I believe you are not supposed to drink the sludge.

Yeah. In Turkey they turn the cup over to let the sludge run down the sides a little then tell your fortune based on the pattern the sludge leaves.

Oooh, your pattern is very thick. You have some money coming your way. And that long streak, mmm, you'll be taking a long trip soon.

I grew up drinking Turkish coffee, though we were only allowed to call it Greek coffee (long story...). Indeed, you are not supposed to drink it. Here is what you are supposed to do with that sludge:

1. Leave a tiny sip of coffee left, enough so that you can swirl the sludge around a bit
2. Slowly swirl the sludge around over the entire sides and bottom of your cup, then give it a couple of quick swirls at the end.
3. Turn it over quickly onto your saucer and leave it for a minute or two
4. Transfer upside down cup onto a napkin and leave it there for another minute or two
5. Hand cup over to old family friend who can tell fortunes from the patterns left by the coffee grounds
6. Watch her intently study the grounds, brows furrowed
7. If you are a single woman, the fortune will almost always include some prediction of marriage. Blush as everyone around you squees and giggles and makes comments about impending, though still imaginary, nuptials)
8. If you are a married woman, your fortune will almost always include a prediction of babies. Again, blush.
(7 and 8 are based only on my experience based on my Thea Nafsika's readings)
9. When she is finished, the coffee ground reader will fake spit into your cup and hand it back to you.
10. If you thank her, her predictions will not come true, so don't say "Thank you." Unless of course you don't want to get married and didn't like her prediction that you would be soon. Ignore your mother's scowl.
11. Go finish helping your mom lay out a huge spread of desserts.

That's how we did it. Some more info here with a pic of what the grounds look like for a reading.

Reading Coffee Cups

LTH,

Been a while since my last visit to Semiramis, nice crowd for a pre T-Day eve, service spot-on, though I remember it always being good, and, with the exception of the dried out chicken on my wife's fatoush salad, all five of us enjoyed our meal.

Of note, crisp exterior, moist interior falafel, daily special of zatar crusted baked salmon and crisp fries dusted with sumac served with deliciously garlicky toum for dipping.

My juicy flesh, crisp skin half chicken was as good as the first time I had it at Semiramis, in other words very good, but I got the last of the chicken at 6:30, not an uncommon occurrence. I am guessing there were a number of disappointed Semiramis chicken lovers between 6:30 and close.

Enjoy,
Gary

Thanks, LTH, for putting Semiramis on my radar.

First trip was last night: I wasn't that hungry, so I just ordered a lamb kabob sandwich. The first couple of bites had pieces of lamb that were a bit chewy but had excellent char-grilled flavor. I thought, pretty good bang for the buck for seven dollars. But in the rest of the sandwich, the lamb was damn near perfect -- tender with terrific flavor. My friend's hummus was the best I've had: creamy texture and wonderful balance of flavors.

I'll be back often.

a whole chicken is $9 to go, so picked one up on my way out of city. Had it 2 hours later for dinner, VERY VERY dry, not a good bird at all.

They did wrap the bird in the lavosh bread so perhaps that took some of the moisture out of the bird.

Perhaps this is just not a spot to get to-go items from?

Eating in I usually alternate between the Lamb and Beef shawarma or the chicken and have always been pleased.

The last time I ordered the so-called famous rotisserie chicken, at an early lunch there, it was so dry (and so small) that I promised myself never to eat that dish again. But the Sumac fries are still good.

We were big Semiramis fans and visited frequently, haven't in several years, but not sure why. Stopped in last night with one of our daughters while in the neighborhood.

Neither one of us wanted the dolmas or tabbouleh that are a part of the vegetarian plate. We both ordered the mujaddarah (lentils, rice, and carmelized onions) and salad plate. Also shared an order of hummus and falafel.

We loved the creamy and nutty tasting hummus and the falafel. The house salad was a better option than tabbouleh. We both felt cardamom really overpowered the perfectly cooked rice and lentils.

Due to proximity to our house, our go to is Sultan's Market. Their lentils and rice are under seasoned and held in steam tables, so not the best texturally, but still satisfying when I add tahini and hot sauce. Their tabbouleh and mushy cucumber salad are a why bother. But we really enjoy their hummus and falafel. I realize SM is very inexpensive, but the bill for the two of us last night was more than twice as expensive, pre-tip.

Does anyone know if Semiramis has new owners? The food seemed different but I’m not sure if it is just Covid related. We hadn’t eaten there in quite a while so I’m just wondering if it changed hands recently or even in the last few years.