10/16/09

tasty but way over priced for portions

by dennispinto

On the great reviews written here I decided to try La Shish for lunch. I had a small bowl of lentil soup, tiny spinach salad and average sized Gyro. The Soup was just lentals, water and curry powder, the spinch salad did not have bacon in, instead sort of over-ripe avacados and a f ew mushrooms and a dressing that didn't seem to fit the salad. then the gyro has about 2 OZ of meat in it, it tasted fresh but the pita was simple a store bought wheat pita. this meal would have been worth $7 many $8, instead it cost $15! I left hungry and will not return. the owner is quite pleasant but she didn't even offer me a little humus and some pita. prior to the dinner. Save your money and go to Bab ghanoui in Durham corner of 55 and 54. Their buffet only cost $9 and has 10 times the authentic flavor.

• Pros: fresh, hand made enviornmentaly contentious
• Cons: Price

09/16/09

A great disappointment

by Big Norm

The gyros meat had very little flavor, very small order of french fries, the only waitress carried on a long conversation on the phone, they charge $1.75 for each small glass of coke

• Pros: none
• Cons: very average food, below average service,

09/06/09

Best med in town

by mahans99

I've been making and eating med food for 20 years. The food quality and prepartion at La Shish is great. I ate there with my eight year old and my girlfriend, we go the spanikopita, gyro, shwarma, an appetizer sampler and baklava for dessert. I'm typically able to pick something out that was sub-par or inauthentic but I am not able to do that for LaShish. The only thing that I would say, and I discussed this with the staff there, is that the kids menu is chicken nuggets and french fries or a grill cheese pita. While I understand this approach, I wish there were better selections (authentic) for kids to provide a better introduction to med food. My eight year old ordered the nuggets, of course, fearing the med selections, but ended up eating my schwarma and gryo meat.

All in all its a great place, and when I want med, its where I want to go, even though I live in north Raleigh, at least a good 30 minutes away.

• Pros: excellent service
• Cons: i wish it wasn't in Cary

05/10/09

Owners who care

by MobileBP

I visited La Shish with a friend of mine after I met the owners of La Shish. I loved the humus and my friend, who is a vegetarian, loved La Shish also. It is a great place to celebrate or to just get together with old friends. By the way, the owners care about their customers and love people.

• Pros: Great food, great service, great owners
• Cons: none

04/30/09

Good food and just "okay" service

by jhanek

I've been to this restaurant several times because it's close to my office and I truly enjoy the food (though you don't receive very much of it for the prices you pay), however I'm not sure if I plan on going back. I'm not sure if the owner (I think she's the owner) was in a bad mood during my last visit, however she provided extremely substandard service to my party. We were very nice and kind, yet she never came to check on us, when we went up to the counter (after being left alone for thirty plus minutes), she seemed annoyed (even though I was nice) and when I ordered tiramisu she looked put out and came back saying "sorry, it's not thawed yet." We were nice about it, but she acted as though we did something to offend her. Perhaps she was having an off day (because she was nicer the time before), but I wasn't pleased with her level of service at all. And, the prices are too high for what you receive in return.

• Pros: great Tiramisu and hummus
• Cons: not very good service and too pricey for amount of food

04/11/09

Excellent Middle Eastern/Mediterranean Food

by louise9

The new menu at LaShiSh tops the old one, and I didn't think that was possible! The owner is putting her personal flair and knowledge of fine Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine into all her dishes. Often she personally serves you. Savor the delicious kofta kebabs -- they have just the right amount of fresh parsley. Tzaziki makes an excellent side.

Everything is fresh. Try the freshly-squeezed, iced orange juice. The salads are perfect. You can order anything and be delighted. The prices are reasonable, and the decor is tasteful and artistic. Enjoy!

• Pros: Authentic menu, exquisitely prepared

02/07/09

My favorite place for dining out.

by Alfista

Oustanding. Certainly you could spend more. But no matter how much you pay, you cannot take the decor home with you. Everything at Lashish is nicely prepared. The offerings always have appealing flavor with an attractive presentation. The hummus is the best I've ever had. Ditto for the spanakopita?and the soups are excellent.

The cook has great skill: she's rather an artist. Lashish's owner is usually there, a very good thing in this age of remote, unconcerned management. There's good variety on the menu, so almost everyone can leave happy and fulfilled. The place is small, but I've never had a long wait for seating or service.

If all the corporate-controlled food warehouse restaurants were replaced with small, locally-owned, conscientiously operated places like Lashish, we'd enjoy a much higher standard eating out as well as a more sound economy with more fulfilling opportunities for employment.

• Pros: location, excellent food & service, easy parking, wonderful staff
• Cons: I can't walk to it.

10/11/08

a hidden jewel

by oleejay

My husband and I have become regulars in the year since we first discovered this small, casual, cozy restaurant that is hidden away in the Reedy Creek shopping center in Cary. We tend to go on weeknights or Saturdays for lunch when it is not quite so busy, which gives us the opportunity to visit with the lovely owner who is generally the waitress - this is the type of place where it is like a visit with friends.

We have enjoyed everything we have tried on the menu. Favorite lunch is a Chicken Pesto Wrap combo with hummus. The hummus is the creamiest and the bright, fresh taste of the basil comes through in the wrap. Favorite dinner is the Spanikopita which perfectly balances the cheese and spinach. Portion sizes are filling but might leave you room for dessert ? which given the Tiramisu is a very good thing. The rice pudding and baklava are tasty too.

All in all, La Shish is a friendly restaurant, with fresh, well prepared food.

• Pros: friendly service and good food
• Cons: busy on weekend nights

09/09/08

Fantastic little find

by vonlisbon

This is one of our absolute favorite places. We've only been for supper, but I think I've tried everything on the menu at least once. The owner has always served as our waitress as well, and she is incredibly sweet and helpful. They don't advertise it anywhere, but once when we were talking with her she mentioned that a lot of their groceries are organic. It's a nice little independently-run place and the food is prepared fresh in the store by their chef.

The menu has a good variety and offers some great combination platters. You'll get a full meal no matter what you order.

It's funny because even though the entire rest of the menu is Greek/Lebanese, the tiramisu is absolutely amazing. It seems so random and out of place on the menu but it's better than any Italian-restaurant/bakery tiramisu I've ever had.

• Pros: Fresh and authentic, good variety of food, personal service, gorgeous decor
• Cons: Should definitely expand to a larger location outside of a strip mall

07/10/08

Nice find

by arsbadmojo

I've had a hankerin' for a good gyro lately. I had one last week that was merely OK, so I was hoping this would be better - and it was. A little pricey, but worth it. We got a 2 person sampler and I got the gyro added on . We liked everything on the sampler, especially the beef and chicken shawarma. Neither my wife nor I were particularly thrilled with the orange blossom flavor in the iced tea and lemonade. It's different, I'll give it that, but we found it distracting and slightly off-putting. My gyro was big and loaded with moist lamb, had nice red onion and a good tzatziki sauce. We split a piece of baklava for dessert after reading good reviews, but I found it way too dry. Service was pleasant. Total came to about $45 pre-tip, which isn't too bad given the amount of food.