Baladi Mediterranean Cafe

Found this place on Google and decided to give it a try. Not the best experience, we just spent the summer in Jordan, and to be honest, I would give a street vendor in Amman 5 stars while this place 1 star. This place only authentic thing is the decor, other than that, Turkish music, the Kufta was more Indian spiced, shawarma is not shawarma, it’s just grilled chicken, the mezza platter another disappointment, the hummus is just grounded chickpeas, no tahini, lemon or oil olive were added. There were zero Arabs/ middle eastern people at the place and that should’ve be our sign that this place really doesn’t serve authentic food. I hope they improve their service and food to be more authentic and reflect the real deal of Mediterranean food.

This is hands down my favorite Mediterranean restaurant. I’ve ordered a couple different things off the menu and have never been disappointed. The appetizer platter is incredible, the lentil soup is so flavorful, and the house tea was so good that I bought a container of it from their shop and can now drink it at home! The first time I went the waiter was so helpful in explaining many of the dishes and their ingredients.

This is one of my must-go places when I come visit family in Virginia Beach. The food is consistently delicious. It's well-seasoned and cooked beautifully, and I can tell that the ingredients are fresh. The vibe here is also great - service is prompt, attentive, and friendly. I also love the section out front where you can pick up cheese, spreads, snacks, treats, and so on. Highly recommend!

While l was waiting for my order, l found out that they had homemade stuffed grape leaves and ordered a container of five. When l got home, l noticed that they were warm; that was the first time l had warm stuffed grape leaves. They were delicious. My seafood wrap was a also very good. I asked for no hot peppers and no jalapeños. The side of tabbouleh was refreshing! It was a very nice lunch!

Had a good meal here on Valentine’s Day. Hummus, pita, halloumi were all flavorful. The lam shawarma was delicious- I liked that it was over lettuce and the tahini made it all come together. We also had the meatballs, which had different spices than we were expecting but it was still delicious. It was all tasty and healthy. As it was Valentine’s Day, they were busy and the servers were doing their best on a busy night. Our server was very sweet. I would definitely come back if we lived in the area.