A long awaited trip to Sabzy Café

After waiting at the bus stop in front of Whyte Ave's new Sabzy Café more times than we can count, Zed and I finally made it into the restaurant for a meal this evening.

There were a few tables left in the main part of the restaurant (the space is divided by a couple half walls) and in the end we chose a table near the door. We were both impressed with the space: brightly painted with a well chosen music selection and a well laid out floor plan (including a more secluded family style table at the back), as well as a constant rotation of photos on a tv above the service counter (this was one of Zed's favourite features).

We were expecting a slightly larger menu than what we encountered, especially more on the veggie end of things; the menu included a selection of a few salads, dips, flat bread sandwiches or Kabobs - either chicken or a mixture of beef and New Zealand lamb (I thought the latter was a bit odd as the write up on the door and menu talk about locally sourced ingredients...). In the end I selected the veggie flat bread sandwich with portobello mushrooms, red peppers, Swiss cheese and Sabzy (a herb mixture of cilantro, parsley, mint, basil and green onion) along with today's soup - avocado and rice (Soup/Sandwich combo - $15). Zed went for the Kabob platter, which included one each of the chicken and lamb/beef kabobs along with Saffron rice ($16). We also ordered a French Press of Persian tea to share ($5.95).

After placing our orders at the counter we took our seats again to wait for our meals and enjoy the above mentioned photos on rotation. The tea was brought out a couple minutes later, along with a large bowl of soup for me accompanied by a couple lemon wedges. My soup was just okay - it was a tad salty for my liking and I didn't end up making it through the whole bowl (it was a huge portion though). The tea on the other hand was fantastic - nice and smooth at the beginning with a little lingering spice at the end.

Our mains followed soon after. Zed's kabobs looked and smelled wonderful and apparently the taste matched, as Zed raved about them afterwards. My sandwich was a lovely surprise after the slight disappointment with the soup - while a grilled veggie sandwich isn't too hard to find in Edmonton, this one was done really well and the Sabzy added a refreshing, vibrant flavour to the whole thing.

The Kabob Platter

The Vegetable Flat Bread Sandwich

Although our initial encounter with the menu was slightly disappointing and my adventure with the soup didn't turned out as well as I would have hoped, the mains along with the tea were done amazingly well and we will definitely be back for more Persian fare.

Sabzy Café
10416 Whyte Ave
780.758.1005