East Bay Mediterranean Worth Visiting

_{Looking out of the RV driver’s window at the Moussaka Mediterranean Kitchen in San Leandro.}

I am interrupting my previously scheduled post with this one, as we have just visited a wonderful Mediterranean restaurant in San Leandro that is absolutely worth the drive. If I lived closer, this would be my go-to when I did not want to cook. It is great for vegetarian, vegan, and even gluten free diets. Additionally I should note it is halal (1). Not cheap, but costs were within reason for they use fresh ingredients, the dishes are well cooked, and they serve beautifully presented and flavorful food. Let me tell you about them.

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Adventure Leading to the Moussaka Kitchen

_{Looking behind our table, into the heart of the restaurant. It is a comfortable setting, easy to walk in and experience friendly staff while being seated. Service was fairly quick, but clearly fast-food type speed is not the issue here, quality and fine dining is more their focus. And it shows.}

A few days ago we went to check the oil on the generator in our Recreational Vehicle (RV), and found that when we loosened the cap, the oil started coming towards us, purging out of the equipment. Needless to say, we quickly screwed the cap back on and sought help from our RV Facebook friends on what could be happening. People pointed us in many directions, and we eventually decided to get the RV generator serviced. This meant driving down to San Leandro, to have a licensed, Onan-certified mechanic look at the darn thing.

This is just one more problem with some of the RV systems we rely on. We’ve owned the vehicle almost 2 months now and have had battery failure, awning failure, and generator issues. Sigh. So we got up early to feed and walk the dogs, get ourselves breakfast, and drive to the appointment by 8am.

We get there on time, and as it turned out, it took hours for an investigation into what was wrong, they verified the issue, checked for leaks, changed a spark plug, changed our oil, and ran the generator under load to make sure everything worked. Luckily we could wait in the RV while they did this work, so I napped in my own bed.

Once ready to pay and leave, as I had just had a long nap, I found that I was hungry. So my spouse did a quick Yelp look for 4+ ratings near us and up came this Mediterranean restaurant called Moussaka Kitchen. So we went there for lunch, and took a picture of its storefront as we drove by (see top photo).

This restaurant opened in 2017 and is a mother-daughter run restaurant. From their website, we found that the owner Nilgun Boyar, has 39 years of experience as a professional, Executive Chef with fine dining. She graduated from Swiss Hotel Management and from the Prealpina Culinary Institute of Lausanne in Switzerland. Co-owner Nildal, has 19 years of experience and has worked in several restaurants and hotels in London, including The Hilton Hotel for 2 years. She graduated from culinary school of Suleyman Demirel University in Turkey and is head sous chef at the restaurant.

Mediterranean Food

What makes up Mediterranean cuisine are many plant-based foods, minimally processed staples, fish and limited meats (lamb, lamb + beef, or chicken) and where herbs and spices play essential roles in dishes. It generally features lots of fruit, veggies, legumes, grains, olive oil, aromatic herbs, and wine.

Mediterranean cuisine really covers dishes made in many countries: Egypt, France (Southern part), Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Lybia, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and some other parts of the world.

Falafel, for instance, are served in Egypt, Israel and Lebanon.

There are many ways to cook Mediterranean foods and here are some of the basic guidelines.

Use veggies as the main dishes, not as garnishes.
Use vibrant flavors of fresh herbs, spices, and citrus juice instead of salt.
Mix in fruits and nuts or seeds into your dishes.
Grill, not fry, marinated foods.
Use yogurt or bean ”dips” to flavor up plainer dishes.
Make the dishes colorful and flavorful with lots of sides to choose from.

The Wonderful Food

Moussaka Meza

The owners have Greek and Turkish backgrounds, which is perfect for knowing the food their restaurant serves. The first order to arrive was Moussaka Meza, a dish containing a mountain of thick, tasty tzatziki and another large serving of hummus. Interspersed between these mounds of deliciousness were dolmades, spanakopita, falafel, and sliced, triangular white pita bread. Also there were some fresh cut sliced cucumbers and olives.

Starting at the top of the picture above, the white pita bread was soft and warm.
The 3 falafel were well cooked, flavorful, fresh, and not greasy at all.
Tzatziki was thick, perfectly flavored, drizzled with olive oil and chopped parsley. Greek yogurt at its finest.
Then 2 crispy and warm spanakopita triangles that I dipped into the tzatziki and chewed with delight.
Hummus followed topped with olive oil, parsley, and roasted chickpeas. Again a great taste, but came in second to that tzatziki I have to admit.
Lemons.
Then 3 dolmades which were filled with herbed and spiced rice.

Combo Kabap and a cup of Turkish coffee.

Combo Kabap Platter

This Combo Kabap platter had a selection of meats, a rice and orzo pilaf, and a Greek salad. The presentation was very colorful.

Kebap is a Turkish word, and Kebab is the Arabic and English version of the word.

_{Same dish but from another perspective.}

The salad was lettuce, sliced pickles, thinly sliced red onions, tomatoes, and some sliced purple cabbage with an oil + vinegar dressing.
The rice pilaf was a mixture of rice and orzo, and was perfectly cooked so you could feel each individual rice grain, and tasted a bit of butter. It was topped with sliced almonds and was great.

_{Here I pulled out just a bit of the meat onto a clean dish so you could see the details of these meats.}

First I tasted the Chicken Skewer, which had a nice and tasty exterior along with a soft and juicy interior.
Then second, I went for the Lamb Skewer, which was similarly flavorful and juicy.
Third, I tasted the Beef + Lamb Gyro meat, which along with pita and tzatziki was simply delicious.

_{The other side from where we were sitting.}

Closing Comments

We had no room for dessert, although when we go back I will want to taste a few items they had on the menu. It all sounds so good.

Our favorite Greek restaurant is Kokkari Estiatorio in San Francisco. But to be honest, some of the dishes served at Moussaka Kitchen were better. Bottom line, these two are now our favorite Mediterranean restaurants in the Bay Area.

—Patty