It has arrived - Palestine's own Olive Garden
Restaurant in the basement of the Best Eastern Hotel. Or at least almost.
Until Ramadan is over, the Gar- den will be testing the waters with a special
iftar feast. Only once the holiday season has passed will a full menu be
available and will diners get to sample prospectively delicious Italian
sweets. Until then, the Garden is giving things a try. First impressions
are favorable. The staff is friendly and invested in getting the food served
quickly and with a smile.
The dining room is clean and attractive, although
a bit chaotic with the jumble of mirrors and false fauna (while the fare
aims at family fine dining, one feels much of the time that this room really
wants to be a pizza parlor). The menu is simple but substantial, offering
an array of soups, salads, pasta favorites, chicken Parmesan and pizza.
You may need to take an Arabic-speaking interpreter to decipher the misspelled
English half of the menu, but you will find all of the fine ingredients
it promises in your meal. The mushroom soup is clearly from the can, al-
though effort has been made to spice it up with parsley.
A real Romaine Caesar salad is well- dressed
with anchovies and a reasonable sharp cheese. Pasta is served with fresh-grated
Parmesan, making it easy to ignore an otherwise mediocre bolognaise sause
(their creamy white sauce is the better choice). For the meal, the chicken
Parmesan comes tender and smothered with cheese. It is clear that Ramallah's
Olive Garden is only a shadow of the American chain that it springs from-
but that does not mean it isn't worth the visit. If those real ingredients
are maintained and built on and the atmosphere allowed to make up its mind,
the Garden could establish itself as a very fine eatery. With mid-range
prices (about $10 an entree), it won't hurt your pocket to give it a try.
Location: In the Best Eastern Hotel on
the way to Birzeit village, north of Ramallah
Menu: Italian, with American variation.
No alcohol served.
Phantom Diner Rating:
+++
Rating Scale:
++++ next to heaven
+++ a place to come back to
++ if you're hungry you'll eat anywhere
+ not a ghost of a chance
Note: The views expressed in this
section reflect the Phantom Diner's personal experiences in the restaurants
featured.
Restaurants given poor reviews will be revisited
within six months to check on improvements.