When people think about Hell's Kitchen, they think about 9th avenue, disregarding the great places that are on 10th. Ok, there are not as many there, but you can really find good quality food. One example is Mémé Mediterranean, a place that proposes Mediterranean tapas with a large Moroccan influence. In fact, mémé is an old word for grandma, the work mamie being used more often. Brothers Alon and Jacob Cohen decided to call it Mémé as an homage to their mother, called this way by their children and cousins. So we decided to go for brunch on a Saturday and I was glad we had a reservation as the place was really packed. We decided to share couple of dishes and, after we ordered, they brought us a wooden plank with some bread and muffins that were much appreciated.

Bread basket at Mémé Mediterranean in Hell's Kitchen

The first dish we had was the shakshuka moroccan breakfast, composed of three eggs baked with tomato, onion, pepper, spices, tahini and pita, to which we decided to add some merguez sausages (delicious lamb sausages). shakshuka is a North African and Middle Eastern dish made with eggs poached in a sauce made with tomatoes, peppers and onions. My family simply uses tomatoes, roasted peppers and garlic, no egg for sure, and perfect on a piece of fresh bread just bought from the boulangerie. So, this was quite a big dish, very comforting and delicious: the eggs were runny, so I used the fluffy pita to scoop it up with the sauce, and the merguez were delicious, delightfully greasy. I loved the fact that it had a slight kick.

shakshuka moroccan breakfast at Mémé Mediterranean in Hell's Kitchen

The second dish was the combo platter, composed of babaganoush, hummus, beets, tabouli, falafel, matbucha (cooked dish of tomatoes and roasted bell peppers seasoned with garlic and chili pepper), carrots and roast peppers. It also came with some of that fluffy pita. Everything was really good and flavorful: I loved the carrots that were cooked with cumin, as well as the falafel that were well made and perfect with the hummus or babaganoush.

This was a great brunch and this made me want to go back for dinner, their menu being mouth watering. It is a great place also if you are vegetarian as they have many options.

Enjoy (I did)!

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Meme Mediterranean - 607 10th Ave, New York, NY 10036

I Just Want To Eat!