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Zaatar W Zeit, Granville

Today we were at Zaatar W Zeit‘s downtown location. Anticipating a busier weekend and the inability to meal prep, we decided to stop by for a bite and to grab a handful of their ready made meals and snacks to enjoy throughout the week, at our leisure.

They are a Lebanese cafe focused on healthy and wholesome everyday food solutions. Their menu combines traditional Lebanese dishes and ingredients with modern interpretations and easy offerings.

There is plenty of sprawling space with the goal of having a comfortable environment for studying students, families, and the late night crowd.

You grab a tray and pick up your choice of drink, salad, and/or dessert from their self serve showcase. You pay at the counter, sliding the tray into designated rails. Here, you can also order any of their made to order wraps, deep fried snacks, and all day breakfast options including skillets.

If you don’t want to stand in line you can also scan the QR code at your table and order that way. This also doubles as a wireless phone charger, although we had difficulties trying to keep it charging on the pad.

If dining in you are given an order holder that vibrates when your food is ready. This will be brought out to you at your table.

We shared a cup of their Lebanese coffee served in a traditional pot and vessel, which added credibility to their authenticity. It drank mellow, but was potent. The only down side is not being able to clear your cup, as the last bit of the pot is gritty and hard to swallow. Unfiltered black coffee made from 100% Arabica beans, available in regular or accented with cardamon.

Manousheh is Lebanese pie that is popular as a grab and go snack option, although it looks more like a fajita with two pieces of dough sandwiching your chosen ingredients. We went with their most popular classic option with Wild Zaatar. Wild zaatar herb blended with diced onion and tomato sauce, spread and baked on a multigrain flatbread. It was uncomplicated, simple, and clean. Enough flavour to have you enjoying your gnaw.

The wraps we had packed to go, only to unpack each bag, take a bite, the wrap them back poorly to take home and pop in the refrigerator.

They had a couple of new and unexpected wraps that I wanted to try. And in hindsight they both tastes exactly as its name suggests and like you would think.

The Burger Wrap was the classic flavors of a Lebanese burger, but minus the bun and spread it all in a wrap instead. A homemade beef patty, cheddar slices, crispy fries, iceberg lettuce, ketchup, mayo, and pickles all wrapped up in dough baked to order. This had a familiar burger taste and reminded me of childhood. The most filling of all the wraps with the use of potato sticks to add carbs.

Its partner in crime is the Crispy Beef Hotdog wrap. A savoury beef hotdog with melted cheese, crispy chips, ketchup and mustard wrapped in their potato dough. Exactly what you would expect from an American hot dog made even more portable in a wrap. Interesting enough, but I rather have my hotdog the regular bun way.

More classic wraps that we enjoyed was the Green Chicken Wrap. A flavourful wrap in a spinach dough filled with grilled chicken breast, pickles, fresh tomato, and onion. Drizzled with their jalapeño coriander sauce for an extra kick. Fragrant herbs and fresh onion add levity, you get the coriander, but not the heat from the jalapeño.

The Chicken Light is low calorie version wrapped in their high-protein dough. Chicken, tomato, lettuce, pickles, and a light garlic sauce. It was creamy and a little runny with excess liquid, but still bold with garlic.

I like a pasta salad because it combines the healthiness of a salad, with carbs to fill. The Chicken Pasta Salad is a hearty mix of pasta, greens, chicken, green olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh basil; topped with a boiled egg and a sprinkle of dried oregano. Served with their signature honey garlic dressing dip on the side to pour over when ready to eat. A tasty and lean mix with enough different ingredients to keep you digging and interested. Plenty of firm noodles and a 1:1 ratio of leafy greens. I just could have used more salt and spice from the dressing, out of personal preference.

And as a quick and easy were the desserts, we grab all three of their dessert cups.

An Oreo Cheesecake topped with crunchy Oreo crumbs.

The Chocolate Pudding was my partner’s favourite. Silky-smooth chocolate pudding with a rich cocoa flavour and a hint of coffee, topped with a generous layer of crushed biscuits at the bottom. This is for the chocolate lover who wants to lick their spoon clean.

My favourite was the Red Velvet, a delicious fluffy cake exactly as expected with salty and sweet cream cheese frosting.

In short, this was a quick and easy stop for healthy food and makes for a convenient meal prep solution for the lazy and those who lack time.

Zaatar W Zeit Vancouver
531 Granville St, Vancouver, BC V6C 1X6
(604) 336-9348
zaatarwzeit.com

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