at an Iraqi place she highly recommended...
and also because I had a coupon for this place! It was one of those coupons where it was simply, "Buy one, get one" rather than buy one with two drinks and get one free". I hate those because I normally don't buy drinks since they unnecessarily add to the total bill.
Sammoon is right across the street from the El Cajon Police Department. It's near the El Cajon arch. Samoon is located in a stand alone building off to the side of a former Albertson's, which is now a clothing store (TJ Maxx I think it was).
Even though it was tempting to get the Feast for Two (which could really feed three or four people easily), we knew what we wanted to get...
but a salad wasn't among our choices, even though everything looked good.
We were there right when they opened. No crowds yet. The fellows working there were very nice.
The bakery is named after the type of bread they specialize in, sammoon, a diamond shaped flat bread that can be cut open and stuffed with fillings, like a pita.
According to Cathy, the red and orange mosaic tile work seen throughout the restaurant was a holdover from it's previous incarnation as a Red Brick pizza place.
My entree came with a side of hummus which was smoothed out into a circle.
Sammoon bread was also provided...
"You gotta keep 'em separated!"
Our lunch:
Cathy had a beef shawarma sandwich (Avengers approved) which was stuffed with the meat,
Very filling!
My Beef Kabob plate, which was quite a generous portion. The rice, made yellow through turmeric, was sprinkled with sumac, which gave it a tiny bit of sourness. I really like the seasoning for the kabobs as well as the various chopped fresh and pickled vegetables.
I barely made a dent in this, as much as I liked it. As is usually the case with these large portioned entrees, Bert and TC enjoyed the leftovers later that day.
Who else went to Sammoon?
Cathy, of course. Here are her posts:
October 2011, her revisit in June 2012, and most recently, June 2013.
Sammoon Bakery & Restaurant
190 Magnolia Ave
El Cajon, CA 92020
(619) 441-2823
They do not have a website.
Here is a video I found of a baker making sammoon bread:
Up until today, I'd never had this type of bread before. I like the shape and the texture. Here at the restaurant, you can buy three for $1.
Up next, a mini excursion of two of the many ethnic markets in El Cajon.
5 comments:
Ooh Iraqi food! So interesting haha. It reminds me of Turkish food that I've had before =)
Hi there, yes, there are some similarities. there are a lot of Iraqi/Chaldean restaurants out in El Cajon worth exploring.
That was hummus on the schawarma. I think I want to go back here for lunch today...so fresh!
I have never heard of samoon bread before, either! But it looks good and I loves me a good bread. I like how they spread out the hummus like that, makes it look so pretty and refined haha.
thanks for clarifying cathy. i will change it. i had a feeling i was wrong.
mary - me neither. at one point during my lunch, i stuffed some rice and choppped up kabob into that bread! the way that they shaped their hummus looked very 'fancy'. very classy looking instead of just a glob.
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