Safa in Great Neck is one of the tri-state area’s newest glatt kosher restaurants, but the food tastes as though it’s a neighborhood staple, steeped in years of tradition.
Owner Barry Sedhagt has taken the best that Middle Eastern cuisine has to offer and combined the flavors and spices into a richly diverse culinary adventure. He explains that as his taste in music goes, so goes his restaurant’s menu.
“Music and food are very similar to me,” said the Persian-born Sedhagt. “No matter what type of music it is – good music is good music. The same with food; I eat and serve what I like, no matter where it is from.”
Before you even order your meal, the wait staff sets you up with warm and crusty Barbari bread, a fundamental accompaniment to any Persian meal. Safa offers three special dips besides the obvious butter – babaganoush, hummus and a potato salad with finely chopped potatoes. Each adds its own dimension of flavor to the bread, which is offered in both white and wheat.
Start with Safa’s gondi dumplings as your appetizer. These Iranian-Jewish dumplings consist of all white meat chicken breast, chick peas and a bevy of Middle Eastern spices. They are soft, mild and delightfully served in a warming chicken broth.
Safa also offers the stuffed grape leaves appetizer, dolmeh, as well as Israeli and house salads. But the salad dish not to be missed is the avocado salad. This Safa specialty combines mesclun greens with avocadoes and honey walnuts. It’s crisp, clean and smooth tasting all at once.
For your entrée, you can’t go wrong with meat cooked on skewers over a fire. The Kabob Koobideh features two skewers of seasoned and marinated prime ground beef. It’s packed with authentic regional flavors and pairs wonderfully with one of three types of rice: a white basmati, the dill and fava bean laced green and tahdeeg, which is crisp and flavorful rice from the bottom of the pot.
Also served with rice and deserving of your attention is the Kabob Barg, or marinated meat cubes, and the Joojeh Kabob, which is a saffron marinated boneless chicken. Fire grilled always tastes the best and that is a well-known fact at Safa. All of the meat dishes are robust and packed with fire-born flavor.
Other offerings from Safa’s kitchen include a ribeye steak, a whole cornish hen, as well as a catch of the day and a stew of the day – all prepared kosher, with the freshest ingredients and the most skilled hands.
Safa features many specialty cuisine nights, including a sushi night when they bring in a professional sushi chef for true authenticity. They also feature five-course prix fixe menus for both lunch and dinner.
Safa can host any type of party to all hours of the night; bar/bat mitzvah, baby/bridal showers, rehearsal dinners, business dinners, birthdays, luncheons, seminars – simply call ahead and make a reservation. Long Island’s premier upscale Middle Eastern restaurant, Safa, will exceed your expectations for any occasion.
Safa Glatt Kosher Restaurant
451 Middle Neck Road
Great Neck, NY 11020
Tel: 516-487-3300
Fax: 516-487-0791
Email: foodbyus@gmail.com
Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.
Friday, 11 a.m. to sunset
Saturday, sunset to 11 p.m.
Take Out: Yes
Reservations: Yes
Free Parking
Full Bar
All Major Credit Cards Accepted
