Category Archives: Halal/Kosher

Halal/Kosher, Iraqi, Middle Eastern

Dar Salam Lazurdi – Iraqi Kitchen in Portland Downtown

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Dar Salam Lazurdi in Portland Downtown

Located in the heart of Portland downtown and very close to the waterfront park, Dar Salam Lazurdi is an authentic Iraqi restaurant that serves 100% halal dishes to all their customers. There is another Dar Salam location somewhere in Portland but I have dined in this downtown location couple times now and I loved it all the way. Just come prepared, you may have to park in the hourly garage or by the street

Inside Dar Salam Lazurdi in Portland Downtown
Inside Dar Salam Lazurdi in Portland Downtown

I have come here during weekday lunch time with my colleagues and weekend dinner with my family. Both of the times, the place was somewhat packed. It’s a beautiful restaurant with elegant decors and exquisite interior war mural and paintings that depicts Iraqi culture and landscape. And that’s why I think this is a perfect place to celebrate an occasion or bring someone special for a fine dining. Dar Salam also has a small sitting arrangement outside but most of the time that doesn’t help much with our rainy weather.

Now, let’s come to food. First time I was here with my co-workers was during lunch time. You can order from the menu but we went for the buffet. That was a good option for me since I wanted to try different dishes. The buffet gives you option of fish, meat, wide variety of vegetables, rice, dips, and soup. Every single item on that buffet was very tasty and flavorful…no doubt.

Lamb shank in Dar Salam Lazurdi in Portland Downtown
Lamb shank in Dar Salam Lazurdi in Portland Downtown

For the second time, I was there on a Saturday evening with my kids and uncle. This time we ordered from the menu (don’t think they have buffet for dinner) and honestly, we were all satisfied with all of our plates. Our lamb shank, chicken kababs, and beef kababs with rice and salad.

Beef and chicken kababs in Dar Salam Lazurdi in Portland Downtown
Beef and chicken kababs in Dar Salam Lazurdi in Portland Downtown

For desserts…um, I’ve had better tasting baklavas than Dar Salam. Other sweets that we ordered were either too sweet or not what we expected. But I’d love to bring my friends or out of state guests to enjoy their food again. This is a perfect place especially for those who are on strict halal/kosher diet.

Desserts in Dar Salam Lazurdi in Portland Downtown
Desserts in Dar Salam Lazurdi in Portland Downtown
Asian, Halal/Kosher, Indian, Pakistani

Zaiqa in Hillsboro

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I’ve been waiting for a good Pakistani-style kabab and biriyani place in Portland for a while now. And after one of my friends mentioned about Zaiqa, I was more than desperate to try this new place. By the way readers, if you know of any other Pakistani kabab places in the Portland area, please let me know.

Inside Zaiqa in Hillsboro
Inside Zaiqa in Hillsboro

Zaiqa is a brand new Pakistani/Indian, also Mediterranean restaurant very close to the Hillsboro airport, where Urban Masala used to be once. My friend and I were there last evening, on a weeknight, around 8pm. It was empty for a while, until couple other people showed up. While the owner and the waiter are still learning their ways in the new business and how to please the customers, their friendliness was 5-stars. Yes, we had to shout “excuse me” few times to get us a table and we were not given the shiniest and cleanest plates nor served with water when our glasses were totally empty or the fact that the guy took away my left over beef kabab without asking me and gave me a take away box only for my chicken kababs. But the owner came and talked to us for a while and mentioned he was a pilot and his chef has a master degree in mathematics. They are just doing this for fun, to earn money, and kind of as a project to explore business ideas.

Chana Tarkkah daal and Garlic naan in Zaiqa
Chana Tarkkah daal and Garlic naan in Zaiqa

Zaiqa is a halal/kosher place where variety of meats used here are slaughtered in proper Muslim/Jewish way. This is not only a Southeast Asian place, the menu also covers little bit of Mediterranean tastes too. We ordered beef kabab, chicken kabab, garlic naan, and chana daal tarkkah. It took little bit longer than usual, given that we were the only customers at that time. But the owner came and assured us that the chef cooks everything from scratch and with fresh ingredients…that’s why the long wait. And of course, once our food arrived, we could taste that in our dishes. The kababs were fantastic. Again, the I loved the kababs, especially the beef skewers. They were moist, soft, perfectly seasoned, and will hit your spot right away. We requested to make them extra hot. But spice level wasn’t up to our standard and we were expecting a little bit more kick. The daal was very flavorful and the garlic naans were fresh out of the oven with beautiful aroma.

Beef kababs in Zaiqa, Hillsboro, OR
Beef kababs in Zaiqa, Hillsboro, OR

Despite some of the obvious flaws of this restaurant, the owner was very honest about how he wants to improve his business. He told us specifically to go to Google, Facebook page, and Yelp to review their restaurants, so that they can learn and improve. I can care less for those small things if the food satisfies my soul. And it did. The friend who recommended me this place, said to go try their brunch items…I just couldn’t wait until Saturday or Sunday to do that. But I’ll come back again during their brunch time someday (where they have halwa, puri and nehari). Another thing I have to try here is their biriyani (I love Pakistani-style biriyani). I think I have found my perfect desi kababs here and I am even thinking of catering their kababs for large gatherings and events.

Chicken Kababs in Zaiqa, Hillsboro, OR

Zaiqa’s buffet is only during lunch time if anyone is interested in that. Please go check it out, I can guarantee you that you will love the place and if you try their brunch, biriyanis, or other dishes, do let me know how they were.

Happy eating.

Asian, Chinese, Halal/Kosher, Indian

Inchin’s Bamboo Garden

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How does Oriental Biriyani sound to you? Quite funky, right? Inchin’s Bamboo Garden is a nation-wide Halal/Kosher Asian franchise, inspired by both Chinese and Indian flavors. Our Hillsboro location in Oregon is a brand new branch which replaced the previous “New Taste of India”. This new fusion place is much fresher and trendier looking with better customer service and bigger menu items. Although they have branches in other states, their menu varies from state to state, depending on the local produces and tastes.

Inside Inchina's Bamboo Garden in Hillsboro
Inside Inchina’s Bamboo Garden in Hillsboro

With a good variety of vegan and gluten-free options, Inchin’s Bamboo Garden also serves halal/kosher dishes. This is a place where Oriental cuisine meets Indian spices; meaning dishes are kind of like the Indian version of Oriental/Asian food. Last night was my 2nd time in this restaurant and I had my sister, my girls, a close friend, and her parents. I have to say food here is consistently good.

Hakka noodles with chicken (left) and lamb cumin (right) in Inchina's Bamboo Garden - Hillsboro
Hakka noodles with chicken (left) and lamb cumin (right) in Inchina’s Bamboo Garden – Hillsboro

 

Speaking of their menu, we ordered tom yum soup (which has the options of veg. and non-veg) and spring rolls as starters. Check out their plenty of non-meat options in the menu if you are a vegan or vegetarian. For main course, we had spicy Thai basil fried rice, hakka noodles, chicken-65 fried rice, lamb cumin, sliced fish in manchurian sauce, and eggplant in chili bean sauce. Spices in each dish can be adjusted to your taste. Vegetable spring rolls were perfectly crunchy and tasty. Tom yum soup smelled fresh with lots of cilantro and heat from red chilies. Both of the fried rice dishes were delish with perfect amount of spice and flavors, though the noodles turned out to be very dull looking without much flavors in it. Eggplant was probably one of the best, cooked with Chinese long eggplants in thin slices with big chunks of red onions. And for the lamb dish, my 8-year old girl loved it and my friend who doesn’t eat lamb or goat meat had it twice…now, that should tell you something. And the manchurian fish with onions was a little above average with little bit of gravy and lots of red pepper flakes. The Dishes are perfect for 2/3 or even 4 people, depending on how many other dishes you are ordering.

Fish in manchurian sauce (top) and eggplant in bean sauce (bottom) in Inchin's Bamboo Garden - Hillsboro
Fish in manchurian sauce (top) and eggplant in bean sauce (bottom) in Inchin’s Bamboo Garden – Hillsboro

 

But the menu has so many other options like paneer dishes, dumplings, salads, tacos, Chinese bhel-puri, and of course, other Mongolian, szechwan, kung-pao, and curry style plates. But be careful, if you are not into spicy food, tell them to tone it down. They also sell sauces that they serve in the restaurant for $3 each bottle.

Customer service here is great I’ve to say. They did forget to give us the only one Diet Coke that we ordered. But the waiter gave it to us at the end and didn’t charge for it, which was at least sincere. They do take reservations, if you want to call in ahead of time. Being conveniently located near Intel RA campus with plenty of parking spaces, it does get busy during lunch time and therefore, services can be slow (or so I heard).

Inchin’s Bamboo Garden has some unique qualities which not many restaurants nearby may have all in one place, like their fusion Indian/Oriental dishes, halal/kosher preparation of meat, variety of vegan/vegetarian options, and finally an elegant looking place where you can bring your guests for a decent treat. Would highly recommend it to my peeps.