Here's what some restaurant reviewers have to say about Cafe Soriah.
Eugene Weekly's "Best of Eugene" 2003-2004
New York Times
Eugene Weekly's Annual Manual
Eugene Register Guard
Best Places Northwest
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| Excerpted with permission from the Eugene Weekly October 9th, 2003 From: Best Overall Restaurant: Café Soriah By Marina Taylor Café Soriah is a benchmark against which other restaurants in town are measured. Every year it wins a heap of awards, this year including Best Overall Restaurant, Best Chef for Ib Hamide, Best Service, Best Soup, Best Romantic Dinner and second place in appetizers, Middle Eastern, and upscale menu.  The surprise this year is the soup award, which is a category that normally goes to French Horn or Glenwood. French Horn closed this year, but Café Soriah has been building its reputation for delicious, fairly priced soup for a while now. For a mere $3.95 you get a bowl of wonderful, rich and delicious soup and a handful of Soriah's fresh homemade bread. It's one of the best lunch deals around. The soups tend to be thick, stew-like and complete meals unto themselves, and usually there's a choice between cream- and vegetable-based: for example, a cream of artichoke and a hearty, complex split pea, or an exotic lentil and a rich, creamy chowder. Café Soriah is also the physical expression of one person, Ibrahim Hamide. He won the award for Best Peacemaker, as well as Best Chef, and in his restaurant you can sense his touch in the quiet jazz music, the warm peachy-pink walls and the fresh nosegays in vibrant fall colors at each table. — Marina Taylor
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| Excerpted with permission from the New York Times March 21, 1999, Sunday From: Rainy City, Sunny Mood By DENISE FAINBERG . . . Intimate and elegant, yet casual in a northwestern sort of way, Soriah offers a selection of Pacific Northwest and Mediterranean dishes. I enjoyed a garlicky garbanzo-stuffed eggplant and a glass of kir, but could, for example, have had seared tambo tuna, boeuf bourguignon or lasagne. It all looked good. Regretably, I declined dessert (including chocolate chunk cake, for $3.75.) and headed for the Bijou Art Cinemas. , , , Dining Cafe Soriah, 384 West 13th Avenue, (541) 342-4410, is a cozy spot for Mediterranean and northwestern dishes. Open weekdays 11 A.M. to 2 P.M., Sunday to Thursday 5 to 10 P.M., and Friday and Saturday 5 to 11 P.M. Dinner for two: $50 with wine and dessert. |
| Excerpted with permission from the Eugene Weekly's Annual Manual Number 2 ~ 2001-2002 From: Choicest Chow By Jennifer Snelling Eugeneans have always grazed on berries and hazelnuts, dined on fresh salmon and washed it down with good beer. These days, not a lot has changed. Sure, we have a lot more to choose from, including Mediterranean, Southeast Asian and Northwest cusisine. But Eugene's most popular restaurants are still those that use fresh, local ingredients. With so much good eating, it's hard to pick your favorites. But each year, our readers carefully fill out their ballots, weighing quality, service, atmosphere and just plain taste. This year, many new restaurants entered the coveted ranks of the best restaurants in Eugene. But one long-time Eugene establishment rose to the top. Café Soriah won awards in 10 categories [plus 2 individual categories]. This comes as no surprise to those who frequent Ib Hamide's sweet, sophisticated little spot on 13th avenue. But, as its success proves, a successful restaurant is about more than good food. All of this year's winners would probably agree with Hamide's guiding principle, taken from Kahlil Gibran, "If you bake your bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that only feeds half a man's hunger.", , 
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| Excerpted with permission from the Eugene Register Guard July 28, 1999, Wednesday From: Flame Captain: Tableside chef keeps a romantic tradition alive By Jim Boyd
Ibrahim "Ib" Hamide, the owner of Cafe Soriah, believes he is the last to regularly practice this combination of theatrics and cooking, which he first learned as a 19-year-old "flame captain" at the Eugene Hotel. You can find him preparing flamed entrees such as Steak Diane, Tournedos de Boeuf and Prawns Jerico; or flamed desserts such as Bananas Macadamia, Cherries Jubilee and Peaches Flambe on any evening except Sunday (when he takes the day off) and Tuesday (when he plays basketball) . . . . Hamide says he's a romantic trying to keep a romantic tradition alive. What could be more romantic for a couple than to have a personal chef prepare dinner? And, as a chef, Hamide takes personal pleasure in being able to mingle with his customers and to do the cooking, too, instead of being stuck in the kitchen. "Sometimes," he says, "I put out one-third of the meals a night on my little - what I dearly call my 'meals on wheels' - my little cart." . . . .
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| Excerpted with permission from the Best Places Northwest 13th Edition Edited by GISELLE SMITH From: Cafe Soriah In this jewel box of a neighborhood restaurant, chef and owner Ibrahim Hamide has wrapped an adventurous Mediterranean and Middle Eastern menu in an elegant little package, comfortable enough for everyday dining but deserving of special occasions. Squeeze past the tiny bar—a work of art in wood—to reach the pretty, well-appointed dining room, airy and smart with original art and fine woodworking; the atmosphere is intimate but not claustrophobic. In good weather, dine outdoors in the leafy, stylish walled terrace. Hamide’s roots are revealed in the menu, starting with a stellar appetizer plate of hummus, baba ghanouj, and stuffed grape leaves sized for two or more. The menu changes regularly and might include roasted salmon with a coconut-curry sauce, or marlin Gaza-style (spicy); count on such favorites as lamb tagine and moussaka. Memorable desserts range from wonderful amalgams of sponge cake and buttercream to a subtly exotic cardamom-scented flan. $$; AE, MC, V; checks OK; lunch Mon–Fri, dinner every day; full bar; reservations recommended; www.soriah.com; at Lawrence St. WC (wheelchair accessible) Best Places Northwest is published by: Sasquatch Books, 615 Second Avenue, Suite 260, Seattle, WA 98104 The book can be purchase direct from Sasquatch Books or from Amazon.com (direct links to purchase). |
For reservations or catering information, call (541) 342-4410 384 West 13th Avenue Eugene, OR 97401 |