Frugal Floozie Friday - Zamaan Cafe

I've enjoyed several lovely meals with loved ones, recently, at Zamaan Cafe - today's Frugal Floozie Friday feature. Good food, good service, good prices ... what more do you need?

The Baladi pictured above - hummus topped with tomatoes, red onions, black olives, parsley, and feta - was rich, creamy, and presented beautifully. (Hummus is a fairly bland-looking beige food, most of the time; this was enticing!) Served with a generous portion of pita bread, it was large enough to share but good enough to guard selfishly against those who might want to help deplete your supply. At only $4.99, it falls within our mandatory $5 per person budget either way. Craig was happy to help me polish off the serving, which was larger than I could finish on my own despite my being a hearty eater.

The meat pies are tender, with a soft rather than stiff dough; the filling is enhanced with onions, tomatoes, and spices. Often these can be dry, but at Zamaan Cafe they are very moist and full of flavor. At $3.99, they are an excellent value. Spinach pies are available, too, for the same price.

A plate of grape leaves - either meat-filled or vegetarian - costs $4.99. The latter variety - stuffed with rice, parsley, onions, tomatoes, spices and olive oil - are tender, and feature a bright tartness. Jeremy has never been a fan of these before, and yet helped me devour this plateful.

The falafel, at $4.99, was another excellent value. Jeremy polished these off without even offering me a taste! But since I was enjoying my small - in name only - Greek salad (a mere $3.99), that was okay.

A pastry case offers different varieties of baklava, as well as honey cake; desserts cost less than $2 each, some far less. The walnut and pistachio treats pictured here cost $1.29 each, and are a perfect way to end a meal.

For friendly service, great value, and delicious food, try Zamaan Cafe!

Zamaan Cafe
3580 Plymouth Rd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
734-213-3350
Monday - Saturday: 10:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.



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Frugal Floozie Friday -- Ahmo's Gyros and Deli

On a recent Friday evening, I was left to amuse myself when the friend I'd had plans with went out of town unexpectedly on a business trip. Normally I'd have just prepared something simple, or perhaps eaten some leftovers. But on this particular night, I decided to pick up a take-out order to make things easy.

So I took myself to Ahmo's on Stone School Road - our Frugal Floozie Friday feature this week. This is one of three locations around town, each offering the same great food and friendly service any time I stop by.

Having indulged in a lot of things with - shall we say? - less than redeeming nutritional value around that time, I was craving something with vegetables. So I was very happy to find that there were numerous healthy menu options within our mandatory Frugal Floozie Friday budget of $5 per person.

I ordered the Greek Pita for $4.49, and it was prepared almost immediately despite there being several customers ahead of me; this could definitely have qualified as "fast food."

As you can see from the picture, the sandwich's filling was so generous that it could hardly be contained once I unwrapped it from the tight foil swaddling I'd brought it home in. The vegetables were fresh and crisp, flavorful, and perfectly dressed without being soggy and soaking through the bread.

Each of the six vegetable pitas costs less than $5, and there are also soups, appetizers, side orders, desserts and half portions of salads for anywhere from $1.50 to $4.99. You can even go to Ahmo's for breakfast options that meet our rigorous budgetary standards.

How great to find Frugal Floozie Friday options on the menu all day long!


Ahmo's
4001 Stone School Rd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
734-971-2333


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