Midnight at the Oasis. Actually, 6:30 reservations.

Tuesday, February 2

Ever get a song stuck in your head.  Here was mine today.  From 1974.  Maria Muldaur and "Midnight at the Oasis."  Now it can get stuck in yours.

So what made me think of this song?  It’s because I was about to make my first ever visit to The Oasis.  A Mediterranean food and pastry restaurant on West Main Street.

Once a month, we go out to dinner with our friends Lindsey and Erin.  They pick a place one month that we have never been to, and the next month we take them someplace they have never tried.

So this month, we all go to a place no one had been to before.  And I was really looking forward to it!  Reservations for 6:30.  Midnight just seemed too late.

Ken, Lindsey & Erin at the Oasis

Now this is not your typical restaurant.  Well, if you had an uncle from Lebanon who loved making great food and invited you over to his house to eat it, then this would be your typical restaurant.

Unassuming doesn’t begin to describe this place.  The biggest sign is a vinyl banner on the porch.  You may have driven by it hundreds of times and not known it was a restaurant.  It looks like a house.  Because it used to be one.

When you enter, it’s still like going into someone’s house.  It looks like they cleared most of the furniture away, and put up tables for a large family meal.  Because that’s how it felt – like I was being served by family.

This place is not large.  Maybe eight tables.  But very comfortable.  I don’t feel like I’m in Lansdale, but have somehow been transported to the eastern Mediterranean.  Because this restaurant seems to have been transported here from there.

We started with appetizers of falafel, feta cheese and hummos.  All good.

Stuffed Kibbe

I wanted to order the Stuffed Kibbe for dinner.  But they were out.  But, much to my surprise, the owner’s wife mixed up a batch especially for me – and I got to try it!  It was great.  Here’s how they describe it:  A puree of london broil, white onion, and burgel wheat, lightly fried and served with marinated green beans. Stuffed with.... it's a secret!

Well, I’m not going to spoil their secret because I’m not 100% sure what it was stuffed with.  Tasty.  That’s what it was stuffed with.  Tasty.

Try the desserts.  Not big, honking American desserts.  But individual Lebanese treats.  Baklava, Mammoul, and other delights.  Try a few!

Save room for the pastries!

We will definitely be back.  I’m going to call this one an unknown treasure in Lansdale you should discover!

Open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday.  Take out available, too!

Lansdale Shopping Score:  1

This is a BYOB restaurant.  So we stopped by the State Store in the Hillcrest Plaza first.  But I refuse to give them top billing,  Once again, that refrigerator in the back served us up a bottle of cool, but mostly warm-ish wine.  Fix your fridge!

Lansdale Shopping Score:  2

So, today’s score:

TWO opportunities to shop/eat in Lansdale met.

Let’s see what today brings!