Between Ali Baba House of Kabob and Shiraz Market, Longwood enjoys a decent pipeline for authentic Middle Eastern food. But right between those two reliable pillars, a notable new upstart is doing some things to carve its own niche on the State Road 434 corridor.
Red Sea Restaurant & Lounge is an aspiring jewel of Middle Eastern food and hospitality that now occupies the space that was formerly Daniel’s Bakery & Restaurant. Inside there’s a casual lounge vibe with a colorful array of booths, tables and some couch sets toward the back.
At first glance, Red Sea’s dinner menu is a seemingly straightforward bill of Middle Eastern offerings. But look closer and some nice distinguishing features emerge. The immediate standout is the cornucopia of Mediterranean appetizers, most of which are vegetarian and some even vegan. Between the hot and cold options, the small plates amount to nearly two dozen dishes, a great thing for a cuisine so rich in mezze.
The platter for four or more ($16) is a loaded, value-packed tour of their selections that packs a spread of six appetizers that would normally range in price from $7 to $10 individually. Our platter was actually several nicely presented plates that contained hummus, warak enab (stuffed grape leaves), falafel bites, baba ghanoush, tahini salad and cheese rolls (which were more like Chinese spring rolls than traditional Lebanese cheese rolls). The best bites on our platter, in case you go à la carte, were the excellent grape leaves, the smoked paprika-dusted baba ghanoush and the creamy, cool tahini salad.
Other fresh appetizers we tried were the salads. Unlike the lettuce salads described on the menu, both the house salad ($9) and the fattoush ($10) we ordered were actually cucumber-based, lemon-dressed Shirazi salads. Both were refreshing and zesty, with the fatoush topped with crispy bread slivers.
The majority of the mains are grilled meat dishes led by the usual skewers of lamb shish kebab ($28), ground kafta kebab ($26) and chicken shish tawook ($26). The chicken was a healthy serving of marinated breast-meat chunks, beautifully grilled with a touch of char, and served with lovely, delicately seasoned rice and delicious garlic cream sauce. If it’s the grill that beckons you, there’s a nice mixed grill option ($29) that’s a sampler of all three varieties for nearly the same price as any one of them.
But there are also some less common mains like two oven-baked kafta dishes, one with tomato and the other with tahini (both $29). Following the owner’s recommendation, and my own heart, we went with tahini and got a serving of deep comfort. It’s a hearty casserole of ground beef and lamb bathed in velvety tahini, punctuated nicely with parsley and spicy serrano peppers, and topped with sliced potatoes. It’s sided with seasoned rice and charred onion.
All mains come with choice of one side from the sizable appetizer menu: yet another chance to savor more of their lovely mezze.
Red Sea offers a nice assortment of house-made desserts that range from Mediterranean specialties like baklava ($4.99) to Western sweets like tiramisu ($7.99) and lemon raspberry cheesecake ($7.99).
Also worth noting for a couple of reasons is their “fresh juice” menu. The first will be the sticker shock — prices range from $10.99 to $14.99. The second is that they’re not actually juices but smoothies made from a selection of bold, fresh fruits, which helps justify the prices. Almost.
Unlike some of their fast-casual contemporaries, the bright, fresh dishes at Red Sea shine with a real chef’s touch. Completing the experience is the care of the solicitous owner, who generously tended to all our needs, from warm service to authentic recommendations to proper reheating tips for our ample leftovers. It’s all good reason to go and heart the Red Sea.
[location-1]
Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
Related Stories
YouTube star MrBeast sues Orlando-based virtual kitchen over ‘inedible’ burgers
Tacos and Tequila wrapped up its sixth annual event
This article appears in Aug 2-8, 2023.
