Arabian Breeze

03/21/08

Best Middle Eastern food around

by milliron

I have had nothing but awesome experiences here. I happened upon it as it is in my neighborhood and now go about once a month. The toom. a garlic dip, pretty much rocks my world as do the lamb kabobs. The mezza platters are huge and will please anyone, be it carnivores or veggies. I actually like their hummus and I don't tend to like garbonzo beans. I was just really impressed. The atmosphere in the bar is really nice too. Belly dancers, hookah, etc... It will be my new restaurant to take family when they visit. It's really my fave restaurant actually.

• Pros: Toom
• Cons:  No parking.

04/05/09

good food, nice setting

by kanino

make no mistake, we eat here a lot. even with the guady new red-on-yellow sign out front. yes, the ample supply of fresh, hot flat bread brought as standard appetizer is quite good. we also rate the tzatziki sauce, the cabbage rolls, the shish k bob, and the stew thing i had one time top notch and delicious. the gyro was not ok on one visit. the gin and tonics on one occasion were not that great- lots of tonic, not much gin. the wine selection is good.

best if you get there early.

overall, well worth a visit and one of the best in the esteemed mid-east milieu.

• Pros: the delight to price ratio is quite good
• Cons: service is earnest but hit-or-miss

11/20/08

Delicious Food

by Aladawi

The atmosphere of that restaurant is not bad. The smell of that place is better than any place. However, rooms there are small, but they are comfortable because those rooms have soft chairs. Subsequently, some people do not like that place. After they taste their food, they will change their mind, because the food there is luscious.

Arabian Breeze Restaurant has famous wonderful taste in the selection of delicious dishes. There are many kinds of food, but the best order for me is hummus, chicken kabob, and falafel. Almost all of their food is healthy. There are many Arabian restaurants in Oregon, but that one has a different flavor from the others.

People who are working in Arabian Breeze Restaurant are friendly. They always try to help their customers as much as they can. The best thing for me is when they come to me and ask me about my favorite music. Usually, I choose romantic music, because I know some Arabic romantic music. Some customers do not know some of Arabian food, so the waiters explain it to them. They have a good relationship with their customers.

Arabian Breeze Restaurant has a special price for each kind of food. Some dishes are cheaper, about three dollars, and the most expensive dishes are around twelve dollars.

04/09/08

Best lebanese bread in town

by hardboiled

I've been going to Nicholas's and Ya Hala's for years now so trying Arabian Breeze for the first time was good change as their menu is a little different and they seem to have more vegetarian options. It's also so much less crowded. They also make the best Lebanese bread and all of their food tastes fresh. They also have tasty drinks and desserts.

• Pros: Great food
• Cons: Finding parking on the street

04/04/08

usually fantastic but...

by djgregarious

We have been going here for awhile and everything had been amazing... excellent food and great service, but one Saturday night we went and the service and food was abysmal. It was completely dead except for a few other tables. but it took forever to get served and our orders were all messed up when they finally arrived. The other weird thing is, they had all these posters up advertising belly dancers on Saturday nights, but there were none to be seen. The people sitting next to us complained to the waitress that they were regulars and thought their food was way different/worse than usual.

I gotta give this place another chance, but I don't think my friends who I brought for the 1st time will be so willing to return.

• Pros: delicious food and great prices
• Cons: inconsistent service and quality

03/25/08

Top 5

by thetimeisnow

For some reason my 1st review disappeared, so this is going to be quick. I had an excellent experience there. The food was fantastic, and I usually don't like anything other than french fries and Taco Bell! I liked everything I tried (was with a group who shared) - quite shocking for me. The ambiance and roominess were excellent. Easily 1 of my top 5 restaurants in Portland. I'm surprised there were bad reviews, because it's completely opposite of my experience. My companion also agrees with this review. The folks I was with loved it too. It's quite a gem. My sever was great. The portions are huge and it's inexpensive.

• Pros: Huge menu & portions, Inexpensive, Ambiance, Roominess, Variety
• Cons: may have to park a few blocks away

02/04/08

Avoid at all costs

by elmaapple

This restaurant was TERRIBLE! The food was totally disgusting - so much so that I couldn't even eat it. The lentil soup was good, but that was the only decent thing I ate that night. I ordered the cabbage rolls and they were inedible. I sent them back and ordered a mezza which was supposed to be hummus and majadra. Whatever they brought me was not that, and the taste was still terrible. I didn't send it back again - I just threw it away when I got home. The waitress seemed irritable and was annoyed that I didn't like the food. My husband tried it too and thought it was bad. Avoid this place if possible. There are many, many much better middle eastern restaurants in Portland.

• Pros: lentil soup
• Cons: bad food in general, expensive

01/18/08

Awful

by 70foodie

We went for a friend's birthday and it was awful. I can't believe what great reviews this resturant gets. The service people are not nice. But, I am ok with that if the food is good, but it's not.

• Pros: can't think of anything

11/26/07

Great food

by etatseht

We recently started going to Arabian Breeze for all our middle eastern food cravings. When you don't want to wait in line at nicholas's , Arabian Breeze is just as good, if not better. I love the fresh bread with oil and spices as well as the hummus! Great Great Great!!

• Pros: Great food
• Cons: None!

12/15/06

Fun for parties - full bar and hookah - NOTE address is 3223 NE Broadway!

by libertyjustice4all

Arabian Breeze is a relative newcomer to the Middle Eastern food selection in PDX. It features a more fun aspect ot family-style mediterreaen dining by adding hookah in the enclosed patio area and full bar with Syrian and Lebanese wines featured.+++++ The menu is ambitious and it stands up to large parties well. Everyone at our table (9 peopl) had plenty to eat and try new tastes. +++++We liked the music too - some modern and some traditional drumming. Made for a "real village feeling" atmosphere.++++ We will go back - if just for the 'toom' a garlic pesto that is a garlic lovers heaven. We found out that 'toom' is the Arabic word for garlic and it is all that!!+++++Bread here is different than any other place in PDX. It is made on an upside down wok and is larger and thinner than a regular pita. Makes a great sandwich!++++Come hungry and you will still have some to take home. Portions are huge. There is something for vegans, veg-heads and omnivores on the menu. Lots of odd deserts too so there is plenty new to try.++++Try some beer or wine to make a complete experience. If you don't drink alcohol try a fruit drink like the strawberry lemonade. ++++Arabian Breeze is on a several bus lines and is walkable for folks in the nearby neighborhood. Parking is not too bad but crossing B'way can be a challenge.++++Thanks for reading. liberty

• Pros: Groovy different bread, TOOM sauce!!, full bar
• Cons: challenge to park - so walk or ride the bus or bike!