It’s Frugal Foodie Friends Friday! Be sure to check out Esther’s review too! If you missed it, here’s the post with our bucket list. And here is our list on Yelp if you want to check it out!

Les Amis – Fullerton
Instagram: @lesamis_restaurant

Arrived: 5:40 pm
Overall rating: 5
Ambiance: 5
Timeliness: 5
Service: 4
Quality of food: 5
Cost of meal: $29 each
Time spent: About 1.5 hours

Downtown Fullerton is basically the downtown area that lazy people like me go to because they don’t want to drive to LA. It’s known for its great food and night life, so there is quite a bit of competition when it comes to choosing where to eat. However Les Amis, a family-owned Lebanese restaurant, stands out among the others. I’ve been once with my friend a few months ago and ever since then have dreamed about going back. I knew it had to be on our list because it is such a unique place with amazing food.

I talked up the food at Les Amis quite a bit to Esther, and thankfully my second visit to Les Amis did not let me down! In fact, they had expanded their restaurant quite a bit into two dining areas and an outdoor patio!

Once we found parking (parking in DTF is always horrendous, especially on the weekends), we walked around the corner to Les Amis and explored the inside. The minute you step inside, you feel transported to the Middle East with the music, colors, decor, and food. At 5:40 on a Friday night the place was fairly empty, so we were able to explore the restaurant a bit before sitting down.

Once we did, we were promptly handed menus and brought fresh pita chips and hummus, which were amazing. Another improvement from when I first visited Les Amis is the addition of a happy hour menu with great pricing for food and drinks! For appetizers, we decided to order 4 falafel and their fried cauliflower dish, which I had previously and couldn’t wait to try again. Within about 15 minutes of ordering, our appetizers were brought out steaming hot.

Fried Cauliflower – $8
Topped with parsley, tomato, tartour, onion, pine nuts, and fresh lemon juice. This is one of my favorite dishes maybe ever. The cauliflower was fried on the outside and soft on the inside, the pine nuts added some crunch, and the lemon packed a great punch. It was even great when I reheated it for lunch the next day!

Falafel – $6
Deep fried bean & vegetable mix flavored with herbs & spices, topped with fresh herbs and served with taratour.
I’ve only had falafel one other time so I don’t have much to compare this falafel with, but I really enjoyed it! It was crunchy and tasted meaty, although there’s no meat in it. It was a little spicy, but the garlic aoli it came with balanced it out nicely!

About 8 minutes after our appetizers arrived, our main course came! We both decided to get platters, which was a great choice because it came with so many different things! Esther ordered the Chicken Schwarma platter and I ordered the Kafta platter. Both were amazing!

Kafta Platter – $15
Extra lean ground lamb herbed and spiced, served with parsley, onion, summac, tomato and house yogurt. Served with basmati rice, cream of zucchini soup, baba ghanouge and hot pita.
I had never heard of cream of zucchini soup before, but it was the house soup of the night and I thought it would be interesting to try. It was a really nice soup and reminded me of fall. I also opted for baba ghanouge instead of hummus and really enjoyed it! Although it was a little stringy from the eggplant, I really enjoyed the roasted flavor. And the warm pita bread went great with it! The lamb was very tender since it was ground. My meal was great for leftovers the next day!

Chicken Schwarma Platter – $14
Chicken marinated strips served with garlic spread. Served with basmati rice, cream of zucchini soup, hummus and hot pita.
The chicken in this had a great flavor, almost like BBQ!

While we were there, the manager came and checked on us a few times and was so friendly. Les Amis is a family-owned restaurant, and you can just feel the homeyness when you’re there! Even though it’s a little spendy, the food is so tasty and quality that it’s worth it! And the likelihood of having leftovers is pretty high, so really you’re getting two meals. We really enjoyed our time at Les Amis and can’t wait to go back! Check back next month for another Frugal Foodie Friends review!