West Chester Dish

The night before we left the country for 3 weeks, we had an amazing meal at Cedars Cafe which had opened the previous night. I was most anxious to try it again after we got home last week to see if it was really as good as that first impression. It was even better!

The chicken shish tawook platter is delicious. The chicken is beautifully seasoned and the hummus, rice and tabouli salad are the best that I have tasted in the Philadelphia area.

We were at Cedars Cafe a couple of weeks ago with a large group of friends and had a great time. I love Middle Eastern food, and Cedars didn't disappoint, so the long drive from Philadelphia to Frazer was completely worth it.

The hummus and baba ganouj were great, but there were two appetizers that were real standouts for us. The labneh was a thick, creamy, ever-so-slightly tart yogurt dip. The sanbousik were two fried meat dumplings with a yummy, savory filling of ground beef, onions and pine nuts that brought back fond memories of my (Eastern European) grandmother's meat dumplings.

The mixed grill platter that two of us got to share consisted of three kebabs: a moist, delicately spiced lamb, a tender grilled chicken and a spicy (but not hot) kafta, a kind of sausage. It came with a very tasty, almost pilaf-style rice and sides of hummus and tabouli. I'd definitely recommend this to experience a variety of tastes. We had enough to take home and enjoy the next day, and the leftover kafta went great scrambled into out eggs!

The overall atmosphere was warm, cheerful and unpretentious. The cafe was spotless and well-lit, the service friendly and accommodating, the patrons a mix of all ages and stages, and all obviously enjoying the food. The place is new, but every table filled up the night we went.