moutabal – Jellybeans in the City

It’s no secret that Middle Eastern food holds a certain appeal to my fam.

Even my youngest couldn’t resist beef kabab, and has been known to demolish several helpings of this dish in one sitting.

With the pandemic still raging outside the safety of our home, the family can’t go out to dine at our usual kabab haunts. Fortunately, Hubby has discovered a resto that can not only cater to our kabab cravings but can supply the side dishes we love so well.

What’s more, its Middle Eastern food offerings are quite affordable and easily accessible.

Cheers to Uncle Moe’s Shawarma Hub, now available for long distance delivery on GrabGood!

First established at Ortigas Home Depot in 2006, Uncle Moe‘s Shawarma Hub focused its offerings towards premium yet affordable Middle Eastern food.

Since then, it has branched out to fifteeb locations across the metro, serving a carefully curated menu stripped down to what its clientele keeps coming back to.

For several weeks now, Hubby would oftentimes order some kababs from Uncle Moe’s via GrabFood for his midnight snack (which he is obligated to share with whoever among us is still awake, hehehe!). The fam grew to love Uncle Moe’s offerings and we started to look forward to it more and more.

At the tail end of a particularly hectic weekend, I decided to heed Hubby’s request and ordered our faves from Uncle Moe’s Shawarma Hub for our Sunday dinner.

This included:

Hummus (Php185). A popular Middle Eastern dip, spread or dish in itself made from cooked chickpeas (garbanzos), tahini, lemon juice and garlic. It is best enjoyed with fresh pita bread.

Moutabal (Php185). A version of the baba ghanoush made with mashed broiled eggplant, olive oil, lemon juice, tahini and various seasonings. It has a yummy savory and smokey flavor which complements many Mediterranean dishes.

Ox Brain (Php195). Made with fried ox brain sprinkled with a bit of citrus juice, it adds a lot of richness to any Mediterranean dish it accompanies.

Beef Kabab Tray (Php510). Eight pieces of juicy beef kababs accompanied by four pieces of pita bread, garlic and red chili sauce as well as tomato-onion salsa.

Given my fam’s huge appetites and our love for kababs, it’s no wonder that we were able to finish off two orders of Beef Kabab Tray, three orders of Ox Brain, two orders of Hummus and an order of Moutabal, all in a single meal!

So if you’re on the lookout for delicious yet affordable Middle Eastern food, grab your phone and order from Uncle Moe’s Shawarma Hub via GrabFood!

About Grab

Grab is the leading super app in Southeast Asia, providing everyday services that matter most to consumers. Today, the Grab app has been downloaded onto over 185 million mobile devices, giving users access to over 9 million drivers, merchants and agents. Grab offers the widest range of on-demand transport services in the region, in addition to food, package, grocery delivery services, mobile payments and financial services across 339 cities in eight countries.

About GrabFood

Operating under the Grab super app, GrabFood is an online food delivery service that connects local food businesses to people. GrabFood presents a variety of food based on what’s available around consumers: Filipino, Western, Asian, European, Fusion and so on. Today, GrabFood’s services are available in areas of Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, and Cebu, with plans to continue expanding to reach more areas in the country.

Download the Grab app here.

Mediterranean cuisine is said to be identified with a trinity of basic ingredients: olive, wheat and grape, yielding oil, bread and wine respectively.

Two of these key ingredients came into play during a lunch with my family at The Cafe Mediterranean while we were on our way to a movie screening at the Powerplant Mall. (I was with my hubby and kids so wine was not ordered, hehehe!)

The Cafe Meditteranean prides itself on bringing the “flavors of the sun.” True enough, biting into its tasty offerings brings to mind images of sun-drenched vineyards against a wide azure Mediterranean sky.

Even the restaurant’s premises evoke a similar vibe through the use of brightly colored or strikingly patterned artwork and design accents against whitewashed walls.

For our appetizers, we ordered:

Hummus with Grilled Vegetables (Php300). The classic chick pea and sesame dip from the Middle East accompanied by grilled vegetables. I love scooping it up with a folded piece of pita bread together with a grilled onion or tomato.

Moutabal (Php165). A grilled eggplant and tahini dip, also great with wheat pita bread.

For lunch, Hubby and the kids went for an order each of Grilled Beef Kebab (Php535). Small cubes of grilled beef served with Tabouleh and Labneh (the Lebanese version of cream cheese), together with buttered Basmati rice.

As for me, my choice for lunch was a Grilled Beef Gyro Plate (Php450). Tender slices of well-seasoned grilled beef accompanied by Moutabal, Tzatziki (a creamy combination of cucumber, yoghurt and garlic), Tabouleh (cracked wheat, tomatoes and parsley) and pickled chillies. I loved how the smokey flavors of the beef and eggplant dip were complemented by the cucumber dip and other elements of the dish. Together with buttered Basmati rice, this made for a flavorful and filling meal.

With these combinations of tastes and textures from different Mediterranean cuisines, dining at The Cafe Mediterranean seemed like we went on a gastronomic tour.

Too bad we didn’t have time (or room!) for dessert. I would have loved getting myself some Baklava.

Oh, since both Hubby and I are Zomato Gold members, we each got a 1+1 deal on food which basically rendered one of the beef kebabs and my grilled beef gyro plate as free! What a sweet deal, right?

This Cafe Mediterranean branch is located at Lower Ground Floor, Power Plant Mall, Rockwell, Makati City. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 2 8981301 or +63 2 7565010.

Other branches may be found at:

Basement 1, Estancia Mall, Capitol Commons, Oranbo, Pasig City
Fifth Floor, The Podium, ADB Avenue, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City
Third Floor, One Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Level 1, Greenbelt 1, Ayala Center, Greenbelt, Makati City
Ground Floor, Entertainment Mall, SM Mall of Asia, Mall of Asia Complex (MOA), Pasay City
Second Floor, Alabang Town Center, Alabang, Muntinlupa City

Want to score a similar discount? Zomato Gold provides members with 1+1 deals on food or 2+2 deals on drinks. All you have to do is sign up for a Zomato Gold membership here as soon as slots open. (They tend to get snatched up pretty quickly so be sure to sign up as soon as slots become available.) Use my code JELLYB to get 20% off the membership fee.