L.A. County—notably Glendale—has the largest Armenian population in the world outside of Armenia. That means we’ve got a lot of fantastic Armenian food to enjoy. Geographically challenged Angelenos may not be familiar with the country's long and tragic history. And yet one thing it led to was possibly the first example of what we now call fusion cuisine.
Smushed right up against Turkey and Iran, modern-day Armenia is perfectly situated to absorb the flavors and culinary traditions of its neighbors. When you combine the best of Turkish, Persian, Arabic, Syrian and Greek cuisines and add a touch of homegrown ingenuity, you have Armenian food. In fact, most Armenian restaurants here are labeled as hybrids.
Elena Greek-Armenian in Glendale is the perfect entry point for a novice: The inexpensive platters offer a combination of the familiar (kebabs, falafel and pita) with the less so, such as tomato-based lentil soup, pickled turnips and garlic paste.
That’s right, the garlic paste at
Zankou Chicken is an Armenian thing. (Armenian-Lebanese to be exact: The first Zankou ever was in Beirut.) When you’ve had your fill of garlicky chicken, you must—we implore you—try out
Marouch, a much more upscale Armenian-Lebanese restaurant. The chef’s special will change your life.
But before you embark on your newbie tour, you gotta know what you’re talking about. Here’s a beginner’s glossary to the most significant portions of Armenian food. Go forth and indulge.
Basturma: This is like prosciutto’s older cousin. A cured hunk of beef seasoned with garlic, garlic and garlic (there’s some pepper in there too), it’s sliced thin for sandwiches and may even be the original inspiration for pastrami. Take note of basturma’s aroma: To eat it is to smell like it for a couple days. The place to get it?
Sahag’s Basturma in Little Armenia, where lamb sausages are also an excellent choice for sandwiches.
Boereg : Sometimes you just want savory pastry and cheese. Armenian cooks have come up with a pretty good solution to that. There’s nothing fancy about the cheese boereks at
Sasoun Bakery, but they are the tastiest things you’ll eat all day.
Choereg: Tiny little bits of buttery pastry dough surrounding something sweet and delightful. You have options here, but we think the date filling is a natural.
Kebabs: Armenian cuisine is skewer-full of kebabs. If it’s anything remotely like a meat product, it can be kebab-ed. Start with one of the plates at
Elena Greek-Armenian, where meat on a stick comes with pita, pickles and garlic paste. We recommend the lulu kebab, a delicious mix of ground lamb and beef.
Lahmejune: Many people call this Armenian pizza, but that gives the wrong impression. Lahmejune is a very thin flatbread topped with spices and ground lamb. There’s something like it available at
Trader Joe’s, but it’s no good. Hit up
Sasoun Bakery for the real thing.
Lebneh: A highly addictive yogurt cheese that looks like cream cheese but tastes a million times better. Add it to sandwiches, eat it on pita, lick it off someone’s chest—it always tastes good.
Katherine Spiers is a contributing editor for Metromix Los Angeles.
