Restaurants & Dining
Habibi’s Middle Eastern restaurant highly recommended
Myrtle Beach | If your only exposure to the delights of Middle Eastern cuisine is from gyros at the county fair, Habibi’s offers a world of new and exciting flavors.
For those already familiar with the menu, Habibi’s Café in Myrtle Beach is a welcome haven for delectable comfort foods. Just about any day you will see local chefs enjoying meals at Habibi’s; the cozy café is a regular haunt for people in the food business who appreciate authentic and expertly prepared dishes.
Mike and Susie Safa are the friendly and skillful Habibi’s hosts. Susie will take your order for a Gyro, Shish Kabob, Falafel Plate, Hummus (or, as they spell it, Humosse), Baba Ghanouj, Tabbouleh Salad, Dolmah (cold stuffed grape leaves) and more. Don’t be shy about asking for details about any dish – Susie is extremely friendly and eager to tell you what you want to know.
The menu is simple and brief. Gyros are flavorful with thin-sliced lamb, lettuce and tomato that’s topped with creamy tzatziki sauce and encased in a soft warm pita. Gyros also come with containers of spicy pepper sauce.
There are also Koftah Kabobs, which are skewers speared with morsels of ground beef containing chopped parsley and onion that are grilled and served with pita, lettuce, tomato and humosse. Tender chicken on the Chicken Kabobs are moist and taste of a delicious herbed marinade, and Shish Kabobs feature lamb.
Some people love the Falafels, which are balls made of chickpeas that are deep-fried. They are similar in consistency to hushpuppies, but aren’t as sweet. At Habibi’s the falafel can come on a sandwich; as a meal with lettuce, tomato, pita, tahini sauce and pickled turnips; or you can just have a dozen falafels with dipping sauce.
Humosse is extremely tasty here. It’s fresh and slightly lemony, and is much creamier than refrigerated grocery store versions. You can order a plate of humosse to enjoy with fresh warm pita bread, or you can take larger containers home.
As you might imagine, vegetarians love Habibi’s. Some can’t get enough of the Baba Ghanouj, which is mashed eggplant mixed with tahini and lemon, topped with olive oil and served with pita. Tabbouleh Salad can be ordered by itself, and it also comes as a side dish on meal orders. It is a tangy and easy to eat dish of chopped parley, chopped tomato, scallions, lemon juice, oil and cracked wheat. On hot days many people enjoy a cold dish of Dolmah, which are grape vine leaves stuffed with rice and vegetables.
For those who want to experience several flavors, the Veggie Plate has three Falafels, Humosse, Tabbouleh Salad, Baba Ghanouj and pita bread.
Of course there is Baklava for dessert. Just recently in addition to the traditional Walnut Baklava, Habibi’s started carrying a pistachio version. Other sweets include a wonderful honey-soaked cake. They also have Halvah, which is a sesame candy that’s sort of a cross between fudge, divinity and pralines.
Habibi’s is also a Middle Eastern Market. A few items on the shelves are spices, dried fruits, tahini, tapenade, pickled wild cucumbers, vermicelli, preserved whole apricots, whole strawberry jam and whole fig jam, Moroccan sardines, pickled chankliche (spicy preserved yogurt balls – think strong cheese), hot pepper sauce, fava beans, brown bulgur, three colors of lentils (green, orange, yellow) Turkish apple tea, and melon seeds (extra spicy).
If you’re a foodie looking at all the exotic choices is a lot of fun, and picking out one or two new items to take home and try is exciting.
Perhaps most fun of all is, while you are sitting at one of a handful of tables enjoying your falafel or humosse, you can watch Middle Eastern music videos playing on a wide screen television. Unless you speak Arabic you won’t understand the words, but it quickly becomes evident love is a universally understood language.
Habibi’s Café & Market is at 3310 Waccamaw Blvd., next to Bob Evans, in Myrtle Beach. It’s open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and the number is 236-0150.
