Desert Rose

Did takeout. Food was excellent. I was still eating my Greek salad three days later and it was still great! Humus was the best ever. Desert Rose chicken huge and delicious.

The food smell hits you as soon as you walk in (not a bad smell though!).Ordered the grilled beef kebab platter and the chicken shawarma. The grilled beef was good at first, but then when it cooled, it tasted really dry, almost even rubbery. Even though the hummus surrounding it was flavorful, it was tough to eat. The chicken was a little overcooked on the shawarma, but the shawarma was a good large portion, which is always a plus.Service was friendly! You have to lowkey walk through the kitchen to get to the single bathroom which is interesting.

Do not come here in a rush! Everything is cooked to order and you must allow extra time - which for us was worth it. 2 pita sandwiches (One Sabich and One Falafel) to go took 25 minutes and ran close to $27.Nothing is cheap these days - but the quality here is wonderful. Big stuffed pitas with fresh tomatoes, cucumber, cabbage slaw and amba. Luscious char-grilled eggplant.Classic Sabich and so tasty!Again - slow service but worth the wait.

Different cheesesteak #1094 in the last five years. I was watching my video and remembering how much I loved this cheesesteak. Then I saw my receipt, $15.95. 9' inch cheesesteak. Now if I was with someone that really wanted to have dinner in Media, this would be my place. It is BYOB so I could save a few bucks there. As far as a cheesesteak, it was very good. It was very well made. All the pieces worked well together. Something gave it a flavor boost. Guest eater Spunky D thought it was the fried onions.

Ok, I have to admit that my rating has gone up and down for the Desert Rose. We walked into this COUNTER SERVICE ONLY LIMITED SEATING TAKE OUT joint in the midst of Media on one of the hottest days of the year! It felt like we were in a desert but the reviews were appealing so our group, which included my 88 year old mother-in-law made a collective decision that the menu had plenty of appeal.And, then as we walked in it was as if we were in a heat reversal chamber because the DESERT ROSE true to its name was not air conditioned with the limited comfort gently breezing down at us from ceiling fans. If you made a decision to not move a muscle you were comfortable sort of in the midst of this desert where there is NO TABLE SERVICE ... LIMITED SEATING ... and NO AIR CONDITIONING. I know I kept glancing across the street at a new restaurant that clearly had plenty of seating and I would guess it also had enough air conditioning to keep the five of us cool, which these ceiling fans were challenged to do.Frankly, I have a problem with any establishment that insists on charging people for water. You have a tap ... your very presence in the food business implies you care about your customers and I am sure that you know how to open the tap to pour out cold water. Our group went for the bottled water and a couple of us chose the sparkling water, which by the way was priced extremely reasonably perhaps making up for insisting that the water drinkers pay for a bottle that is not only bad for the environment but a slap in every customer's direction.But, you may have noticed the number of stars for this review. SURPRISED after all of my criticism? I know I am ... I do admit this came close to slipping to THREE STARS but the food was soooooooooooooooooo good and those pita-based sandwiches were soooooooooooooo large and yummy with plenty of flavor (Not sure what that other reviewer had to eat because each of us commented on how flavorful our choices were.). We had one order of CHICKEN SHAWARMA (After being allowed to take a bite I wish there had been two orders not that I wasn't happy with my choice but the chicken danced on the palette with various spices sending happy signals.); three orders of the SABICH that resulted in thumbs up from all diners amidst their sweat (Did I mention the lack of air conditioning but then again this is Middle Eastern/desert eating and it's hot there too.), and I went for the Red Falafel that I absolutely enjoyed. HUGE SANDWICHES on homemade pita ... get a fork and napkins (Good sandwiches always require napkins after all.) and you don't really need a side dish but you will get messy.Service was what you would expect from COUNTER SERVICE ONLY but our food was brought to the table so perhaps that's the bonus half star that raised the review to a FOUR.So, DO NOT PLAN TO EAT INSIDE the DESERT ROSE. If you are coming from the theatre like we were but unlike us you are wearing theatre clothing ... well, skip this place because you will get messy. On any hot hot day definitely don't eat inside.But, if you are looking for superb TAKE OUT in Media PA this is definitely one of the best choices you can make!! My 88 year old mother-in-law enjoyed herself and since she is from Florida ... she didn't mind the heat like we did.Oh, by the way, it's great when you are honored by magazines and outside organizations. The Desert Rose truly is special but when the honors were given a decade or so ago perhaps it's time to stop making out like you have just been honored. The BEST of PHILLY in 2013 has little or actually no relevance to diners in 2022 and even receiving the BEST of the BEST honor from County Lines Magazine in 2015 only tells us that 7 years ago someone noticed.We are glad we noticed the DESERT ROSE but next time we will plan an OUTDOOR picnic rather than considering eating in what is truly a COUNTER SERVICE location with limited seating and no air conditioning!

Wow. Just, wow. We found ourselves in Media and relied on reviews to find somewhere for lunch. We totally lucked out!. This is a wonderful place. The environment is relaxing. The staff is accommodating and professional. The food was incredible. I am a huge fan of felafel. Desert Rose offers both traditional and red felafel, with added red pepper and harissa. We tried both and were quiet impressed. The chicken shawarma was very good as well. For an appetizer we had the muhammara which was excellent. The pita was the best I've ever had. We finished with baklava, which they ship in from a killer bakery in Michigan, Masri. Needless to say, we have now added this place to our list of favorites. We will be visiting again and again.

We tried with this place twice but each time they prioritize mobile orders to the point where there were the last time we went there were three parties in the restaurant TOTAL and we didn't get a waiter to come by in the first 25 minutes! We just walked out as they continued to take carry out orders on the phone. Great food once you get it an hour later lol

Went for Valentines 2024 and it was an unbelievably unique, fantastic, savory experience. The Prix Fix was super. Service was excellent as always.

Starving I grabbed desert rose I said I have 10 mins to eat I have a meeting he brought food out in 30 seconds lol. Incredibly fresh and crisp schwarma platter, A+++++++ service

Just ordered early takeout for Valentine's to avoid any crowds. Also called to give feedback. One of the most uninspired meals I've had there. No flavor. No taste at all. We ordered 2 Schwarma platters. I could taste the grill burn on the chicken more than anything else. The hummus had zero flavor. It's a shame. I used to love your food