Aroma Cafe is this great little family- (the husband smokes and hangs out with customers on the front patio while the wife is in the kitchen cooking and doing the dishes) run Bosnian cafe. The food is quite good, and very inexpensive. The service is very warm and friendly, but also very casual and a bit slow. My friend likes to compare it to being in someone's house, not like being in a restaurant, which means you need to remain patient and forgiving while waiting for service. They do not have a beer and wine license, and no corkage either! For the five of us, plenty of food costs us $20 each, and that was with an over 20% tip. We do not order entrees here, we order appetizers and meze and share. We started with the Meza platter ($12.50), of cheese, onion dip called Lukmira, and some dry cured beef.
We moved on to my favorite dish, Burek ($4.50), which they place under the "pita" category. I call it a Pita Snake. It is a thin pastry filled with either spinach, cheese, meat or cabbage. Tonight we had one spinach and on cabbage.
The Sarma wrapped in cabbage is my other favorite. Sweet and sour cabbage stuffed with a mixture of rice and ground meat, with a dollop of sour cream.
Their cevapi ($5.50)is the best. Moist, loosely packed ground meat links, served in a bread pocket with onion. We also ordered a hamburger version of this dish, a thin beef patty with onions in the bread pocket.
They also sell cheese, meat, and other Eastern Euro foods and candies (and DVD's too). When you visit the Aroma Cafe, be prepared for slow, friendly service, good food and a low bill!
Aroma Cafe
2530 Overland Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90064
310-836-2919
8 comments:
Hi. Nice post. What are the entrees like there? Did you remember any of them from the menu?
ooooh. i love that big fluffy bread they have.
Sarah -Yes, the bread is great!
A - no, I have only had the apps.
hi there, wonderful blog! its very original and true to your nature.
if you don't have your kajmak (kind of a clotted cream butter) with the bread, you are missing out. also, I know it's not strictly food-related, but the servers are two of the cutest and sweetest Bulgarian girls you will ever meet.
Dissappointing experience. Except for the spinach Burek ('pita snake' referred to in the main review), food was so-so. Waitress was unfriendly and unhelpful. We made it clear we were not familiar with the food and needed more explanation (the menu is useless), we were given a look like we were wasting her time and had to repeatedly ask for more explanation. Also the husband-owner's cigar and cigarette smoke of his friends outside the door filled the eating area. Will not be going back again!
I have returned several times, taken several friends there, all of whom agreed with me: THE FOOD IS TERRIFIC! We brought our own wine and they were so sweet about opening it and providing glasses for it. My constant favorite is the lamb. I recommend it highly. Just wish it were closer to where I live - would eat there at least once a week.
constance
I love this post its so true. I worked at Aroma Cafe for over a year and while I am not from the area nor did I speak the language I was taken in as part of the family. The owners and their family are so loving, caring and generous I am so grateful for the experience I was provided with. The food is amazing I try to go at least once a month and everyone I bring with me is amazed by the food and the owners. I always get my favorite; cevapi with kajmak and sarma. Oh and if the have Musaka TRY IT...sooo good!! TRY aroma you will not be disappointed...
Jill Troedson
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