The new Minute Grill and Kabab House, occupying the totally remodeled space once home to The Prime Cut, brings a new take on Middle Eastern-slash-Eastern Meditteranean food to Bakersfield. ...
The new Minute Grill and Kabab House, occupying the totally remodeled space once home to The Prime Cut, brings a new take on Middle Eastern-slash-Eastern Meditteranean food to Bakersfield. While many locals are familiar with the Lebanese (I think, though I could be wrong) and Greek facets of the multifaceted cuisine via Flame and Skewers and Cafe Med, respectively (not to mention the Mughal/Persian-based North Indian food that dominates most American Indian restaurants including those here in town), Minute Grill brings different culinary influences to bear on what usually just gets lumped together as one undifferentiated cuisine.
From what I could discern from what I ate and from talking with the proprietor behind the counter, Minute Grill, rather than focusing on one region or country, brings together recipes and influences from places like Iran, Afghanistan, and India. These influences are reflected in the spicing of foods, as well as the kinds of grilled meats and vegetable sides are on offer. I tried a combination plate of one beef kabab and one boneless chicken kabab, both made up of good-sized chunks of marinated meat grilled to order on skewers then taken off the skewer and served over rice pilaf. The plate also came with pita bread (which seemed to be the thick, fluffy Greek type) and what the menu called the vegetables of the day--today, there were whole roasted/charred tomatoes (a touch I'm familiar with from Lebanese/Armenian places in the LA area), and two stewed/pureed sides, one eggplant, one potato, plus a fritter of some sort.
On the side were two dishes of sauce, one blindingly white which I didn't try but which I assume is a garlic sauce a la Zankou's down south, and the other which I practically dipped every other bite into. It was a watery mix of green herbs and what tasted like lemon juice, and which the owner told me was his special reciped and also included ginger. I could put that on anything, seriously.
After only one visit, I can definitely say that I'll be back to try different stuff, especially the lamb dishes. Bakersfield can always use more culinary diversity, and I hope the Minute Grill sticks around for much longer than its namesake.
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