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reviewed on May 23, 2008 Growing up in New York City, I was surrounded by ethnic restaurants of every stripe and color. But one thing I’d never experienced in all my years is the food of Armenia. I know roughly where Armenia is on the map, and I know it’s been influenced by the Russians, Greeks, Turks, and whoever else invaded them through the centuries, but I’d never actually sat down, rolled up my sleeves and partaken of a meal. Then, about four months ago, Denver got its first Armenian restaurant, the appropriately named Armenian Grill, and I went by for lunch and was impressed. Knowing that lunch is not the best way to really get into a cuisine, and following a spate of glowing calls on The Restaurant Show, I decided to visit for dinner this week.
You’re not likely to stumble upon the Armenian Grill by accident. It’s located on West Jewell, west of Wadsworth, directly behind the King Soopers on the southwest corner of that intersection. Even worse, the front of the restaurant faces the rear of King Soopers, so it doesn’t have any street presence except for the sign seen from the side, and a newly constructed patio with umbrella-topped tables.
Once inside you’ll discover a charming little restaurant with a quaint, welcoming feel to it. The lighting is soft, the tables topped with striped cloths protected by a sheet of glass. It’s comfortable and casual. Just the sort of place to relax and savor a unique dining experience.
As wine drinkers, our first dilemma was selecting one from a selection that includes a token California house wine flanked by a myriad of unknown Armenian wines. Armenian wines are either sweet and fruity, or so dry you can feel your mouth puckering all the way back to your ears. We tried both ends of the spectrum, and even a remarkably tasty pomegranate wine before we finally honed in on one we felt had the right balance to complement the food. The menu at the Armenian Grill lacks a lot of description, and several of the dishes we ordered bore little resemblance to what we imagined they would be. For example, the stuffed eggplants turned out to be thin strips of eggplant rolled around a feta cheese filling, and baked. At least, I think they were baked. Whatever, they were delightful, and the furthest thing from what I expected a stuffed eggplant to be.
Then there were the blini. I’ve had these delightful little Russian pancakes before and loved them, but these were totally different. They were thin, Swedish pancakes about five inches across, rolled around a ground meat filling, and were incredibly tasty.
From there it was on to the soup course. We had to try the borsch, a rich and hearty beet-based soup served with sour cream on the side. And I’d gotten so many calls on the show about the eggplant soup called adzapsandal that I simply had to try it. This despite the fact that eggplant soup sounds dreadful. Again, my imagination had taken off in a completely different direction than it should have. When you visit the Armenian Grill, you MUST try the eggplant soup. It is so tasty, and so un-eggplanty, that you’ll want to order a second bowl and forego the entrée.
But that would be a mistake too. The entrée selection is very basic, consisting of grilled chicken, pork, lamb, trout or salmon. Of course, nothing is simply grilled here, so all of the meats are given a long soak in a marinade before being skewered and grilled. We went with the lamb, grilled perfectly to a medium rare and fork tender. But if the lamb was good, the sides were equally remarkable. Every dish comes with a choice of side, and we selected the grechka and the bulglur. I’ve had bulgur before, but it never tasted this rich and buttery. Grechka is roasted buckwheat which, again, sounds like something I’d gladly forego. And, again, I’d be mistaken, for it too was a delightful surprise.
We finished up—yes, we still managed to eat more—with a porcupine for dessert. This time I had no preconceived idea of what was to come, except I didn’t really expect it to contain porcupine. Well, a porcupine turns out to be a baseball-sized mixture of a crumbly cake mixed with a sinfully rich cream. I don’t know why they call it a porcupine. My mouth was too full to ask.
The Armenian Grill
7806 W. Jewell, just west of Wadsworth
303-969-9991 |
