REVIEW: Zaatar & Zeit

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Zaatar & Zeit
1129 Wyandotte St. E
Windsor, Ontario, Canada 
Phone: +1(519) 256 5600
Website: n/a
Map




Type of Restaurant: Lebanese Bakery Pizzaria
Attire: Casual
Prices: E- $3 M- $7
              $ CHEAP
Payment Options:
Visa, Mastercard, Debit/Eftpos

Hours: "Open Late"
Reservations? Walk-ins welcomed
Handicap Accessible? Yes 
Vegetarian Friendly? Yes
Vegan Friendly? Maybe.




                       RATING:

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                       Quality of Food: 3/5

                        Service: 1/5
                        Originality: 2/5
                        Atmosphere: 1/5

Having taken the Crosstown 2 Windsor Transit bus down Wyandotte many times over the last year to check out The Twisted Apron, this bakery and pizzeria would always catch my eye. 

Zaatar is a mix of fragrant herbs like oregano, marjoram, with roasted sesame seeds (see recipe below). My first time trying Zaatar was in Australia at this cool little place in Northcote called Gypsy Hideout. They used it as a seasoning on their Toast with Avo. It was delicious, and I have falling in love with it ever since. 

Walking in to this place, I was a little thrown off. It was sooooo hot inside. All that heat was coming from the wood burning oven which is put on display for all to see. The other thing that threw me off is despite it being past lunch hour on a Sunday, all the chair were still stacked and no chairs were out of the patio. I guess this was a good sign they wanted me to take my pizza pie to go.

I decided to order a Zaatar pie, and a veggie pie. Upon placing my order, I felt like my order was an inconvenience but perhaps it was just a language barrier. While the worker (and presumably owner) had his back turned to look up what I wanted on the menu, I honestly felt like leaving without my order and calling it a day. Regardless, I decided to stick around. The pies were made on the spot for me, and thrown into the wood burning oven. Once ready, they were pulled out, folded, and each put into their own brown paper lunch bag to take away (definitely a sign I wasn't invited to stick around).

I decided to take my pizzas to a local bus stop bench to give them a try. The zaatar pie was tasty, with just the right lemony zing characteristic of zaatar. The veggie pizza on other hand was just your standard wood oven veggie.

Overall, my long await to try this place turned into a big disappointment. With such a large patio, you would think they would utilize this as a dining area to draw more people in to give them a try. Can't say I would give this another try, but if you are in the area and want a quick, cheap pizza on the run give it a go.

Zaatar Recipe


Ingredients:
2 teaspoons of oregano
2 teaspoons basil

2 tablespoons of whole thyme (I prefer lemon thyme)
2 teaspoons marjoram
1/2 cup of unhulled, toasted sesame seeds
1.5 teaspoons of salt (to taste)
1 tablespoon of dried ground lemon peel or zest of two lemons finely minced

Grind all ingredients into a coarse mixture and you have our very own zaatar mix you can use in a dip with yoghurt, on bbq meat, avocado, or make your very own pizza with the addition of some olive oil. Enjoy. :)

Storage: I tend to store zaatar in small glass containers, and it keeps well in the spice cupboard.


1 comments:

Anonymous at: Saturday, May 11, 2013 10:42:00 AM said...

You need to go back and try the chicken cheese pie with their homemade special Sauce. I garuntee you will be surprised and satisfied.

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