Saturday, August 20, 2011

Review

Honestly, I really went into the night at Alhambra with some pretty low expectations.  Out with some work colleagues in from out of town who wanted dinner and a "show."  Said colleagues are not the most interesting of people so I was all for someone else entertaining us to avoid some awkward conversations and even more cringe-inducing silences.

Not to mention all of the really bad reviews on here... but whatever, it's 2 blocks from my condo so I figured if it was really THAT bad, I could just excuse myself to the bathroom and sneak myself home.

But I digress... on to dinner.  We arrived around 7:10 for a 7pm reservation and requested to sit in the main dining room with the stage.  The girl at the hostess stand informed us that they usually don't seat that room until 7:30pm but she would go check.  She came back within a minute and told us we could be seated even though we offered to wait at the bar.  That was nice of her.

Everyone got one of their cocktails from the long list they offer ... and now I can't remember my drink's name!  It was black cherry I think?  Whatever, it was good.  I got a glass of red wine with dinner which was also pretty good.

We ordered a bunch of appetizers to split: falafel, lebna, hummus, batata and kibbeh.  Now the kibbeh was an ordeal... there was a private party going on upstairs and they apparently ordered the crap out of the kibbeh and there was no more left.  One person in our group was THOROUGHLY pissed and mentioned to our server more than twice about how ridiculous it was that there wasn't any more kibbeh in the kitchen.  I really felt bad for the server guy, it's not like it was his job to make sure there was enough for this party and our DBag friend.  And then... miraculously... it appeared.  A whole plate, just for him.  I didn't like it but he loved it so I'll just assume I don't really like kibbeh.

Onto the meal... I had the Shrimp Kebabs.  Seasoned perfectly, the rice was awesome with the pistachios and raisins and all that.  I would have liked more of them actually.  I was so full by that point that I could only eat half and take the rest home to my fiance.

During the meal (we went on a Friday), the Flamenco dancers were awesome.  Women of all ages and shapes, it was pretty cool.  We stuck around for the belly dancer who was supposed to come on stage around 10pm but she didn't mosey on out until around 11pm.  She wasn't my favorite, she looked kinda plastic.  My friend swears she works at Admiral after she leaves Alhambra but that is TOTAL rumor starting material right there.

So overall, the decor was beautiful.  The bathrooms were beautiful.  The food was good.  Entertainment was entertaining.  I don't see why you wouldn't come here?

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