coffee (which isn’t my favorite) to start, but it kind of grew on me. Once our server came back over (about 20 minutes later, eeeek) I ordered the falafel to start, and they were pretty good! I almost liked the pickled vegetables more than the falafel, but they definitely were fantastic. For my entrée I went with the Makni with chicken, just $ 4.95 on the lunch special! It’s sauteed with butter, chili peppers, creamy tomato sauce, cilantro and mixed spices, and served with perfectly cooked basmati rice. 5 stars for my entrée!
After we ate, I literally had to go track the guy down with my credit card for him to tab us out. And there wasn’t even anyone else in there! It was a little bizarre, but maybe they do better with multiple servers and more tables. Who knows.
I don’t know if I’ll be back, but I did enjoy the lunch I had.