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The fresh and well-made food at Dish N Dash in Dublin belies the restaurant’s fast casual format. Several appetizers are close to a meal. Menu items such as sandwiches, aka handhelds, and grilled items are prepared with fresh ingredients, and most items range from $20 to $25.
A classic lamb dish is one of the more expensive items yet costs less than $30. Mansaf is a traditional Eastern Mediterranean lamb specialty. The lamb is marinated in yogurt, then slow cooked in the sauce and served over basmati rice or freekeh, smoked, cracked wheat.
Dish N Dash mansaf is a generous portion. My friend and I shared one order; we both liked the tangy sauce and tender lamb. Other classics on the menu include tabsi, a tomato based dish featuring eggplant and a choice of falafel, salmon, or kufta kebab of minced lamb and beef.
I zeroed in on the Handheld section of the menu The most common wrap choice is the pita with fillings from veggie and kufta kebab with minced lamb and beef to shawarma, thin slices of seasoned beef, lamb, or chicken shaped into a cone and roasted vertically on a spit.
Each handhelds has a special tahini-based sauce and two sides ranging from baba ghanoush roasted eggplant dip, tabouli, a parsley, tomato, and onion mix, to falafel, spiced carrots and walnut, and more. I chose lentil soup and hummus with my salmon handheld on toasted lavash with basil-tahini sauce.
You can customize the handhelds, salads, and grill items from the “Style Your Dish” menu for a small additional charge. These options range from California with pea sprouts and avocado to Indian with spicy tomato chutney to black beans and chipotle tahini. The array of salad and grill options come with a refreshing edamame and corn salsa and two sides. Unlike many restaurants that make kebabs in advance, Dish N Dash prepares them to order.
Open since April in the former Applebee’s space at Hacienda Crossings, Dublin is the sixth location for Dish N Dash. Full service DishDash was one of the earliest Middle Eastern restaurant in Silicon Valley. Co-owner Emad Ibrahim of Palestinian descent was an entrepreneur with restaurant experience before opening DishDash in 2001 with his wife and co-owner, Nadiah Mshasha, a Bay Area native with a Palestinian and Indian background and business experience. The other Dish N Dash locations are in Fremont, Milpitas, San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Cupertino.
With their business experience, the couple set up an efficient way to prepare fresh, consistent food for their fast casual brand. They opened a commissary in Santa Clara which bakes fresh pita and makes sauces and other items daily. Like a salsa bar, the Dish N Dash sauce bar presents garlic yogurt, chipotle, and cilantro mint sauce as flavoring agents. You can taste the difference in quality from the restaurant’s fresh ingredients that lack the additives or filters of commercial sauces.
The shareable appetizers are almost full meals. The Veggie Delight is like a mezze plate with falafel, hummus, tabouli, baba ghanoush, roasted red pepper-walnut dip, aka muhammara, greens and pita. Kippeh is a traditional Levantine dish with a bulgur wheat shell filled with diced lamb, onions, parsley, and pine nuts.
One of the most intriguing Middle Eastern flavors is sumac, a red spice with a bright, lemony appeal. Pulled sumac chicken is offered in handheld, grilled, and salad options. Sumac-spiced lavash crackers are served with the lentil soup and on top of salads.
For desserts, the Baklava Assortment is a familiar choice found in many restaurants and made fresh at Dish N Dash. The Baklava Crumble, a take on the former cookie crumble dessert served at Max’s Opera Café, is elevated at Dish N Dash with crushed baklava, Attiki brand Greek honey, and Tahitian vanilla bean gelato.
Kanefeh is a specialty dessert of shredded filo dough, sweet cheese filling, rose cardamom syrup, and pistachio. The crunch of the crust and pistachios, soft cheese, and alluring scent of the syrup add up to unique and filling finish. If dining in, order ahead—preparation takes 15 minutes.
A unique dessert option is chocolate halawa. I hesitated to try it. Growing up, my parents loved the sweet sesame squares with a crumbly texture made from ground sesame seeds, aka tahini, and sugar. I did not like this basic version that our heritage calls halva. After learning that the Dish N Dash chocolate halawa in their dessert equated to the soft, caramelized center of a lava-like chocolate cake that is accompanied by Tahitian vanilla gelato, I ordered it. Both my friend and I liked the entire dessert including the soft halawa.
The beverages are a step above most fast casual offerings. Located behind the counter, the freshly squeezed juices and ingredients for the blended juice drinks and smoothies are lined up for preparation as the orders arrive. The smoothies range from mango to date and Nutella. Popular juice blends are Friends of Green and Citrus Spice.
Yogurt drinks in sweet mango and tangy mint flavors nod to Indian lassi beverages. Beers are listed, and wines are available from Europe, Argentina, and Calif. but not the Livermore Valley. Premium teas are served with fresh mint.
Owner Mshasha told me they have many family members who live in the Tri-Valley. “We have looked forward to locating near them and meeting guests in Dublin. We are happy to open in Dublin.”
Behind Dish N Dash, El Dorado Modern Mexican Kitchen and Cantina is now open. We will cover this Dublin restaurant soon.
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