{"id":595,"date":"2009-02-01T11:33:10","date_gmt":"2009-02-01T18:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=595"},"modified":"2010-02-19T11:43:29","modified_gmt":"2010-02-19T18:43:29","slug":"star-east-cafe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/star-east-cafe\/","title":{"rendered":"Star East Caf\u00e9"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>reviewed by Diane Hudson feb\/march 2009<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-596\" style=\"margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 6px;\" title=\"stareast1\" src=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/stareast1.jpg\" alt=\"stareast1\" width=\"200\" height=\"150\" \/>Desperately seeking recession-friendly places, we happened upon the Star East Caf\u00e9, in the heart of Woodford\u2019s Corner.<\/p>\n<p>Pleasant and affable as is his cuisine, owner Saad Albeshir has just purchased and renovated this building, designing a warm inviting space. An electrician by trade in his native Iraq, Albeshir, who has other real estate interests, always wanted to own and run a place like this. Noting that \u201cthere are no other Arabic restaurants in Maine,\u201d he is excited to bring the unique tastes to an increasing, and loyal, clientele.<\/p>\n<p>A big reason for his success, besides the flavorful food, is Albeshir\u2019s whole-hearted commitment to promoting a healthy way of eating that is affordable for all.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine, for example, a generous serving of lamb kabob consisting of seven or eight good-sized chunks of juicy meat, grilled onion, green pepper, and two halves of nicely grilled tomato for $8.89. Ditto for the dolmades, rolled grape leaves stuffed with super basmati rice, raisins, beef or vegetables. Nine of these sweet, moist delicacies surround a mound of velvety hummus with a pungent olive in the center. Pretty, and pleasing, also only $8.89!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-597\" style=\"margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 6px;\" title=\"stareast2\" src=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/stareast2.jpg\" alt=\"stareast2\" width=\"200\" height=\"240\" \/>For us, the shining star in StarEast\u2019s sparkling firmament is the flat bread. A cross between a large inflated pita and an Indian poori, but with more substance and less oil than the poori, the bread alone will keep you coming back for more. Get here early, however. Our try for a to-go was a no-go; we\u2019d just been served the last.<\/p>\n<p>All of the soups are served with this amazing Arabic bread, hot from the oven. We loved the tasty chicken and vegetable soup, with lots of chicken and a good broth ($5.99), and can\u2019t wait to try the lamb stew ($5.99) and the okra soup ($4.99).<\/p>\n<p>We ordered koba, fresh ground beef and onion rolled in a potato, rice, and seasoning mixture thats generally served sandwich-style, inside Arabic bread with salad on top.<\/p>\n<p>As no alcohol is served, and is not allowed in the caf\u00e9, we treated ourselves to tea with cardamom. Coffee by Design coffees, hot lemonade, and numerous juices are available.<\/p>\n<p>Live music and even occasional dancing add energy here to complete this refreshing and affordable experience of the Middle East. For updates on the entertainment, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stareastsaad.com\" target=\"_blank\">www.stareastsaad.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a onclick=\"return addthis_sendto()\" onmouseover=\"return addthis_open(this, '', '[URL]', '[TITLE]')\" onmouseout=\"addthis_close()\" href=\"http:\/\/www.addthis.com\/bookmark.php?v=250&amp;pub=portmag\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:0\" src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/lg-share-en.gif\" alt=\"Bookmark and Share\" width=\"125\" height=\"16\" \/><\/a><script src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/js\/250\/addthis_widget.js?pub=portmag\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/about\/contact-us\">send us your comments<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>reviewed by Diane Hudson feb\/march 2009 Desperately seeking recession-friendly places, we happened upon the Star East Caf\u00e9, in the heart of Woodford\u2019s Corner. Pleasant and affable as is his cuisine, owner Saad Albeshir has just purchased and renovated this building, designing a warm inviting space. An electrician by trade in his native Iraq, Albeshir, who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1880,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595\/revisions\/1880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}