Last weekend we went with our friends, Katie and Mike from Eating My Way Through OC to a delicious restaurant in Downtown Fullerton named, D’Vine, a Mediterranean Experience and we certainly were in for a special treat! D’Vine was authentic Mediterranean Food at its’ finest. With two locations, one in Brea and one in Fullerton, owners, Lena and Chef Walid were sharing with us that they plan to own more locations in the future! We were really impressed with this place!
Upon entering D’Vine, it felt like a very authentic atmosphere that was filled with lovely Middle Eastern décor. Lena and Walid were very welcoming and we got a table in the center of the action, as the belly dancer, Tanya arrived to dance around our table with us shortly after we were seated. 🙂 See my pictures below. Both myself and my friend Katie got up to enjoy a dance with the lovely Tanya.
We started with a bowl of pita chips, olive oil and special spice that has several health properties called, Za’atar, a Middle Eastern Spice Blend that was quite delicious. This spice is available for purchase for $5 and we ended up purchasing a bottle of it to take home with us. The ingredients consisted of thyme, toasted sesame seeds, sumac and salt. I had never heard of sumac before and it was really tasty on our pita chips with olive oil. 🙂
My husband started his meal with a Lebanese beer named, Almaza which was like a typical lager beer that he enjoyed and I opted for a glass of Lebanese red wine from a vineyard named, Chateau Casara. My 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon was flavorful and full-bodied and paired nicely with all of the food I enjoyed that evening.
My friend, Katie and I are all about the cheese, so I suggested that we start with some cheese plates to get our party started. We opted for the cheese platter offered under Cold Mezza’s that had cucumber and Halloum & Nabulski Mediterranean Cheeses. We also ordered the Cheese Fatayer, prepared with lightly fried dough stuffed with Mediterranean cheeses. This dish was from the hot Mezza’s and we all enjoyed it. Both of these dishes were quite unique, but if I personally had to pick one over the other, I would go for the cheese fatayers. Yum, nothing like warm melted cheese!!
Next, we were served a plate that had a blend of four different cold mezza’s which included hummus (crushed chickpeas with tahini and lemon juice), Mutabel-Baba Ghanoush (grilled eggplant with tahini, yogurt and lemon juice), Tabouleh (salad mix of cracked wheat, tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, lemon juice and spices) and Turshi (a combination of pickles, olives and turnips). All four of these were paired with some fresh pita bread and had a great blend of flavor. I enjoyed the combination of the hummus with the tabouleh on pita bread. Everything was fresh and flavorful. This was very authentic in comparison to some other Mediterranean restaurants I have tried. We all thoroughly enjoyed these apps and they were gone quick!
Next, we ordered a plate of lamb chops and a half chicken. With this plate, we were served a lovely garlic lemon spread that had no dairy in it whatsoever, yet it was smooth and creamy like sour cream. This was a really flavorful spread with the lamb and chicken and it tasted great with the pita bread. The chicken was delicious, but please know the bone-in grilled chicken comes half or whole, but does also take 25 minutes to prepare…The wait was worth every minute for the moist juicy goodness we encountered. The lamb chops were also cooked to perfection and full of flavor! All entrees come with your choice of one cold mezza, rice and pita bread. You definitely receive a large amount of food for a great price!
The next plate that the four of us shared consisted of chicken shawarma (amazing flavor on this grilled, thinly sliced marinated chicken!!), beet salad (red beets, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt) tahini garlic sauce, and white cabbage salad (sliced white cabbage, parsley, lemon juice, and house spices)! We were in heaven with this delicious food, but at this point I was really starting to get full and my plate was beginning to grow with items I still wanted to devour that I had nowhere to put in my full tummy…But wait…I just had to save room for dessert!
Last, but certainly not least, a dessert place arrived on our table that consisted of Ashta ice cream and Layalee Lubnan. Both of these items were foreign to me, but they were unique and I enjoyed them both. I think if I had to pick one, the Ashta ice cream was my personal favorite. The Ashta ice cream was a blend of Mediterranean ice cream flavors – rose water, pistachio, almond and chocolate topped with fresh pistachios…. I loved this one. The Layalee Lubnan was very unique dessert made from a semolina pudding, topped with a layer of whipped cream, and drizzled with fresh ground pistachios and sugar syrup! To wash our dessert down we had Arabic coffee, which was a first for me. It was slightly sweet and we all enjoyed it so very much!
The service at D’Vine was lovely, as well as the food! We will definitely be back again to visit soon and for now I will enjoy my Mediterranean spice on dishes we make in the comfort of our own home. I would like to head in sometime soon to check out the awesome happy hour D’Vine has to offer! I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to D’Vine. Have you ever been to D’Vine? Please share your thoughts about this restaurant in the comments section below. 🙂
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Another fantastic post from one of my favorite bloggers. Keep up the great work Dani! I enjoyed our time together immensely.
Aww!! Thank you so much Mike! It was a blast for sure. Let’s all get together again really soon! 😀😍