What to Buy at Oriental Bakery & Grocery in Brickell

Wandering off the street, you may expect Asian goods at a

place named Oriental Bakery & Grocery, but this place is pure Middle East,

offering a great selection of Syrian, Greek, and Armenian grocery items,

cheeses, breads, and desserts. Come for lunch, grab some goods, and don’t

forget to hit the baklava selection on the way out.

Ghee

Ghee ($8.99) is clarified butter, made by slowly simmering

unsalted butter until the water boils off and the milk solids and impurities

separate. Why cook with ghee? It has a much higher smoke point than normal

butter and most vegetable oils, allowing you to cook at temperatures that would

normally cause your butter to burn while still incorporating buttery flavor

into your dish. We don’t usually recommend you follow the wisdom of Paula Dean,

but when it comes to her stance on butter, she’s right

on.

Taramosalata Caviar Spread

Need something new to dip you cracker into? Try this

traditional Greek spread ($9.99) made with fish roe, which you may know better

as those salty little orange eggs on your sushi. The roe is mixed with oil,

lemon and spices and emulsified until creamy. It may not be beluga, but caviar

always sounds classy.

Pickled Shankleesh

Oriental Bakery has a great selection of fetas, but for something you may not have tried, check out shankleesh ($9.99), a

yogurt-based cheese made with thyme, pepper and other spices. Grab some

fresh-baked pita while you’re here, and fill it with shankleesh, cucumbers,

mint and olive oil.

Lunch

No visit to Oriental Bakery is complete without hitting the

lunch counter in the back. We recommend the killer shawarma (AKA gyro) Platter

($7.99), which puts that spinning mass of meat you may have tried in the past

to shame. With your two side choices, make sure one is their fresh tahini-heavy

hummus. And trust us, average eaters will have half left over for later.

Baklava

After lunch, check out the selection of desserts ($1 to 1.50

per piece) near the door. All of the 15 or so selections are worth the

calories, but our pick is the baklava with pistachios. This version features an

almost equal ratio of phyllo to pistachios, is perfectly bathed in sugar syrup

to avoid that stale baklava chew, and literally melts in your mouth.

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