Birmingham, MI - Phoenicia; Middle Eastern food is a staple in Detroit. It's almost in every neighborhood and if it's certainly not in yours, it will be in an adjacent community ready to serve you hummus, baba ghanoush, fresh pita, falafel, shawarma, and so many items particular to that cuisine. Detroit area supposedly has the highest middle eastern population outside of the middle east, so naturally the area is going to have a plethora of choices and regional cuisine differences. Having the opportunity to travel to middle east multiple times, I have not only appreciated what's authentic, but what varies from fine dining to street vendor food.

That said, there is a level of comfort and familiarity when trying to places, Phoenicia deviates from that expectation. We started with the Artichoke Hearts appetizer. I was expecting grilled or sautéed artichoke hearts, but received a dish completely difference than we all expected. It was mixed into a sauce with carrots and lots, I mean lots of lemon juice. We are a group that usually finished everything and we all decided to let this one be, unfinished. Along with this appetizer, we tried some of their baba ghanoush. Some places have theirs more bitter, some smooth and creamy, but here, it's smokey. It didn't appeal for any of us.

It was served with pita bread, store bought pita bread. Are you kidding me? This was straight out of the plastic bag packages that you can find in the specialty markets. It WAS NOT the freshly baked bread that some restaurants have with the stone oven near the patrons and watch the bread rise while you while for the steaming hot pita.

Where I give them credit is having an item on the menu not commonly found, sweet breads. This is my second try at it and our server told me to was specifically lamb sweet bread. It was extremely tender and delicious. They do know how to prepare it well. It was probably so tender from the amount of butter and oil in the dish. It was swimming around on the plate looking for a diving board. It's also cooked with wonderful slices of garlic. It's no joke garlic too. It's not one clove thinly sliced, but probably six cloves all thinly slices and spread evenly to extract the flavor well and to have one in almost every bite. It was certainly a highlight when comparing it to the other dishes we sampled.

On the side I ordered rice and curry. For those of you who are familiar with Chaldean households, this is a staple on the stove that sits around all day for you to pick at. There are a few Chaldean restaurants that offer this off the menu, just ask and you won't be disappointed. However, theirs has the elements to the dish, tomato base, some spices, potatoes, but it doesn't sing as it does in others places.

Where they lost the third star is for prices. For the quality of the flavor, the prices clearly do not justify it. I can easily find a better tasting place that is less expensive in almost any city in the Detroit area serving almost the same food.