Half of a charcoal-grilled chicken with sides of fresh hummus and baba ganoush at The Charcoal Restaurant.
Humans have been cooking over open fires at least since the Paleolithic era, and 200,000 years later, homo sapiens still loves food cooked over charcoal.
The folks who’ve recently opened The Charcoal Restaurant get this. Using an impressive grill table loaded with glowing charcoal to roast chickens on hand-turned spits, they turn out delicious charcoal-grilled chicken in the style of Jerusalem street food.
The chickens are halal – processed and prepared according to Islamic law as set out in the Qu’ran – and they burn quality natural wood charcoal, not briquettes.
This shopping center space on North Hurstbourne Parkway near Westport Road is just large enough to accommodate four tables and a short row of window-facing stools. Decor is simple, with dark-gray walls bearing a color photograph of Jerusalem and random food words like “shawerma” painted in English and Arabic.
Place your order from large, colorful backlighted menu boards hanging over the open kitchen, which houses the massive charcoal grill that oddly resembles a fiery foosball game loaded with whole flattened chickens.
The short, simple menu offers four choices for dinner, each with two sides included: a chicken quarter ($7.99), a half chicken ($9.99), and a whole bird ($18.99). A falafel plate is $8.99. Sandwiches built on lavash-style flatbread come with waffle fries on the side. A falafel sandwich is $5.99; chopped and spiced chicken shawerma is $7.99, and a whole chicken with flatbread (no sides) is $14.99. Service is on disposable plates with plastic flatware. ...
Read the full review on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/charcoal-restaurant
You'll also find this review in LEO Weekly's Food & Drink section today.
http://www.leoweekly.com/category/food-drink/
The Charcoal Restaurant
2805 N. Hurstbourne Parkway
749-8888
Thecharcoalrestaurant.com
facebook.com/TheCharcoalRestaurant
Robin Garr's rating: 87 points.
Noise level: Even with a party at every table in this small restaurant for a Saturday lunch, the noise level remained sedate. (Average sound was 74dB, the level of normal conversation.)
Accessibility: There are no apparent barriers to wheelchair users in this strip mall space.
