Late in the summer we took a drive out to the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, MA. It was nice enough, but given the dry summer and lateness of our visit in the season, it was just OK. I suspect it would be much more worthwhile during peak season, which is when I would recommend going.
But, being me, of course I had to scope out someplace interesting nearby to get lunch. And, being us, Mediterranean is always a good place to start looking. That led us to Naji’s Mediterranean Cuisine in Great Barrington. It was a good choice and we’d happily return if in the area.
I did take some exterior photos, but the sere conditions didn’t do much for their landscaping and the bright sun washed out my quickie phone snaps. The photo above is the cozy porch taken from our nook table. It was bright, but with enough shade to be comfortable. Service was fine, neither exceptional nor lacking, so I won’t get into it any more.
The menu is obviously heavily Mediterranean/Lebanese. We started with the falafel since we both like good falafel and never turn down the opportunity when we think we’re somewhere that might do it well.
You can see that what we actually got was almost a falafel salad with plenty of veggies. While the four balls look drowned in a tahini sauce here, it’s just a light coating. Toasted pita bread, as well, of course. We weren’t over the moon for these, but they were certainly above average and tasty enough. I may be setting myself up for a smackdown, but they were really uniform. I hope it’s just because they make a lot of falafel and have it down really well and not what I feared, that this proudly “authentic” restaurant is serving food service falafel. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Can we talk briefly about tea? Sure. Look at these giant glasses of iced tea. They really hit the spot on the hot day we were there. I think we both drank two glasses. Nice job, Naji’s.
Our entrees were the chicken shawarma and lamb shawarma. On our waitress’ recommendation, I got the shawarma instead of kabob because, as she rightly said, you can get kabobs a lot of places, but shawarma not so much.
Wrapped right up and grilled, served with fries (great fries, too, generic battered fries, but they still get credit for frying them up right). I’m not sure how much there really is to say about these. They were tasty and made a great lunch.
You can see the onion, the garlic sauce, the thin slices of lamb, all tucked inside. If we lived near Great Barrington we would be here routinely, eating through the menu, I think. But it’s not like I can say it’s worth a drive there just to visit Naji’s. However, I would definitely recommend it as a great place to stop for lunch if you’re exploring the Berkshires in the area. Flavors are good, preparation is fine, service is friendly, prices are OK.
Eat Up Albany! 