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1958 North U.S. Hwy. 190
Covington, LA
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Pros: Near perfect gyro and chicken shawarma.
Cons: They don’t have a location next door to our house.
Bottom Line: Really good Greek & Lebanese food at a great price!
In the middle of a half mile stretch of Hwy 190 where there are not one, not two, but three Thai restaurants, sits a lone Greek and Lebanese restaurant, Albasha. Albasha has several locations in Southeast Louisiana – we were big fans of the ones in Baton Rouge, and, fortunately, the Covington one does not disappoint. Greek and Lebanese, in our opinion, is a great category of cuisine in that it is appealing because it is "ethnic" - it's cuisine from another region of the world - but it is also not overly intimidating. Most dishes use relatively standard ingredients and simple cooking methods, so there isn't anything that should scare away timid eaters. It's a great introduction to global cuisine for those with trepidation.
The restaurant itself has an open, bright feeling without seeming cheesy or fake. It's a nice enough place to bring a date but casual enough to stop in with the family and kids.
On the menu, Albasha offers a significant number of appetizer options, many of which are vegetarian. The only downside is there are no “sampler platters”, which are great for pleasing a diverse crowd or for introducing this style of food to some newbies. We started with the meat-stuffed grape leaves. These were delicious, as was the creamy sauce with which it was served.
In the entree category, you can’t go wrong with the Greek staples – gyro (lamb) and chicken shawarma platters. (If you can’t decide between the two, don't fret - there is a combination platter.) The chicken shawarma is juicy and delicious. The gyro, however, is near perfection. Tender, flavorful, and almost melts in your mouth. That is what’s great about well-executed Mediterranean food – it’s simple, but so delicious. No crazy preparation tricks, just well-marinated, slow-cooked delicious meats. The sides stand their own as well. The hummus is very good and has the right amount of boldness, the salad is solid (though they seemed to have switched from an oil-and-vinegar-dressed salad topped with feta crumbles to a salad topped with a creamy feta dressing), and the rice is decent yet forgettable. Overall, Albasha makes one of the best-rounded platters that we have tried in the area. And they really stand out where it counts – with the meats. Not to mention they serve generous portions at reasonable prices (the platters are just over $10).
Albasha offers a wide range of Greek and Lebanese dishes and executes them well. If you're the kind who doesn't like to venture out of the ordinary, Albasha is a great place to cautiously break out of your rut. Give it a try once, and we're sure you'll be back for more.
104 Lake Drive
Covington, LA
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Pros: You can create your own dessert by mixing and matching from a large variety of frozen yogurt flavors and toppings.
Cons: Not all flavors are up to par.
Bottom Line: Fun concept, but the frozen yogurt needs improvement.
Menchie's is a self-serve frozen yogurt franchise that has just opened up a new location off of Hwy 190 in Covington. The store itself has a youthful, modern look and feel. The premise is that you serve your own soft-serve frozen yogurt, choosing from 10 flavors that rotate out from over 40 total, and 25+ toppings. There is only one size cup, and you build your own creation and pay by the ounce at the end.
We are huge fans of frozen yogurt and have tried numerous places over the years, so we were excited to try a another new one. The thought of selecting from a large variety of flavors was appealing. Menchie's allows you to sample the frozen yogurt flavors, which is a definite plus, since there are many from which to choose. You start by picking the only size cup - either with or without a waffle cone. On this night, the yogurt flavors offered were strawberry banana, mocha, vanilla, chocolate, white chocolate macadamia nut, pomegranate tart, Kahlua, root beer float, natural, and Georgia peach. The toppings come in three stations - bins of candy bars (like Snickers), cereals (like Golden Grahams and Cookie Crisps), chocolate chips, and nuts; a cold station including chopped fruit, cookie dough bites, and mochi; and a hot station with hot fudge and caramel sauce. Needless to say, there are an infinite number of combinations you could create, and it's easy to start tacking on the ounces (and therefore, price) when you are in control of serving yourself!
We tried a few of the flavors offered that night. The mocha was, unfortunately, overpowering, tasting almost like straight espresso with no creaminess or sweetness. The Kahlua had a good coffee flavor but also had a slightly unappealing (and unidentifiable) aftertaste. The flavor didn't seem like it was mixed very well because there were a few icy chunks in it - but this was the only flavor like that. The white chocolate macadamia nut was the best flavor we sampled, with strong flavors and the right amount of sweetness. The chocolate was very dark brown in color, and accordingly, was far richer than most chocolate flavors - which makes us wonder what the dark chocolate flavor tastes like. The strawberry banana was enjoyable, with bold fruit flavors. One of us thought that Menchie's yogurts had a slight tangy-ness to them, but the other disagreed, so you'll have to judge for yourself.
The toppings offered were plentiful and delicious, and the variety of cereals was a nice alternative to normal toppings. The only downside is that we were expecting a few more of the standard candy bar toppings - there were no Heath bars, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, etc. The fruit bar had a very nice selection of fruits, from berries to mangos and kiwi. Being able to select a low-fat yogurt and top it off with fruit and granola provides a healthy dessert option for those interested.
We liked the concept of Menchie's more than the execution. Having a variety of toppings and frozen yogurt flavors to choose from is exciting. Unfortunately, many of the flavors we sampled were sub-par to other frozen yogurt shops we've tried. Maybe we caught the rotation on a bad night, and we are willing to give it another try. But on this particular night, we were somewhat disappointed.
69305 Hwy 21
Covington, LA
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Pros: Good service and appealing food presentation.
Cons: Sushi rolls were average at best.
Bottom Line: All that glitters isn’t gold.
As part of our never-ending quest to find outstanding sushi in the Greater New Orleans area, we were excited to try a new sushi restaurant in Covington called Tchoupstix (pronounced chopsticks for all you non-Louisianans out there). Once inside, we were impressed by the décor and atmosphere – fun, but not too casual. The hostess asked us if we preferred a table, booth, or the sushi bar. This was very welcomed, as we generally prefer the intimacy of booths. We were waited on right after we were seated (though, in fairness, the restaurant wasn’t too full). Tchoupstix was off to a good start.
For an appetizer, we ordered gyoza, the pan-fried dumplings, served with a spicy sauce. While the sauce didn’t have much flavor except for the spice, the dumplings were one of the best dumplings we’ve had on the Northshore. We then decided to try three rolls from the very-tempting list of “Tchoupstix VIP Rolls” (mostly $10-12 each), along with some salmon sushi. We picked the King Neptune (lobster wrapped in rice paper with snow crab, fresh crisp lettuce, and rice), the Mount Fuji (Cali roll topped with baked scallop), and the Mai Tai (shrimp tempura and avocado topped with crunchy snow crab and served with a peanut sauce). Makes you hungry just reading that, huh? When the food arrived, we really started salivating. We just knew we had finally found the sushi restaurant we had been looking for. The presentation was gorgeous, though the camera on our phone doesn’t do it much justice.
We started with the Mount Fuji. (When eating sushi rolls, we always start by tasting a piece of each roll at the same time so we can discuss our opinions together.) As scallop lovers, we were anxiously waiting to try this roll – it is the first sushi roll we’ve seen with scallops around here. Unfortunately, we were extremely disappointed. The scallop was chopped up with some crab stick and covered in a mayonnaise-y “creamy” sauce. This topping completely overpowered the roll, and the scallop went unnoticed. Next was the King Neptune. Though a nice-sized piece of lobster was included in the roll, it was overcooked and tough. With nothing in this roll but bland seafood and rice, it lacked flavor. It seemed like it was missing a piece of fruit or vegetable to tie the elements together. Our final roll was the Mai Tai. When we ordered, we were very excited about the peanut sauce on this roll, as we had been debating whether to eat Pad Thai or sushi for dinner. However, we were disappointed again. The drizzle of sauce over the roll was so tiny that we actually forgot that the roll was supposed to come with a sauce at all. Accordingly, the "peanut" flavor made no impact at all. While the crunchy snow crab was nice in texture and flavor, again, this roll was absent of anything distinctive. Even the avocado was small in the roll, missing an opportunity to give this roll some clear flavor. Finally, we tried the salmon sushi. The salmon was fresh and had a nice consistency. With the least amount of ingredients (and by far the cheapest choice on the plate), the raw salmon and rice was the most impressive aspect of the meal. Overall, the sushi was not bad but certainly nothing memorable. What high hopes the beautiful presentation and interesting ingredients gave us were quickly dashed by the mediocre and unimpressive sushi.
While it certainly wasn’t worse than much of the sushi we’ve tasted around the New Orleans area, that isn’t saying too much. Tchoupstix was extremely disappointing when it came to its sushi rolls. Though the price of the rolls was on par with most sushi places, it wasn’t worth the money in our opinion. It’s doubtful we’ll be traveling there again, but if we do, we’ll be sure to try something off of their entrée menu instead. And so our quest to find amazing (or even just really good) local sushi continues…
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