Good Eats SOG: Gengiz Khan

While we in Port Tampa long for a place with Cafe con Leche, pastries, maybe a full menu and of course great atmosphere with shaded outdoor seating it will be a while before 1893 opens. In the meantime the husband, daughter and I find ourselves at Gengiz Khan Mediterranean Grill,on MacDill at Interbay. The husband has spent a lot of time in the Middle East recently and I ate more than a few meals in Jordan and Egypt in a past life so we absolutely love this place. The food, and the service, are both authentic. That means the food is great, the service, well let's just say it's unhurried and in three visits unfailingly hilarious. When the parents visited in January our party of five had a fantastic time, the whole two and a half hours we were there.

"I'd like the vegetable soup."
"We're out of that."
"I'd like the meat platter."
"We're out of beef, you can have it with just lamb and chicken."
"Wow, how many people ordered it tonight?"
"None."
"I'm sorry your custard took so long. We just made it."

Custard to order? That's an interesting move since it takes a minimum of 45 minutes to get it to even think about setting up, which it didn't. The creamy mass on the plate was ugly as all get out, but my mother took one bite and rescinded her offer to share. We enjoyed spending a whole evening on dinner, as did a party of 8 who arrived before us and finished their meals after us. In the meantime,however, several parties of two left out of frustration with the slow service. It's a shame, their wait would have been amply rewarded. I haven't visited the kitchen but the daughter's keen hearing always tells us when the oven door opens to another loaf of the bread they serve with humus while you peruse the menu.

While we had no trouble with the daughter's falafel appetizer coming out with her grandmother's dessert, Gengiz Khan will have to work out some service kinks if they want to succeed. We're going back next week some time so I'll let you know if things have improved.

Note: Gengiz Khan is closed Mondays.