Sheik’s Restaurant
1410 K Ave
Plano, TX 75074
(972) 578-1500I harassed DH long enough that I was able to lure him to this downtown Plano spot for dinner. I was hungering for kebabs the entire week, and after hunting this place down, I was ready to sate my meat fix.
I read on the Guide that Sheik’s love their garlic here, and I enjoyed the hummus and the extra order of labneh with garlic. While hubby did his best not to be put off by the lemon-garlic flavors, he seemed to tolerate the yogurt-dip labneh better.
I have to express some disappointment in not getting fresh, warm pita bread to scoop up the labneh and hummus…the bread basket came to our table and I just couldn’t get used to pulling my bread out of plastic bags. Almost ruined the hummus and labneh.
Not wanting to go overboard with the exotic, we selected the combination platter for two. A salad came out, dressed in a light vinaigrette, which of course the hubby shunned. Aye, it reminded me too much of Italian vinaigrette, but I didn’t dwell on it, looking forward to the main course.
The platter for two came loaded with the meat goodies I expected, lamb shawarma and beef kebab, and two kinds of chicken. The shredded chicken was strongly lemon flavored while the chunk chicken tasted pleasantly grilled. Of course both hubby and I devoured the lamb, fighting for the last cuts. And I savored those huge, marinated medium-rare beef cuts, tasty. The meats came accompanied with a simple rice pilaf, whose flavors didn’t detract from the stars of the plate. The kibbeh and dolmas didn’t garner as much attention as the kebabs of course, they tended to be more of an acquired taste. I still can’t get used to cold dolmas…they taste too much like pickles. In the kibbeh’s case, the ground meat (lamb I think) had a somewhat spicy kick to it.
I have to say the folks manning the counter remained friendly yet distant as we forged ahead with this adventure, but they checked in on occasion to make sure we were doing fine.
I can’t wait to visit again to get my carnivorous fix. As we were paying the bill, hubby did point out they had a stock of rice pudding in the fridge. Which is all the more reason to come back and try their desserts.
My rating: stars
