After a nice day at Disneyland, my family headed over to Aleppo’s Kitchen at a brand new location in Anaheim, California.
Dinner At Aleppo’s Kitchen, Our Post-Disneyland Tradition
Our tradition after a day at Disneyland is to head to Aleppo’s Kitchen, a Syrian restaurant that has offered delicious and authentic food for years. Like so many family-run restaurants with excellent food, this place has matured over the years. It used to be located in a little hole in the wall on Brookhurst Street. In 2023, it moved to a bright and flashy new location on 2414 East Katella Ave near Angel Stadium. The new location is swanky:
But I did love the old location…
Hadi Hajomar, who co-owns the restaurant with his father Nidal, greeted us as we walked in and sat us down. I requested to sit on the patio, but was informed that is a smoking section reserved for guests 18 years of age or older.
Portions sizes seem to have shrunk a bit over the years and menu prices have risen, but that is hardly unique to this restaurant. What has not changed, is the excellent food.
I ordered mansaf, which is an ancient Bedouin dish. This dish is lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt, served over a bed of saffron and topped with toasted almonds and parsley. The dish of “soup” on the side is jameed sauce, which is aged, dried yogurt made of goat’s milk.
So, so good.
We also ordered shrimp and chicken kabobs along with hummus, muhammara, and a fabulous Aleppian beet salad.
We shared kanafeh for dessert and it was tasty, though I greatly prefer the smooth na’ameh version (topped with farkeh) to the khishneh version, which is topped with crunchy bits of kataifi. We also tried astha, an Aleppian dish of thick and silken pudding made from clotted fresh cream and topped with crushed pistachios, strawberries, and drizzled with honey…and of course strong Arabic coffee.
An expensive meal (over $175) but a really good one that my entire family loved.
We look forward to returning…another reason I love living in Southern California.
You should ask them if they make kheer (I just read your old PIA review) 🙂
Looks like a fantastic meal. Nice when the kids are happy to try new things.
Mansaf is not a “Jordanian” dish . . . the dish has existed for centuries and Jordan (and Syria) has only existed since 1946. Mansaf is a Bedouin dish and eaten all over the region where Bedouins now live.
I meant that it is the national dish of Jordan. But you’re quite right it precedes the founding of the Hashemite Kingdom.
The food looks absolutely delicious. I’ll have to go there!
Yum. As I’ve got all the ingredients, I will make the ashta tonight. It all looks so good!
How fun! Let us know how it turns out.
Will do.
“served over a bed of saffron”, that would make it a dish costing thousands of dollars. The pictures show high quality and attention to details.
True, true. Saffron rice.
The “chicken kabobs” were probably shish taouk.
As far as authenticity, kind of? Most Arabs in the levant don’t eat kebabs and taouk with rice (as seen in your pictures), that tends to be more of a Turkish thing. It’s definitely more authentic in the second picture.
Also, if you haven’t already, ask them if they serve kebab karaz, a kebab dish with a cherry sauce that originated in Aleppo.
I’ll check on kebab karaz next time.
Was indeed shish taouk.
Hey Matthew! This is Hadi from Aleppo’s Kitchen. Thank you for leaving this beautiful article post on here. We are truly honored to be a part of such a beautiful story. We’re also glad your family made Aleppo’s Kitchen part of your tradition! I would love for you and your family to meet the rest of ours! I’ll leave my email down below (:
Thanks Hadi! I will reach out. We love your restaurant and your hospitality.