Zooroona restaurant+lounge: Just sipping Iraqui tea with cardamom can bring you to the Middle East

There are many so-called “authentic cultural or ethnic restaurants” might display distorted representation of the culture through serving overly Americanized food, but I had desire to look for authentic cultural food, so I decided to go to Zooroona, serving the traditional Middle Eastern dishes from Lebanon, the Mediterranean, Syria, Iran, and Turkey. Zooroona is located on West Main Street in the Tiffany’s mini-mall, and it is about fifteen minutes walking distance from Kalamazoo College.

As I walked into the Zooroona, I felt like I was in the Arabic forest as the sound of the artificial indoor waterfall pleasantly rang my ears, and interior was delicately decorated with the Middle Eastern symbols. A counter was inscribed in zigzag Arabic patterns, soft curtains hanging on the ceiling, and colorful dimming gentle Arabic lamps were the only lights here. This mysterious but delicate ambiance made the place cozy and made me feel comfortable. Alive ceiling plants add liveliness to the cave-like interior. In the left side of the restaurant, there was a Sunday buffet and in the right side there were a small bar and tea station. The Middle Eastern hookahs in every corner of the restaurant grabbed my attention, and on every side of the wall there were portraits of Arabic women with mystic smiles. In the middle, there was an elongated floor sitting down seats with sitting cushions which showed Middle Eastern eating style. I didn’t need to wait for a long time to get a table. Settling myself into swirling patterns of sofas, I had to rely my vision from the dim light from the dancing light of a candle in table lamp.

After eating other dishes in each appetizers, main course, soup, salad, and dessert sections, I loved Shish Tawook the most. Shish Tawook is cubes of marinated chicken kebab. Not overcooked. Not wildly salty. I was amazed by this kebab glistened with moisture of adequately cooked chicken. Zooroona’s various collections of hummus and sauces were delightful to look and taste. The rich juice of chewy and tender white chicken kebab that was grilled on skewers and marinated with thick tomato sauce was extremely flavorful. It was also served with grilled onions and a tomato, nans, long grain fried rice with few basils top of it, and red pepper. I loved that almost every Middle Eastern dishes were heavily flavored, awakening my taste bud. They are always soaked with tomato sauce, lemon juice, or any sauce. There must be secrets of marinating sauce each distinct dish. I could only guess this chicken kebab was marinated with tomato sauce. Maybe yogurt, vinegar, chocolate, and something really random sauce might be used. No one would easily guess it.

Getting excited for moving into dessert section, there was Baklava, a bite-size pastry, was a special highlight for entire meal and satisfied my expectation for finding an amazing dessert. As soon as I bit the golden layers of paper-thin and flaky crusts, chopped nuts and honey juice inside of the layers were sweet. Fragile cover, surrounding the nuts, pistachios, and honey, vulnerably broke and melt into my mouth in few seconds. The sweetness was more than enough but quite addicting. I couldn’t stop bringing few mores on my plate and ate constantly although I was full already from eating all the main dishes. If you love overly sweet treat with lovely nuts and pistachios, this is the must-eat menu!

Zooroona’s open hours are very flexible. They open seven days a week at around noon until 9pm, but for the weekends until 11pm. The menu for both lunch and dinner has various choices. Since there was a description under the names of each dish, it was easier for me to imagine what kind of dish will be like. The beauty of Zooroona is the party platters. Ordering combination of party platters let guests of Zooroona to taste various Middle Eastern dishes, a combination of trays serving beef, lamb, or chicken Kabobs, rice, hummus, and other spices, also it is cheaper to order in this. The foods weren’t that pricy, and the serving sizes were humongous big.

For alcohols, they had cocktails, specialty arak (Levantine alcoholic), and red and white wines served by glass and bottle. But, the fresh-made smoothies and teas by the pot were expensive since large-sized brewed teas were $6.95 which for college students, it’s almost the cost of the meal in Jimmy John’s or Chinese fast food places. Although the teas were extremely expensive, it was the climax of dining experience in Zooroona was when I had a sip of Iraqui tea with cardamom. I could see Zooroona’s emphasis on serving fresh food and drinks to eaters when the owner of this restaurant, who also worked as a waiter, quickly ran into tea station and brewed the tea right away. Upon my request, he brought out two different kinds of leaves’ containers and showed them to me. He explained the differences between tastes of two leaves and how these two blend together to make ultimate bliss. A teaspoon next to the pot was the smallest teaspoon I had ever seen. I poured the hot caramel colored black tea in a transparent glass teacup and drank without hesitation. It was seriously bitter, and if you are a sugar fan, you won’t be able to handle this bitterness. I put a cube of sugar and swirled it and tealeaves that already sank. The strong taste of tea was equivalent to espresso, and this taste was mainly from green cardamom, a pistachio-looking and intensively aromatic spice.

Mr. Mandwee, an owner of Zooroona, replied my question of what is his mission for this restaurant. He said that he hopes as many people, who live in Kalamazoo or Michigan as possible, can experience variety of cultural foods. He says that Zooroona in Arabic means “Come visit us”, and he wants people from anywhere are welcome and enjoy the authentic Middle Eastern teas and dishes. He proudly boasted that Zooroona serves one of the authentic cultural dishes in Kalamazoo because he and his family members are from Iraqi, immigrants in Kalamazoo. He said since they are from Iraqi they know how to make real Middle Eastern food!

The music wasn’t too loud, and there wasn’t that much noise. The music was mostly the dreamy Middle Eastern soft house songs building up laid-back mood, but sometimes there were some overly dynamic songs that made me feel little bit dizzy. The bustling movements of waiters and waitresses prevented me from asking for water. I had to ask not only for water but also for the knife. Since it was buffet day, workers were busy with filling up each food section. The work division was kind of a mess as there wasn’t an assigned person to take care of individual table.

After dining out in Zooroona, I felt like I traveled around the Middle East. I realized that great ambiance and decorations can’t be underestimated! Just remember that if you come on Sunday brunch buffet, you can taste variety of the Middle Eastern food just for fifteen bucks; however, you might face the bad service! But, it was perfect moments when I tried each delicate and sweet and richly flavored dish with unique sauces while looking what was around me. The Iraqui tea with cardamom, Baklava, and Shish Tawook took me to the world that I’ve never been. 

Zooroona's entrance

 

 Iraqui tea with cardamom

Sauces/Hummus

Rice with tomato sauce, Nans, salad, boiled eggs, and Shish Tawook dipped with hummus

Shish Tawook for a regular menu (not buffet version)

rice pudding

 

Baklava